Into the Pensieve: Wrock in Retrospect – Infinitus 2010

by Stacy Santiago Pisani

CW: Contains mentions of Ministry of Magic and The Remus Lupins

Swish and Flick at Infinitus 2010, Night of Frivolity Ball. Photo Credit: D. Tortorella for HPEF

Concerts. Conferences. Concerts at cons. Let’s all release a deep forlorn sigh as we remember those days. Whether it was last year or last decade that you experienced your first Wizard Rock concert at a Harry Potter conference, I think we can all reflect upon those pre-pandemic days with bittersweet nostalgia, wondering if we’ll ever be able to gather in person as a fandom again.

Because we’re all feeling the pain of not being able to attend live shows, I’m going to pour out some memories for all of us to see. Welcome to the first installment of The Pensieve: Wrock in Retrospect, a monthly series in which I attempt to remember my personal experiences in Wizard Rock.

I first became involved in the Harry Potter fandom over thirteen years ago. When I look back, I see things differently than when I had first experienced them, and I understand things from a different perspective. Hindsight truly is 20/20. So expect a little dose of introspection to go along with the nostalgia. And if you weren’t there, no worries. I’m hoping that those of you who are newer to the fandom can come away with the feeling that you were wrocking out with us, back in the day.

A post titled “Memories of Infinitus 2010” popped up on my Facebook feed last month as I was brainstorming my first story for Wizrocklopedia. Can you believe it, lovelies? Infintus happened ten years ago!

We’re kicking off this series with Wrock Pub Night at Infinitus 2010, though it was by no means my first ever memory of Wizard Rock. You’ll find a transcript of my Facebook post from July 2010 at the end of this story. It’s a list of memories that I rattled off with little or no context, so I’ll highlight some of the things on the list and share my thoughts. Keep scrolling down for links to videos of the event. Maybe my memories will spark one of your own fond memories of that time when Wizard Rock echoed through the ballrooms of the Royal Pacific Hotel. If you couldn’t attend Infinitus, you can live vicariously through these memories, photos, and videos.

Infinitus was a Harry Potter symposium, presented by HP Education Fanon, Inc. (HPEF), a non-profit organization that had produced six conferences prior to 2010. Infinitus was held at the Lowe’s Royal Pacific Hotel, one of two sprawling high-end resorts at Universal Studios Orlando, from July 15 – 18.

Magical folks braved the Central Florida heat and humidity for the unique opportunity to enjoy all things Potter in actual Hogwarts for the very first time! The Wizarding World of Harry Potter had just opened its brand-spanking-new doors to the public a few weeks prior to Infinitus. Because the conference offered a large scale symposium with celebrity encounters (including Darren Criss) and exclusive access to the theme park sans muggles, it drew a huge number of attendees. Roughly 2,600 magical people! This was by far the largest Harry Potter conference I have ever attended.

Infinitus had all of the fan-driven programming you’d expect from a major Harry Potter conference, including a plethora of Wizard Rock performances, from staged concerts, to open mics, to impromptu hallway jams.

The Blibbering Humdingers and Leah from Hawthorn and Holly performing in the hallway outside the ballroom, Infinitus 2010. Photo Credit: Jenn LaMarr

Swish and Flick had the honor and pleasure of being one of the many musicians that had been invited to perform. We had played at two other HP cons before, Terminus and LeakyCon, so we were beyond excited for the opportunity to perform at another large convention.

There were two themed Wizard Rock performances scheduled on Thursday. The early show was Classic Wrock Night, with The Butterbeer Experience, The Whomping Willows, The Moaning Myrtles, Justin Finch Fletchley and the Sugar Quills, and The Remus Lupins. (Thank you Jenn LaMarr for confirming this for me!)

Lena Gabrielle of The Butterbeer Experience performs at Infinitus 2010, where she also debuted her wrock musical, The Final Battle, cowritten with Mallory Vance. Photo credit: Jaime.

The Whomping Willows at Infinitus 2010

The Whomping Willows performs at Classic Wrock Night at Infinitus 2010. Photo Credit: Jaime.

The Moaning Myrtles at Infinitus 2010

The Moaning Myrtles performing at Classic Wrock Night at Infinitus 2010. Photo Credit: Jaime

The late show’s theme on Thursday was Wrock Pub Night, featuring electronic-based Wizard Rock music. There was some kind of rave element to the theming as well. The lineup included Witherwings, The House of Black and MC Kreacher, Swish and Flick, and Ministry of Magic.

Flyer for Wrock Pub Night at Infinitus 2010, created by Swish.

