This month, we are going back to 2008. 8/8/08 to be exact. That auspicious date marks the first Wrock Wreggies show in Chicago. It was one of the most memorable gigs for Swish and Flick, one which I fondly recall as the moment we’d “made it” in Wizard Rock.
The two-night Wrock Wreggies event was presented as a Leaky Cauldron afterparty adjacent to Terminus. Terminus was a huge Harry Potter academic conference, unaffiliated with the Leaky Cauldron.
I would be remiss if I didn’t reflect a bit on Terminus before remembering Wreggies. Held at the now-defunct Chicago Hilton, Terminus was the first Harry Potter conference that Swish and Flick had ever attended. Wrock Chicago (not to be confused with Wrock Wreggies) was a “pre-con” wizard rock event for conference attendees.
After the Terminus organizers announced the the original lineup of Wrock Chicago, a whopping 24 bands, a contest was held a few months before the con to select the 25th band. I don’t remember everything that the contest application entailed, but I know it included a short essay. Made sense, considering it was an academic conference. Rather than choosing one band, they chose four! Swish and Flick, Hawthorn and Holly, The House of Black, and The Ministry of Magic.
If you weren’t at Terminus, you may have heard that this was the legendary conference where The Whomping Willows wrocked so hard that they dislodged the crystals off a massive chandelier in the ballroom. That’s not hyperbole. The floor literally shook so hard from everyone jumping in the audience, as this video shows, that the chandelier broke.
Though Swish and Flick were not part of that particular show (that was the headliner show), we did perform in a smaller room for a smaller (however enthusiastic!) audience. I was extremely grateful for the opportunity to perform at the conference, but I wasn’t thrilled about the way it was scheduled. Wrock Chicago followed a multiple stage festival model. There were bands performing in different rooms at the same time, except during the evening headliner “Main Stage” show. This meant people had to leave halfway through one set if they wanted to catch the other band playing in that time slot. It did not vibe with the community spirit of wizard rock.
Many other conferences/events proved that you could have a great lineup of multiple bands without having to pit performers against one another.
This brings us back to the reason why we’re here: Wrock Wreggies. Two nights, tons of bands, both OGs and emerging wizard rockers. Nobody competing for an audience.
Organized by Dan O’Brien of the band Diagon Alley, Wrock Wreggies took place at Reggies Rock Room, a newly-opened club in Southside Chicago. Reggies was a legit performance venue with a professional sound/lighting system and a high stage. Because Reggies had a bar, the event was only open to people age 17 and up. Most wizard rock shows are all-ages, and I remember worrying that the age limit would reduce the audience size. That wasn’t the case. The club was packed! So many wizard rock fans were already in Chicago for Terminus, so that probably helped the numbers.
Wrock Wreggies was the first time Swish and Flick had ever performed for a large audience. I don’t have the exact numbers, but I’m guessing there were over a hundred people there. Playing to a full house in a concert venue was so exciting and so different from performing for Terminus attendees in a conference room at the Hilton. My rock star dreams had be realized!
At one point during our set, I told the audience I wanted them to wave their wands from side to side. I was nervous that people wouldn’t participate. We were a relatively new wrock band with a very local (NYC) fan base (comprised mostly of our friends). For the first time, I stood above a large crowd of strangers and got them hyped up. I was so relieved when a sea of waving arms undulated in front of me. Swish and Flick had won them over.
After we got off the stage, I turned to John, my eyes welling up with tears, and I said, “We made it.”
We’d been accepted by the wizard rock community at large, venturing out of our comfort zone in New York City. From there, the sky was the limit.
The lineup of the first Wrock Reggies night also included The Whomping Willows, Dreary Inferi (who were also instrumental in organizing the show), and The Chocolate Frogs. After the bands played, Paul DeGeorge DJ’ed a dance party. The show was a fundraising event for the first ever Leaky Con, which would take place the following year in Boston.
The second night of Wrock Wreggies included The Moaning Myrtles, Diagon Alley, Catchlove, The Parselmouths, and Lord Voldi and the Dark Marks. Proceeds from this show were donated to Steps School in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
In 2011, Dan and our Diagon Alley friends invited us back for Wrock Wreggies 2!
Here are some videos from Wrock Wreggies 2008:
Enjoy this video playlist of Swish and Flick performing at Wrock Wreggies.
Here are The Chocolate Frogs performing with The Quaffle Kids at Wrock Wreggies
Back when Brittany Vahlberg was still a member of The Parselmouths, she performed “My Obsession” with Mark Jennings of The Ministry of Magic at Wrock Wreggies.
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