Written by Rachel
Despite my tendency to overuse clichés such as “words cannot express it” when discussing wizard rock, the word for describing this show has not yet been invented. “Awesome” just doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Fairfield is a pretty big town, but the children’s library (the concert location) is small, so no one was really sure how much interest there’d be – or how much room. Nothing like this had ever been attempted in Fairfield, and I was out of my mind with excitement, which led me to arrive at the library over an hour early to help set up.

Now, it is completely necessary for the reader to understand how amazing the setting was. I have never, until this concert, been so blown away by a location before. It just screams Harry Potter. The library is arranged as a “mini-Fairfield,” with a “County Store” a “Town Hall” a “Train Station”…and a castle! (Not sure how that relates to Fairfield.) Because the intersection of all of these rooms is decorated as a forest, with huge wooden trees and wide-open spaces, it was beyond the perfect place for a wrock show, particularly The Whomping Willows CD release (especially once the signs on the adjoining rooms had become “Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes” “Hogsmeade Hall” and “Platform 9 ¾ ”). It was set up so that Whompy and the Malfoys were in front of the castle among the forest.

By the time it reached the momentous seven o’clock, our ten-person decorating party had grown significantly. People were pouring in, some in huge groups, from all over Connecticut and New York. The enthusiasm and energy was terrific, and we had no problem getting to know each other while we were waiting around for the show to start (blame the traffic).

Oh, the musicians.

How can you not love The Whomping Willows? As always, Matt had the whole crowd laughing over the lyrics of “House of Awesome” and “Wizard Rock Heartthrob,” not to mention the wildly popular, PG-rated, “Draco and Harry.” I have Matt’s set list in my pocket, and although he swears it’s not accurate, I can tell you with absolute certainty that he played a pleasing combination of new songs and old favorites. A huge amount of people were introduced to wizard rock on this night, and it was all of the most perfect song choices.

Along to help celebrate the release of the best-selling (at this show) Welcome To The House of Awesome album was Draco and the Malfoys, the most intense evil wrock duo that I have ever had the privilege to meet. As always, they rocked the house completely, getting a large group of girls (of which I may or may not have been a part of) up and dancing by the time they got to “Voldemort Is Awesome.” Never having seen them perform together before, I must say that Brian and Bradley are an absolutely amazing pair of musicians. Besides being extremely gifted, they know how to get the energy up and get people dancing. When they perform, they go all out, sharing a mic and leaping around the stage. It’s inspirational to watch.

It should also be mentioned that this show received an enormous amount of (well-deserved!) publicity. Throughout the set-up, performance, and sales/autographs/good-byes, the show was observed by a representative from the National Public Radio; Nanette from a Norwalk-based newspaper called The Hour; and a camera crew of independent filmmakers. Although these various press representatives caused some occasional visual interferences, their appreciation was hugely admirable. Because of this flattering attention, the fans and bands alike really played it up at this particular show. When the bands came outside afterwards to sign CDs and T-shirts (the library kicked us out; they had to close), the fans went all-out crazed-groupies, screaming and taking pictures. They were nice enough to stay for at least a half hour obliging everyone with their desired signatures and photos.

So, the film crew has it all on tape. The fans, the screaming, the signing, the singing, the rocking out. I envy the guy who has that footage, but I’m sure we’ll all be seeing it sooner or later in some acclaimed documentary on the Harry Potter fandom. With the fifth movie and seventh book (AHH!) on the way, Harry Potter has the world captivated – and wizard rock is its creative front runner.

I love wizard rock. May 4th was the best show ever.