Witherwings performs at Infinitus 2010

Witherwings (Mandala Wojnar) performs at Wrock Pub Night, Infinitus 2010. Photo Credit: Squeek Photography for HPEF

MC Kreacher (Myles Kane) performs at Wrock Pub Night, Infinitus 2010. Photo credit: Jenn Drucker.

Audience members (and Erin Pyne, House of Black, show organizer) join Ministry of Magic on stage at Infinitus 2010. Photo Credit: Jennifer Drucker

Mark Jennings from Ministry of Magic with Eia Waltzer and Kristina Horner from The Parselmouths singing together at Wrock Pub Night, Infinitus 2010. Photo Credit: Jennifer Drucker

After the Night of Frivolity ball on Saturday, was Wrock Comedy Night, featuring wizard rock with funny lyrics, including The Quaffle Kids, Fred Lives, Hawthorn and Holly, The Blibbering Humdingers, and The Parselmouths*. (Thank you, Jenn LaMarr for once again confirming this for me.)

The Blibbering Humdingers and Christie Mowery of Hawthorn and Holly perform at Wrock Comedy Night, Infinitus 2010. Photo credit: Justin Waits

Hawthorn and Holly with The Blibbering Humdingers performing at Wrock Comedy Night, Infinitus 2010. Photo credit: Jennifer Drucker

Fred Lives performs at Wrock Comedy Night, Infinitus 2010. Photo credit: Justin Waits

As a performer who feeds heavily off audience enthusiasm, who works very hard to put on a good show, I had worked extra hard to make Swish and Flick’s set at Infinitus something special.

I had recruited my friends to form a dance group, Flick’s Flygirls, who would perform as my backup dancers. They had performed with Swish and Flick before, but I think Infinitus was the largest show to date. The dances and cheerleader routines were choreographed by Staci, Olivia, and Elena. We’ve all been spelling out S-L-Y with our arms thanks to the Flygirls. We rented dance studio space in New York City to rehearse on a regular basis. We had matching outfits made for us, including those Malfoy shorts. Even the cheerleader pom poms were custom ordered.

Flick's Flygirls

Flick’s Flygirls: Jax Medina, Olivia Garcia, Elena Squatrito, Staci Ortiz, Jenn Drucker, Ariel Factor Birdoff.

I wanted to give Infinitus a spectacle. I had idolized Madonna growing up, and the Infinitus stage gave me the opportunity to live my sex-kitten-pop-star dreams. Besides putting on a good show, my goal was to have a good time with my friends while inspiring others to dance, to laugh, to feel like they were at an awesome party where they belonged. Flick’s Flygirls were tasked with getting the party started, and keeping the party going.

Swish, with Flick’s Flygirls Jax and Ariel, getting people hyped in line for Wrock Pub Night at Infinitus 2010. Photo credit: Jonathon Rosenthal

There’s something so awesome about performing a show at a conference. You can meet your audience the next day, hang out with them, and find out how you were received.

Here are some items from my list of Infinitus memories regarding Swish and Flick fans:

Interacting with fans: talking with them, signing autographs, taking pictures with them. It was weird to think that SnF has real fans, but so fricken cool.

People telling me all day they enjoyed Swish and Flick’s show. More photos and autographs.

Being asked for my photo, assuming she wanted a photo of me, Lucius and Draco, but then being told she just wanted a photo of Swish!

Being stopped several times during the night by fans talking to us, taking our picture, asking for our autograph. It made me happy and I nearly forgot I was upset about not getting to ride The Forbidden Journey again.

Swish and Flick with Samantha Brown and Everlee Cotnam

Swish and Flick at Infinitus with Everlee Cotnam and Samantha Brown, keeping it Slytherin. Photo credit: Samantha Brown

As a Harry Potter fan myself, it was a little surreal to be fangirled or fanboyed or fanned by fellow Harry Potter fans. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love it, deep down inside. Validation is Life for someone like me. I create things for my own enjoyment, but I can only create in a vacuum for so long before I need reassurance that somebody else likes what I’ve created. What better reassurance, than a lovely person asking me to put my signature on the thing I created?

One of the best gifts that Wizard Rock has given me, has been friendship. Many of the people who I met at wrock shows, both fans and musicians alike, became my friends. Because of these friends, attending HP events always felt like coming home. Concerts and conferences were an opportunity to be with my fandom family from all over the world, and I cherished every single gathering of magical lovelies. It truly breaks my heart to know that we may not be able to get together like this, our mouths wide open singing as one, dancing less than six feet apart, any time soon.

