Hello magical friends, and welcome to the last episode of 2024! I’m your hostwitch Bess, and I am so proud of us this year. Look at everything we’ve achieved! And there’s more still to come. This really is the greatest community.
To celebrate, here’s some music! We’re starting, as is traditional, with “A Very Severus Christmas” by Muggle Mike.
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That was Muggle Mike with the holiday season opener “”A Very Severus Christmas,” followed by “A Creevey Carol” from Creevey Crisis [lyrics], and “Sonorus!” by Sonorus [lyrics].
And now, here’s another field report from our Special Correspondent in the Field, DQ!
A happy and joyous holiday season, whoever you are, and whatever the reason. This is Special Correspondent in the Field DQ with a field report for WZRDFest and WZRD Presents from Orlando, Florida for November 2nd, 2024. An outsider looking in may not have realized that this was actually the first year for WZRDFest at the Ivanhoe Brewing Company because it was so well organized and well attended and received by the public. A diverse array of artists and vendors from far and near brought a diverse array of products to delight people of all ages and different walks of life. And this correspondent can tell you that their suitcase was considerably heavier on the return journey. Even when the rain began to fall in earnest, if Voldemort can’t stop the rock, then neither can some bad weather. So attendees were treated to performances by Dream Quaffle, How Airplanes Fly, Draco and the Malfoys and, in a rare wizard rock appearance, Erin of the House of Black gave a concert of some of the greatest hits of wizard rock, accompanied by Brian Ross. In addition to having the honor of giving the first performance of the afternoon to help kick off the event, your correspondent caught up with some of the other wizard rockers in attendance, including Avery Marshall, Brian Ross, Lan of Bisexual Harry, Kirsten of the Blibbering Humdingers, and Leah of Hawthorn and Holly for some field interviews, all of which can be viewed on the WZRD Radio social medias. As this choice festival came to a close, it was time to shift gears and move into the second part of the day for WZRD Presents at Conduit. Listen, at this point, I have to just drop the radio shtick and just talk to you guys as a regular human being because the story that I’m about to share with you about the experience of putting on WZRD Presents at Conduit is the stuff of Wizard Rock Legend.
Avery Marshall and I were getting ready to head over to the venue to get ready at about 5:00 PM. We got a message from Kirsten of the Blibbering Humdingers, letting us know that they had been without power at Conduit since about 2:00 PM that afternoon. At best, they were estimating that they would probably have the power back on at about 10:00 PM and the people who run Conduit promised us that no matter what, they would still let us put on the show. They even offered to go out and get lanterns and flashlights and battery operated candles, if that’s what it took. They told us they would have to accept cash only at the bar as long as they were without power, but that was the least of our concerns. What we were really concerned about was, ‘are people even gonna want to go to a show like this when they find out?’
But when we got there, there was a crowd of people waiting to come in, and when those people found out the kind of show that they were in for, they did not leave. They stuck around, they rallied behind us, and it just made the energy for this show that much more exciting. In fact, the more I thought about what was coming, I realized this was actually the most unique and exciting wizard rock show I had ever performed in my entire life. I was actually glad that the power was out, because I knew that an experience like this wasn’t likely to happen again soon. Hands down, my favorite part of the event was when I brought Lan up on stage with me to do a performance of “The Graveyard Rap Battle” as Azkaban is Burning. Because when I called Lan up to the stage, I heard them say to me, “we can’t do this!”
And I turned to the crowd. I told them what I had heard, and I said,” Lan just told me we can’t do this. Is that what wizard rock is all about?” They agreed it wasn’t, and I said, “is that the theme of this show tonight?” They agreed it was not. I stomped my feet, I clapped my hands, and I turned that entire venue into a beat machine, and it made that performance of “The Graveyard Rap Battle” one of the coolest and most fun performances of anything that I have given my entire life. And just in case anybody listening to this field report needs further persuasion that sometimes things work out just the way they should; the power at Conduit did come back on right at about 10:00 PM which means that the three musicians who only brought acoustic instruments were able to give their performances in total darkness while the Blibbering Humdingers and Hawthorn and Holly who brought electronic instruments were able to give their performances as intended. There is so much more that I could say about this incredible weekend of wizard rock. I came back from Orlando with nothing but stories and happy memories. But for a much more musical description of what happened that night, I recommend that everyone listening to this goes and listens to “WZRDFest for Good” by The Galleon Guy. This is special correspondent in the field, DQ signing off for now and saying, see you in 2025.
