NPR: Wizard Rock Casts a Spell over Harry Potter Fans

Wizard Rock Casts a Spell over Harry Potter Fans

Every night after supper for the past month, my four children and I have curled up on our couch and read aloud another chapter of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The kids are so into the book that they don't want to go and see the movie before I finish.

But there's even another way they can enjoy the trials of Mr. Potter -- "wizard rock." While I remember hearing vaguely about a band whose members dressed like Harry and even named their group after him, I confess I was unaware of just how popular this new musical genre had become until I heard Melody Kramer's piece on Day to Day.

(It was one of those moments when I realized just how old I am. How had I missed this stuff when my house is full of kids who want nothing more in life than to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?)

The trend started with a couple of guys from Boston who called themselves Harry and the Potters, and there are now bands called Draco and the Malfoys, The Whomping Willow and The Remus Lupins. The groups are particularly popular with -- go figure -- librarians.

Cindy B. Haynes, the children's librarian at the Fairfield Public Library in Fairfield, Conn., says she's amazed that more than 100 people have showed up to the library on a Friday night to see Draco and the Malfoys and The Whomping Willow. A typical Friday, she says, draws maybe 10.

If you want to listen to some wizard rock, you can find songs posted along with Melody's piece. You can also check out the MySpace pages of Harry and the Potters (if you're in Seattle, you can catch them tonight at the main public library) and Draco and the Malfoys.

This leads me, of course, to come up with ideas for other band names inspired by literary figures ... Ahab and the White Whales ... Hawkeye and the Mohicans ... The Catch-22's ... The possibilities are endless.

4:08 PM ET | 07-13-2007 | permalink

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