LeakyCon Remembrance, Day 2: Wizard Rock Night

Continuing with Part Two of my remembrance, I take a look at Wizard Rock Night.

The next night, if you can believe it, was even better than Evil Night, and for me, the very highlight of the conference. Wizard Rock Night featured Tonks and the Aurors, Gred and Forge, the Whomping Willows, and the indelible Harry and the Potters. If there’s one similarity between all of these bands, it’s that they know how to ROCK. Wizard Rock Night showcased the most intense musical performances this writer has ever seen, including Muggle concerts. Wizard Rock Night was also, not coincidentally, the night that most people lost their voices at LeakyCon, myself included.

It started when Stephanie Anderson took to the stage first, and hammered her set out. Everyone in the crowd was into it, and she looked like she was enjoying herself as much as everyone else. She set the bar very high, and I found myself wondering how on earth Jarrod Perkins would be able to top it with his Gred and Forge set next. But top it he did, wrocking harder than anything I’d ever seen. He pulled out all the stops, though the highlight of the set, by far, was hearing Brotherly Love performed live. It is extremely hard for me to decide, to this day, what was more entertaining: the crowd’s reactions, or Jarrod’s masterful guitar-playing.

Again, I found myself wondering how Matt could possibly top this when he came out next with The Whomping Willows. Amazingly, Matt proved me wrong within the first 30 seconds of his set. In a feat of badassery so unparalleled it deserves its own award here from the WRPCA’s, Mr. Maggiacomo walked out on stage, and yelled into the mic, “It’s time to dance, motherfuckers!” before launching into his set with a manic energy. This energy pervaded every single song he played, and he set the standard even higher.

By this point, there was a lot of murmuring going on in the crowd. As we waited for the next band to take the stage, my friends and I all put our heads together and asked ourselves what Harry and the Potters would have to do in order to top that one. I couldn’t think of anything. I had no idea what they’d pull off- and it was a good thing that I didn’t bother speculating, because all Paul and Joe DeGeorge had to do was be Harry and the Potters- something they’re exceptionally good at.

The Harry and the Potters set that night was the single most intense musical experience of my life. They played harder than any band before them. They had more fun on stage (and a whole lot of fun off of it in the crowd). Paul broke strings from playing so hard, and Joe’s voice was nearly gone by the end. And I can assure you that there is nothing more surreal than eating bacon from a series of platters being passed through the crowd courtesy of the DeGeorge brothers at 11:45 at night.

The grand finale topped things off, though, with the band inviting dozens of people on stage to join them in their extremely hardcore take on Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit,’ which in this case is aptly renamed ‘Smells Like Harry Potter,’ seeing as all of the lyrics are replaced with a rhythmic chanting of sorts. As if that wasn’t enough, there was their epic performance of ‘Dumbledore,’ in which the entire crowd joined hands and formed a massive circle, before collapsing into it to wrock out.

Wizard Rock Night reminded me that, even after nearly two years since the release of Deathly Hallows, both the fans and the bands could match the intensity of the pre-release days. The numbers might not be the same, but the experience hasn’t changed one bit. Just as long as the bands continue to love what they do, and the fans still love the music, we will never, ever disappear.

Check out tomorrow’s article for the conclusion!

6 responses to “LeakyCon Remembrance, Day 2: Wizard Rock Night”

  1. Amanda Rumm Avatar
    Amanda Rumm

    And the envy just keeps coming. It is physically impossible for me to explain how amazing this all sounds and how much I wish I had been there.
    In addition, I completely agree with what you said about the fandom and the music. The music, the fans, the fun, will always be around for so long as there is Harry Potter. And the end of the books or the movies doesn’t signify the end of our era. Not even for a little bit. We fans will remain loyal to the end. Not mention we will breed the next generation of Potterheads. So these concerts will never stop; bands will continue to spring into existence and tour. Because there will always be someone to watch and to listen.

  2. Penguin1124 Avatar
    Penguin1124

    Seriously, that was probably the greatest wizard rock show I have ever seen. It was just completely EPIC! It was my first Gred and Forge and Tonks and the Aurors show ever and they blew my mind. TWW and HatP were AMAZING and it was a show that I will never forget!

  3. Julia Avatar

    I don’t actually have words to describe how awesome that whole night was. It was…wow. ALL the bands that night were amazing, but HatP’s set holds a special place in my heart. Seeing them live is one of those things you really have to experience in order to understand, and mo matter how many times you try to find the right words to describe it it’s simply impossible. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing them more than once, and every single time the love in that room has been so powerful, I could physically feel it. “Dumbledore,” made me stand in a circle of love and remember how greatful I am to be a member of this wonderful community. And then “Smells Like Harry Potter” just made me dance with abandon and forget everything except the awesome music and the awesome people I was with.

  4. Ellatrix (The Lost Diadems) Avatar

    best night ever.

  5. Russ Avatar

    Rock Night was amazing for me because I got to finally meet SO MANY PEOPLE whom I had only been able to converse with online for the previous 2+ years. It was my only day at LeakyCon, so I made the most of it. I had so much fun just hanging out with everyone during the day, and the show that night was INCREDIBLE. One of my favorite onstage experiences of all time.

  6. Freya Avatar

    I’m pretty sure watching Russ’ shit-eating grin while he played drums was my highlight of that night!

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