By Sara Vaadia
Photo from harryandthepotters.com
Imagine if Harry Potter quit the quidditch team and traveled back in time to start a punk rock band with his past self to sing songs about the magical world he lives in. With that, we get Harry and the Potters. The band touches on multiple different subjects in J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter series, from humorous things such as wizard’s chess and saving Ginny Weasley, to inspiring songs about how the most powerful weapon we have is love.
The band, featuring brothers Joe and Paul DeGeorge—Joe who plays as “Harry year four” and Paul who plays as “Harry year seven,”—frequent libraries more than rock clubs, but Harry and the Potters, having played at the Knitting Factory before, returned to it on June 6th, but for their first time in its new Williamsburg location. Many people came early, lining up outside in their Hogwarts ties and wearing shirts with Daniel Radcliffe’s bespectacled face on it (the star who plays Harry Potter in the films.)
Opening for Harry and the Potters were two Muggle (non-magic folk) bands, Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, and Uncle Monsterface, and while both of them had an eccentric look and sound that kept the audience entertained and dancing, it wasn’t until Harry and the Potters came on stage that the audience packed close together, almost everyone singing along. While Harry and the Potters were playing, the audience transformed from a bunch of strangers into a community and a community is exactly what Harry and the Potters created in 2002 when they became the first “wizard rock” band, as countless bands followed in their footsteps.
This isn’t the first time that Williamsburg has served as a home to the wizard rock community. Back in September 2008, New York City Wizard Rock festival took place in Williamsburg’s Public Assembly, featuring 16 wizard rock bands. The show lasted for 8 hours, and over 300 wizard rock fans were in attendance. While Harry and the Potters weren’t present, other popular wizard rock bands such as Draco and the Malfoys, The Remus Lupins and The Whomping Willows, to name a few, had no trouble filling their shoes. With any luck, Williamsburg will continue acting as a place for the wizard rock and Harry Potter fan community to thrive.
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