Hello magical friends, and welcome to episode 126 of WZRD Radio! I’m your hostwitch Bess and I’m so happy to be chatting with you again.
Summer! Of! Fun! might be winding down, but there’s still plenty of joy to be had in the fandom. I’m looking forward to sharing some of it with you, but first the music.
Here’s the Butterbeer Experience with “Death Eater Tango.”
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That was The Butterbeer Experience with “Death Eater Tango” [lyrics], “Dark Arts” from Errand of Mercy [lyrics], and Bella and Le Strangers singing “Unforgivable.”
And now let’s hear from that wandering wix, our Special Correspondent in the Field, DQ!
SCitF DQ: Very best of evenings to you all! Unless you happen to be listening to this in the morning, the afternoon, or the middle of the night. This is Special Correspondent in the Field DQ with a field report for EnchantiCon 2025. In many ways, EnchantiCon felt very familiar, most likely because until recently it was known as LeakyCon. But after going through a bit of a rebrand, this event is now known as a fantasy fan convention that took place at Union Station in St. Louis, Missouri. While it was a lovely spot to have an event, it was a little bit difficult to navigate at first, and if anyone would like musical proof of this, check my personal social medias for an improvised wizard rock song about the hotel featuring myself and the Galleon Guy. All throughout the weekend EnchantiCon saw gatherings of wizard rockers, both new and classic in both large and small groups, whether it was jamming in the hotel lobby for lobby cons, or the Hootenanny that wrapped up the entire event, featuring songs by myself as well as Ren Fairweather.
But the crown jewel of the entire weekend, at least from a wizard rock point of view, was the wizard rock show that was held the Friday night of the convention, somewhere slightly off campus at a charming little board game bar known as Pieces. Now in this correspondent’s humble opinion, the parking situation left something to be desired, but the food was delicious, as were the beverages, and the staff was courteous and kind. And once again, wizard rockers proved that they will show up for one another in spite of how challenging the circumstances can be when putting on a great show. The show took place in the outdoor part of the venue. There was no sound system, and the lighting got much, much more challenging as the show went on, as it lasted several hours into the evening. But one thing that was consistent throughout the entire show was the level of energy and passion and fun coming from the audience as well as performers.
The dynamic lineup of wizard rockers featured at the event included JD featuring Kevin, Autumn Brooke, Bisexual Harry, myself, Ren Fairweather, and Brian Ross. There was even a special performance of the “Graveyard Rap Battle” by Azkaban is Burning. Now, we do need to issue an apology to anyone who may not have seen the social media posts. The original intention was to livestream the show on the WZRD Instagram account. Unfortunately, moments before the performance began, we found out that there is a new policy that in order to livestream on Instagram, there needs to be a minimum follower account of approximately 1000. So at the last moment, the livestream was switched over to the Dream Quaffle Instagram account and to anyone who may have missed out on the livestream because of that, we are deeply sorry. So thank you to everyone who tuned in to watch the livestream that wasn’t able to attend, thank you to everyone who did attend and gave your wizard rockers every ounce of support you could muster. And thank you most especially to JD, Kevin, Cass, and Allie for making sure that there was a wizard rock show as part of EnchantiCon 2025. Will we be back again next year? Will we put on the same show in a different venue? Will wizard rock make a triumphant return to EnchantiCon? Only time will tell, and I personally can’t wait to see what happens next year. This is Special Correspondent in the Field DQ signing off for now.
Thank you so much for that, DQ. It sounds like it was a magical time.
Here’s some more music! First up is Percy & the Prefects with “Mad-Eye Moody.”
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That was “Mad-Eye Moody by Percy & the Prefects [lyrics], followed by “March of the Death Eaters” from The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office [lyrics], and Adam WarRock & Mikal kHill with “Unforgivable.”
September is back to Hogwarts season, so there’s a lot going on in the wizarding world! Here are a few options.
First of all, you’ve got a bare handful of days to sign up for this year’s wrock swap! I’ve had a sneak chat with the organizer and he said it’s going to be epic. [link]
The Moon Wizarding Festival is back on September 6th in Moon Township, PA. [link]
September 10th is going to have a “Hogwarts After Dark” comedy pole dancing show in LA, CA, which sounds amazing. [link]
If you’re around Camden, DE the weekend of September 19th, they’re having a Harry Potter Weekend with a Diagon Alley and themed ice cream treats! [link]
And September 20th in Gate City, VA is Harry Potter Night, with a viewing of movie one and related snacking. [link]
Columbus, GA is having their 4th annual Harry Potter Dinner on September 20th, and it’s going to be magical. [link]
The Halloween Comp is open for submissions through October 1st, and there is plenty to sing about with that inspiration. [link]
September 27-28th is Queen City Mischief and Magic in Staunton, VA. [link]
And so much music came out that I missed last month!
Veil Into Black shared “Always.” [link]
The Bookish Hufflepuff released “Learning How To Dance” from the Just Joy comp. [link]
Azkaban is Burning released the magnificent “This EP is Enby.” [link]
And Cruciatus Curse gave us the final “Wizard Rock Guide to Harry Potter! [link]
All these events and more are in the Potterhead Calendar page of the WZRD website.
Wow, that’s a lot to be getting on with, and it doesn’t even include BandCamp Fridays, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, and whatever your local library is doing. So you should go check those out too, and while you do, here’s “Mostly Unforgiveable” by the Mollywobbles.
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You just heard The Mollywobbles’ “Mostly Unforgivable” [lyrics], “Inquisitive” from Grace Kendall [lyrics], and Swish & Flick’s “Like a Death Eater [lyrics].
And that’s the end of our episode! I hope you had fun.
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: We must try not to sink beneath our anguish, but battle on.
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