Wrockstock 2010: An Abridged Chronicle of Awesome

There are so many things to say about my first Wrockstock experience (a wizard rock music festival, for those who don't know) that I could probably write for about twelve hours before covering them all, but alas, the Muggle world makes other demands of my time. Therefore, I now present a condensed list of awesome events that took place in Potosi, Missouri, last weekend.

*I had just gotten my suitcase off the Knight Bus when I offhandedly said to my sister, "Hm, I wonder if my HP-Ohio friends are already here." I walked around the bus, and there were Jenny, Philip, Kim, and Megan, unloading their car. I couldn't have found them sooner if I'd used a Summoning Charm! We all ate dinner together, along with Vago and some other HP-OH people, and we had a blast! We were off in a rather dark corner of the dining room, so Philip suggested we get candelabras, and then someone added fine linens, and then we decided we were the Slug Club! :)

*The Parselmouths, the first band of the weekend, decided to have a slumber party at their show! They wore footie pajamas, taught us all a song they learned this summer at Pureblood Camp ("I am the Heir of Slytherin, you all bow down to me..."), and finished things off with a mass pillow fight.

*The Remus Lupins' entire set was amazing! Extra-fantastic highlights included what Alex said was the first live playing of "Young Sirius Black's Flying Motorcycle" (though there's some debate in the comments of my video of it on YouTube about whether or not it was actually the first time), the EPIC cover of The Whomping Willows' "Draco and Harry," and the onstage dance party during "Looking for Trouble," which featured Boba Fett and a stuffed animal pug that was apparently much loved by Luke Conard.

*During Madam Pince and the Librarians' set in the Wampum Willow, Ariel used the word "antiquarian" in a rap about good grammar. This is an example of why wizard rock pwns all other music.

*I had won a backstage pass, but there was a little mix-up and I didn't get it at registration on Friday, so Abby told me to come find her before Saturday's afternoon show. I wandered over to the Room of Wrockquirement around 1:00, where Josh and Joe of Marked As His Equal directed me to Abby's cabin. Jarrod Perkins was sitting on the porch of his cabin across the way, and when Abby asked if I was under or over 21, I said I am 21, and Jarrod started yelling, "No she's not, she's 19!!" In hindsight, I should have retorted with something about Fred and George being unable to fool the Age Line in GoF. Oh well. After a little more teasing, Jarrod came out and gave me a hug. :)

*I went back to the Room of Wrockquirement to watch the sound checks, and I met Laramie and Emily, the other lovely ladies who had won backstage passes. Marked As His Equal did their check last, because they were playing first, and when they were finished Mark and Mandy started having a debate about what Mandy ought to wear for the show. Mark looked at Laramie, Emily, and me and said, "Will you guys please come help my wife figure out what to wear?" So we went behind the stage and Mandy showed us her options and we helped her make a decision. We hung out and just talked with the band until the show started, which was really fun because they are hilarious! Josh was, like, shaking with nerves and excitement! They also give fantastic hugs.

*RiddleTM always amazes me with their versatility! Their songs are so beautiful and so deep, and I bawled my eyes out during "For Jo." (I wasn't alone in that!) Then the crowd began shouting "Beans! Beans! Beans!" and they came back out onstage to play it as an encore. Georgia said we made her life by all chanting that together.

*After the evening sound check and before they opened the RoW doors, it was really cold in there! Emily, Laramie, Georgia, Victoria, a WS staff member named Sarah, and I all wound up standing in a circle and doing jumping jacks to keep warm!

*The Saturday night sets were incredible! MC Kreacher was amazing, there was so much energy in the room when MoM came out with "Snape vs. Snape" that I thought the room might explode from the pressure of the awesome, and Diagon Alley's "Ode to Jarrod"....enough said.

*Bryce Cone of Neville's Diary on alto sax - HOLY COW. He's a wizard rocker and a high school band director. That's almost too much cool to be allowed in one person.

*Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls, whose music I absolutely love, were playing their last set. When Christian sang "End of an Era" and the other musicians took off their instruments and left the stage, I was so close to crying again. Also, that set was kind of the epitome of what I love about the wrock community and the way they support and collaborate with each other. At one point I think there were six bands represented on the stage - seven if you count Alex playing Steph's guitar.

*I ran into Mandy and Mark again in the merch room and happened to mention that I didn't want to read Henry V on the plane the next day. Mandy proceeded to summarize the entire play in about 15 seconds and then gave me two free buttons because I was a backstage pass winner. :)

*Brian Malfoy started singing "Your Family Is Poor" with the obvious intention of "provoking" Jarrod. Jarrod stood at the side of the stage, making threatening and obscene gestures, until he'd "had enough" and invaded the stage. They stood at the same mic, screaming their own versions of the song into each other's faces. And then...

*...MATT MAGGIACOMO, LAUREN FAIRWEATHER, AND JFF SHOWED UP!!!!! Biggest surprise ever!! I'm not sure I'd ever heard so much screaming in one place before. The coolest part was being able to see the reactions of the other wrockers at the edges of the stage and all the laughing and hugging that took place.

*Jarrod's entire set was insane, from his dramatic entrance to him periodically splashing the crowd with water to "Brotherly Love," one of the dirtiest and most fabulous songs in all of wrock!!

*Tonks and the Aurors. Holy cow! Steph worked so hard the entire weekend to keep everything running smoothly, and I couldn't think of anyone more deserving of the final set. She wrocked so hard that she broke strings on two different guitars, and Remus Lupin held his character hilariously as he helped his "wife" switch her guitar strap, which was being difficult. "We Are Magic" was truly magical, and then we called Steph and the others back for two encores, and they had only practiced one but you never would have known it.

*When they finally turned the lights off to signify that there would be no more encores, everyone turned to their friends and started hugging, beginning the process of farewells, and then suddenly all of the wrockers ran onto the stage, jumping up and down and singing "The Weapon" at the top of their lungs. We all joined in, jumping, dancing, singing, shouting, hugging, some people crying, and it was the perfect culmination of a truly amazing weekend.

*I managed to catch Alex after the show and I got to tell him how much his music means to me, which is seriously a lot, especially after it helped me survive some pretty heavy homesickness when I was studying in Ecuador last fall. I asked if I could hug him, and he said sure, but he made me put down the stuff I was carrying so we could do it properly. Then we gave each other an enormous hug. :D

*In the morning we had a pretty small, sleepy group on the 8 AM Knight Bus back to the airport. We were reliving some of our favorite moments of Wrockstock on the shuttle bus to the east terminal, and a guy on the bus said we sounded as if we were talking in code! We laughed and explained a bit about wizard rock. On the way through security, a TSA guy stopped and asked me what nargles are (I was wearing my "I believe in nargles" shirt), and he laughed when I told him and said he at least knew who Dobby was. Before we went our separate ways to the flight gates, our little Knight Bus crew shared a big group hug in the middle of the airport. :)

Wrockstockers, thank you! You amaze me and I hope we can all do this over again next year! The weapon we have is, indeed, love. <3