Erin Pyne, Mandala Wojnar, Swish, with Flick’s Flygirls: Jenn Drucker, Ariel Factor Birdoff, Staci Ortiz, Jax Medina, and Elena Squatrito (Olivia Garcia not pictured). Photo credit: Jenn Drucker.

I don’t want to end on a sad note, so I’ll reflect on something fun and positive.

I had my first butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks with Harry Potter himself. There was something very meta about that. If Paul DeGeorge hadn’t started a band with his brother Joe, which launched a movement, I wouldn’t have been inspired to create Swish and Flick, and I wouldn’t have shared a butterbeer with the founder of Wizard Rock. Thank you, Paul!

Here’s that memory from the list:

The Three Broomsticks/The Hogshead Inn – the greeter giving me and John a hard time for being Slytherin. Seeing Mandala dressed as Fleur in the queue. Admiring how real everything looked with Myles. Eating dinner with John and Myles, then being joined for drinks by Paul and Meredith. I liked the tap pulls for the Hogshead ale. Drinking Butterbeer!

And now, enjoy these photos of various Wizard Rock performances at Infinitus 2010!

The House of Black (Erin Pyne) performs in the Common Room at Infinitus 2010. Photo credit: Jennifer Drucker

Gryffindor Common Room Rejects performs at Infinitus 2010

Gryffindor Common Room Rejects performs in the Common Room at Infinitus 2010. Photo Credit: Mandala Wojnar

Ariel Factor Birdoff of Madam Pince and the Librarians performs in the Common Room at Infinitus 2010. Photo credit: Jonathon Rosenthal

Slash Fiction (Stacy Santiago Pisani, Meghan Krauth, with special guest Scott Vaughan) performs in the Common Room at Infinitus 2010. Photo credit: Jennifer Drucker

The Chocolate Frogs performing at Infinitus 2010. Photo credit: Jennifer Drucker

Paul DeGeorge Infinitus

Paul DeGeorge of Harry and the Potters makes a surprise appearance to accept the Chase Community Giving grant on behalf of The Harry Potter Alliance. Photo credit: Theodore Hwa

Swish and Flick at Infinitus 2010

Swish and Flick perform with Flick’s Flygirls at Wrock Pub Night, Infinitus 2010. Photo credit: Jaime.

Transcript from Facebook with sections redacted to protect the privacy of others:

Memories of Infinitus 2010

July 19, 2010 at 12:32 PM

Mostly good memories and some not so good memories (for posterity’s sake) of my experience at Infinitus 2010 in Orlando, Florida – a Harry Potter Symposium.

DAY 1: WEDNESDAY JULY 14

Reading all the Tweets and FB status messages about wizards and witches making their way to Orlando around the same time.

Crying upon entering Westchester County Airport, unable to deal with the fact that I was leaving Chloe for 4 days.

Walking up to the monorail in Orlando Airport and seeing a giant billboard for WWoHP.

Taking a taxi to the hotel and seeing ginormous billboards for WWoHP and thinking, “Holy crap! DanRad’s face is EVERYWHERE! Quite possibly more than Mickey’s.”

Arriving at the Royal Pacific Resort after midnight and being reminded of my honeymoon in Hawaii.

Our post-midnight orientation stroll through the hotel with the girls in Jabberwockies masks, accosting unsuspecting muggles, ickle con-firsties, and teenage girls (and their mom) with E’s riding crop and Wrock Wrave fliers.

DAY 2: THURSDAY JULY 15

Coming to the 8:30 AM Tech meeting for the wizard rockers, only to discover that it was cancelled. I would have been annoyed about having to wake up early if I wasn’t so excited to be there. I woke up at 7 without an alarm clock anyway.

Breakfast in the lobby with John, encountering numerous NYC peeps.

Seeing the hotel overtaken by wizards and witches in costume.

9:30 AM dancer rehearsal in Staci and Olivia’s room, then spilling out into the hallway. Would have been so funny if the people across the hall opened their door.

Meeting Phoenix Mowery for the first time and chilling with the little dude.

Skipping the long lines at the opening feast and getting our own buffet area for wizard rockers and Final Battle cast/crew. Felt like a VIP. The food was really good too, but I was too nervous about my show to enjoy it.

Moving on up from the 1st floor to the 6th floor, and discovering from the front desk staff upon fixing a key card mixup, that the Humdingers would be our neighbors. Erin and Myles were our roomies.

Classic Wrock show in Pacifica 7, the enormous ballroom. Chillin at the merch table still in denial that I would be performing on the same stage in mere hours. People actually bought our stuff and talked to us!

WROCK WRAVE:

Dress rehearsal and warmup on the Wrock Wrave stage.