Thank you so much for that report, DQ. It really was an incredible weekend. And I can’t wait to see what adventures you have in the new year.
Our next music break opens with Draco and the Malfoys with “Christmas With My Mom and Dad.”
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You just heard “Christmas With My Mom and Dad” by Draco and the Malfoys [lyrics], “Christmas at the Burrow” by Ginny and the Heartbreakers [lyrics], The Radish Friends with “Every Harry Potter is a Christmas Movie Now” and “Drop the Needle, It’s Christmas” from Dumbledore.
December is always a fun time for cozy events, so let’s see what the community has going on!
First of all, Slytherspouse and I are doing a private “Hanukkah Harry Potter” marathon: one movie per night of the Festival of Lights, and I encourage all of you to do the same. Why not, right?
If you happen to be in Urbana, OH between December 2 – 6, stop by Gemini Coffee and Eats for their Harry Potter week. There’ll be special wizarding treats as well as giveaways. [link]
December 7-9, BRAC University in Dhaka, Bangladesh is going to be hosting a Harry Potter celebration. [link]
Dark Mark Ink, dear friends of the podcast and sponsors of WZRD Fest, are having a wicked good Friday the 13th party in Pinellas Park, FL. Your hostwitch will be there, so stop by to say hi! [link]
PDXpelliarmus is hosting a Yule Ball on December 14th in Portland, OR, featuring a feast, the Triwizard Tournament, and more. [link]
Speaking of Yule Balls, the wizard rock discord is putting on a virtual Yule Ball on December 27th, featuring some of your favorite wrockers! [link]
There’s actually no shortage of Yule Balls this month, so take a search and see what’s happening near you!
On December 28th, the newly reopened Unlucky Roll in Inverness, FL is having a Yule Ball, and your hostwitch will be attending. [link]
December 29th will feature a Harry Potter Baazar in Brownsville, TX. [link]
And our filk friends are hosting a “Songs of Resistance” song circle every week on Wednesdays, in case you want to hear—or perform!–some angry and hopeful nerdy music. [link]
And keep an eye on Ludo Bagman, who’s promised us Bagmas shenanigans this month.
As for what I missed last month…
The Bookish Hufflepuff gave us “Wrock is Perfect.” [link]
The Galleon Guy released “WZRDFest for good. [link]
Slytherspouse put out “A Slytherspouse Holiday” album as well as his Pedia Comp Club song “Gryffindor Bias.” [link] [link]
And ERWA of Potterwatch went on Snape Chat! [link]
Normally this is the part where I say “all these events, and more, can be found on the Potterhead Calendar page of the WZRD website” but I’m afraid this time I simply did not make it. But I did still link them in the transcript.
And on that note, here’s The 8th Horcrux with “Ron’s Woeful Christmas.”
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That was “Ron’s Woeful Christmas” from the 8th Horcrux [lyrics], “A Sirius Christmas” by I Speak Tree, and “So Much Love” by Snidget [lyrics].
And with that, another year of WZRD Radio comes to a close. Enjoy the festive month and I’ll see you in the new year, magical friends.
If you heard your new favorite song, go to the transcript at WZRDRadioPod.com, follow the link, and buy yourself a copy. You’ll get a great new addition to your music collection and a wizard rocker will know they’ve got a fan. And you know what I always say: without our wizard rockers, we wouldn’t be here.
You can support WZRD and the Community Wrock Fund by joining the Patreon at Patreon.com/WZRDRadioPod. There are two, five, and ten dollar tiers that all get the same perks, including early episodes and bonus content, and support the Fund in helping our wizard rockers get their music out there.
You can still guess this episode’s theme on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok at WZRDRadioPod. You can also get in touch by commenting on the transcript or emailing me at WZRDRadioPod@gmail.com.
Until next time, magical friends: Happy Christmas!
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