Paraorchestra: In The Round Festival 2024

Paraorchestra:

In The Round Festival was in full swing by the time Wednesday night came along, but it was taken to a whole new level by this mesmerising performance from The Paraorchestra with Brett Anderson and Charles Hazlewood.

The Paraorchestra, who are one of the world's most inclusive arts group having a vast number of members identifying as disabled, D/deaf, or neurodivergent, are led by the artistic direction of Charles Hazlewood to provide world class musical performances. This instrumental brilliance has been paired with the lyrical and vocal mastermind that is Brett Anderson to create the Death Songbook project; a collection of reimagined and original songs focusing on the topic of death. The project's stunning LP was released last week but has been given a whole new life through this live performance.

Every member of the Paraorchestra played their instrument to perfection, creating a blissful cacophony of emotion inducting sound. This orchestral masterwork was paired with the breathtaking vocals of Brett Anderson, who was at his very best, delivering each line of classics like 'The Killing Moon' and My Death with the power and emotion they deserved. Anderson Was not alone on vocal duties, being joined on stage by the unbelievably talented Gwenno and Nadine Shah for performances of 'The End of the World' and 'Holes' respectively, before the trio led a crowd-pleasing rendition of the Depeche Mode classic 'Enjoy the Silence'.

As the set came to an end, the admiring Roundhouse audience had been taken on an emotional rollercoaster, with the Paraorchestra's performance extracting the full range of human emotions in the most beautiful way, but there was still time for one more. Brett Anderson joked that all the performances take so Iong to get perfect (which is testament to the effort of all the musicians), and he has been so busy, that they are going to become "one of those bands that open and close with their only hit". This led into the night's second, performance of The Killing Moon', ending a night that showcased the true beauty of music