Me and the dancers warming up the crowd waiting outside the ballroom. The queue stretched all the way to the front entrance of the building.

Glowstick raving to Witherwings and The House of Black f/ MC Kreacher.

OMFG… MC Kreacher and Erin [Pyne] together… EPIC!!!

Myle’s [MC Kreacher] “Put a Sock In It” sock-throw, and people in the audience fist-pumping with tube socks on their hands like puppets.

Taking the stage in front of 300-400 people, leading them in clapping to “We Will Rock You” by Queen, then strutting on to the stage with Flick’s Flygirls. John’s face-melting guitar solo.

300-400 wizards and witches raising their wands in the air and waving them like they just didn’t care.

Strip tease down to Malfoy booty shorts and a sequined tank top during “Amortentia”.

People hearing us for the first time, laughing at the jokes in my lyrics.

My dancers tearing it up on stage. I’m so proud and so honored. <3 They were FANTASTICALLY BADASS!

“Quidditch Witch” with Mandala [Wojnar] cheerleading.

“My Dad is Rich on a Boat” with the Ministry [of Magic] boys.

Dancing on-stage with my girls and Ministry of Magic to “Gryffindor Rally Cry” and not caring it’s about my rival house.

The dance we made up on the spot to “Mischief Managed”

Interacting with fans: talking with them, signing autographs, taking pictures with them. It was weird to think that SnF has real fans, but so fricken cool.

DAY 3: FRIDAY JULY 16 (Holy crap! It’s only been 2 days?!)

Seeing the costuming panel with Perseus [LePage], Draco [LePage], and Droxy [Yaxley]. Getting valuable tips on embodying the character. I think I’m going to try to be a costumer for real now. Not just dabbling in cosplay.

People telling me all day they enjoyed Swish and Flick’s show. More photos and autographs.

Not knowing what the hell I was talking about in the panel I was speaking on, but pimping out the NYC Wizard Rock Festival like crazy.

Meeting John [Flick] at Islands of Adventure. Skipping lines with the express pass. Feeling scared shitless to go on any ride that had some sort of a drop, which was pretty much ALL of them. I had a nice view of Hogwarts Castle from the top of one of the rides. Alone time with John was worth everything.

Getting completely soaked on the raft ride and not caring because our hotel room was just a 10 minute walk away. Making it back to the hotel just before the afternoon thunderstorm hit.

NIGHT OF A THOUSAND WIZARDS – THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER

Walking back to Islands of Adventure, in costume, with John and Myles [Kane].

Seeing Hogsmead for the first time. Sensory overload!

The Three Broomsticks/The Hogshead Inn – the greeter giving me and John a hard time for being Slytherin. Seeing Mandala [Wojnar] dressed as Fleur in the queue. Admiring how real everything looked with Myles. Eating dinner with John and Myles, then being joined for drinks by Paul [DeGeorge] and Meredith [Moore]. I liked the tap pulls for the Hogshead ale. Drinking Butterbeer!

Hogwarts Castle – seeing the castle for the first time up close at night, as opposed to in the daylight. It was like being a first-year, arriving at Hogwarts at night. It was gorgeous all lit up and looming above us. My jaw was on the floor.

The Beaxbatons vs Durmstrang dance-off.

Meeting up with my girls and freaking out the muggles.

Moaning Myrtle in the girl’s bathroom!!!

Going on the Hogwarts tour with my girls: Getting compliments on my costume from the people that worked in the castle. The talking portraits of the founders. Dumbledore’s office. The snow in the DADA classroom. No Snape or Draco :'(

Not being able to tell who worked there and who didn’t because so many of us were in costume.

Dancing with my girls in the big theater where they gathered us for Night of a Thousand Wizards. And being thoroughly pissed off that we were kept there so long. Cheering every time Tom Felton was on the screen. Watching Voldemort dancing, and then kill Cedric.

Hearing Scott [Vaughan] singing “Eff this, I’m going to Hogwarts” when they finally opened the WWoHP and a throng of wizards descended upon it.

Singing “I wanna go to Honeydukes” with Rob upon entering Honeydukes.

Finding a dessert buffet upon exiting Honeydukes, and losing John to free ice cream.

Going back to Hogwarts with John, Elena [Squatrito], Elaine [Robbie], Staci [Ortiz], and Olivia [Garcia] to ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey: Seeing the entire cast of AVPM [A Very Potter Musical] ahead of us in the queue. The people working in the castle recognizing me from the Hogwarts tour because of my fabulous costume. The incredibly awesome, incredibly confusing ride. Quidditch!DRACO squeeeeee! The Whomping Willow nearly making John lose his new iPhone4. The Acromantula spitting in my eyes. Getting off the ride and hugging my girls.

