Rothwell to recall history with unique chronicle collaboration

Rothwell Temperance Band is working with innovative sound artist and audio producer Verity Watts to recall their history in a very different way.

Rothwell Temperance Band has linked up with critically acclaimed sound artist and audio producer Verity Watts to create a unique performance production to celebrate the Yorkshire band's colourful history.

Verity is a former BBC radio producer, the founder of an award winning knitting brand and a hugely successful DJ whose innovative work "leaps from a brand new jazz artist discovery to Kim Wilde's Kids in America via Francoise Hardy" through her company 'Better Songs'.

Deeper connections

About a year ago Verity approached Rothwell's MD Dave Roberts with the idea to provide a story that link's to her outlook of "making an impact on the world around us" by showcasing "the artistic power of sound, music and words, combining them in a way that connects an audience even more deeply to the content."

It certainly made an immediate impression with Dave. "I was just bowled over by her ideas, passion and artistic freshness," he told 4BR.

"The amount of work that Verity had already done to put the flesh on the bones of her ideas was incredible — and it was easy for us to come on board."

Artistic strands

He added: "This was about bringing our story to life in a very different way using so many separate artistic strands — animators, DJ links, images, film snippets, voices, press cuttings sound samples.

Verity has brought all these and more together to create a uniquely powerful performance, not a concert, that celebrates the people, the music, the passion, the triumphs and the tragedies that have made Rothwell Temperance Band."

Performed without a break, the arc of the 70-minute multi-genre, multi-media work is certainly dazzling — with the story of a band formed from an 1881 breakaway spilt in local temperance attitudes all the way through World Wars and contest battles to rise from the Fourth Section to Championship glory.

Leeds Year of Culture

As part of the 2023 Leeds Year of Culture, the brace of performances of 'The Chronicles of Rothwell Temperance Band' at the ancient woodland setting of This Green Moon and Brudenell Social Club in Leeds are also deliberately aimed at banishing ingrained brass bands stereotypes to audiences.

Dave added: "'This Green Moon is a magical place — used for weddings and special events with an atmosphere that draws you in.

"You can certainly say the same for Brudenell Social, although in a totally different way. It's one of the most vibrant independent music venues in the North of England with an audience to match!"

Blow your socks off

He continued: "What Verity has produced will blow the stereotype socks off — the visual and literary experience added to by music from 'Sing, Sing, Sing' to the 'Hallelujah Chorus', Pet Shop Boys to Jenny Jones, Rage Against the Machine to Witch of the Westmoreland and Paganini Variations — all rounded off with a splash of classic David Bowie!

I couldn't quite believe what she has done — and the result is a spectacular piece of performance theatre that bubbles with energy and invention.

Everyone is excited about it and the opportunity it brings to reach out to new audiences, so if you want to experience something different make sure you book a ticket. I can assure you it will be brilliant and thought provoking."

I couldn't quite believe what she has done — and the result is a spectacular piece of performance theatre that bubbles with energy and inventionRothwell Temperance MD, Dave Roberts