WROCKSTOCK III

Today sees the start of Wrockstock III, an amazing weekend of music held in Potosi, MO and featuring an array of the best wrock bands around today. Sadly, I couldn’t afford to go and are therefore going to miss seeing live the last ever Mudbloods show and the possibly only ever Starfish and Stick show, but as a consolation for all the people who can’t make it the organisers are broadcasting the shows from the Room of Wrockquirement on PotterTeeVee.com throughout the weekend.

Of course this means that the shows start at something like 2am my time, but I’m determined to watch as much of the weekend as I can. In case you, like me, have been unable to go to Trout Lodge and take part in this awesome weekend and want to tune in to see the bands, here’s the official schedule of the bands that are playing in the Room of Wrockquirement (times are CST). As you can see there are some great bands playing.

Friday:
8pm – The Moaning Myrtles
9pm – Justin Finch Fletchley
10pm – Ministry of Magic

Saturday:
2pm – Draco and the Malfoys
3pm – Creevey Crisis
4pm – Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls
8pm – Diagon Alley
9pm – Swish and Flick
10pm – Gred and Forge

Sunday:
2pm – Catchlove
3pm – RiddleTM
4pm – The Whomping Willows
8pm – Tonks and the Aurors
9pm – The Mudbloods
10pm – The Remus Lupins

Of course this is just a part of the action that is going on at Wrockstock. There are plenty of non-musical activities such as Quidditch, O.W.L.S. and N.E.W.T.S. , but there is also more music in the form of the Wampum Willow slots which will take place before the main action on Saturday and Sunday and are shown below. Unfortunately, this isn’t going to be televised, but I’m hoping that there will be plenty of videos available of the performances.

Saturday
9:00 Dreari Inferi
9:30 KwikSpell
10:00 The Buttermellows
10:30 The Vanishing Cabinet
11:00 X Lovegood
11:30 Madame Pince and the Librarians
12:00 Hogwart Heartbreakers
12:30 Professor Hooknose
1:00 Hawthorn and Holly
1:30 The Butterbeer Experience

Sunday
9:00 The Blibbering Humdingers
9:30 Snidget
10:00 Standing In Line
10:30 Starfish and Stick
11:00 The Nifflers
11:30 Tonks and the Werewolves
12:00 Alohomora
12:30 Half-Kneazles
1:00 The Dumbledore's Army Band
1:30 Neville's Diary

Live Wizard Rock (via UStream anyway)

The last few weeks have been interesting ones for me on the Wrock front. With tours starting by several of the US bands and the advent of streaming TV on my new fabby computer, I have, for the first time been able to watch these bands performing live.

The day before Leaky Con started I was lucky enough to see Witherwings, Snidget, The Butterbeer Experience, Swish and Flick and The House of Black in NYC. This was then followed last weekend with a concert by Justin Finch Fletchley, The Moaning Myrtles and The Whomping Willows, and last night with the concert by Gred and Forge, Tonks and the Aurors and The Remus Lupins who are playing in St Louis. Each of the shows has been excellent and I’ve enjoyed them very much. However, the buzz of being at the concert just isn’t there when I watch it from the lounge and I now very much want to see these and other bands live.

Sadly, it is unlikely that any of these bands will ever make it over the pond to the UK (although I did suggest it to Stacey of Swish and Flick earlier) so the earliest I am likely to see them performing will be at Leaky Con 2011 (I’d love to go to Wrockstock in November this year, but I’ve got absolutely no idea how I’d get there as it’s in the middle of nowhere and Infinitus in July 2010, although tempting, even if only for Lena’s wrock opera ‘Blood and Beauty’, is out of my price league when I’m so determined to be at Leaky Con the year after). I just hope all these excellent bands are still around. After all The Mudbloods have said their final live concert will be at Wrockstock.

Fortunately, the news isn’t all bad. The UK has produced some of the best Wrock bands around and they do hold regular concerts. I just need to be able to get to one. As luck would have it this month sees Hogwarts Jamboree which is being held in London on Sunday 28th June and features the bands Bella and the Deatheaters, Siriusly Hazza P, Shrieking Shack Disco Gang and RiddleTM. They will also be showing the Wizard Rock documentary film ‘We Are Wizards’ which I believe is the first and probably only time that it’ll be shown in the UK. In addition there will be plenty of other HP-related fun and frolics. Tickets are still available, at the link above, so if you’re free on that day get on down to the Loom Bar in London and join us for a quality UK HP Day.