Upon exiting the ride, hearing the dude who plays Voldemort in AVPM saying, “There wasn’t any Voooooldemooooort on that ride.”

Riding the Hippogryph.

Dance party outside The Three Broomsticks with Margie [Smyth] and all Flick’s Flygirls, entertaining the people that worked there.

Stopping in The Three Broomsticks to say hi to the TGTSNBN [The Group That Shall Not Be Named, NYC HP Meetup group] peeps. Jon [Rosenthal] pointing out the secret house elf to me.

Going back to ride The Forbidden Journey with John and finding out THEY CLOSED THE FUCKING RIDE!!! D: Feeling so upset I nearly cried.

Walking away feeling so sad, but encountering Perseus and Draco [LePage] and feeling better, though still sad because they didn’t get to ride The Forbidden Journey AT ALL. Posing for pictures with them. Being asked for my photo, assuming she wanted a photo of me, Lucius and Draco, but then being told she just wanted a photo of Swish!

Olivanders – The wand choses the wizard. (Yes, Olivanders is in Hogsmead and not Diagon Alley)

The lack of villains is really effed up.

Walking back to the hotel barefoot because my feet hurt so much. I had to wear heels all night since my flats were still soaked from the raft ride.

Giant wizard rocker slumber “party” with John, Erin, Myles, Paul, and Meredith in room 2651. Erin explaining the plot of The Forbidden Journey…. er… WTF??? I can’t believe JKR actually helped write the script. It was so disjointed and ridiculous.

DAY 4: SATURDAY JULY 17

Practicing with Megan [Krauth] in the lobby to find my fingers forgot how to work. Being unable to properly play guitar. The 4 year old girl who wouldn’t stop watching us. Scott saving the day with his guitar skills and his Voldemort puppet.

The Fashion Show with Perseus and Draco: Swish and Flick saving the day with our audio equipment skills. DJ Tom Riddle FTW! Steam Punk Marauders … Oh… my… GOD!!

Dressing as Tom Riddle and Albus Severus Potter with Megan, and performing as Slash Fiction in the Common Room full of people who knew what slash was, but only one who was an actual reader of slash. Meeting another Draco/Theodore shipper! Scott joining us for two songs after only practicing with us once in the morning.

The Humdingers singing “I Want to Tie Your Shoe” acoustic… LOL!!!

No sound equipment for the DJ’s at the ball. WTF?

DJ-ing The Night of Frivolity ball with Matt [Maggiacomo] and Alex [Carpenter]: 2000 wizards and witches dancing! The crowd chanting for Lady Gaga and then shouting “We love you, DJ!” when I played “Just Dance”. Getting high-fived by Melissa [Anelli] and Matt when I played “Blue Monday”, but the entire crowd not recognizing the song. 30 people storming the stage when Alex played “Don’t Stop Believing”

The conga line and Disco-style dance off during Hawthorn and Holly’s set.

Getting kicked out of the ballroom too early. The Parselmouths not being allowed to perform. Hotel staff being dicks all night.

The entire night being so much fun despite all the hot messes.*

* [I really should explain what I meant by the “hot messes”. Sound equipment was not sourced separately for the ball, probably because the ball and the wrock show were supposed to be in the same room and take place one after the other. The HPEF organizers suddenly changed the venue of Wizard Rock Midnight Comedy Slam, which caused a cascade of problems for both the wrock show and the Night of Frivolity Ball prior, resulting in The Parselmouths being cut from the lineup seconds before they were scheduled to take the stage. This schedule had been set and approved months prior. I know that Erin Pyne and Matt Maggiacomo advocated strongly for The Parselmouths to go on with their performance, but HPEF insisted that letting the show continue until its scheduled end was in violation of their contract with the hotel. Efforts to continue the music in common areas of the hotel were met with adamant opposition from the HPEF organizers and hotel staff.]

SPECIAL THANKS and CREDITS

Flicks Flygirls are…
Staci Ortiz – Choreography
Olivia Garcia – Choreography
Elena Squatrito – Captain of the Slytherin Cheer squad
Ariel Birdoff
Jax Medina
Jennifer Drucker

Malfoy Booty Shorts by Leah and Tracy of Black Sheep Printing

We wouldn’t have been at Infinitus if it weren’t for…
Erin Pyne
My mom and grandma
John’s mom and dad
Our lovely fans and friends who support our music

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO WROCKED WITH US!!!

My experience at Infinitus and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was truly enriched by my friends. I would not have had as much fun as I did if I didn’t share it with you. I am so happy and honored that I did.