wizard rock, part deux. . .

(. . .or the post where i blether about wizard rock with no real point and no real direction, as per usual for the bad arts)

wizard rock is taking over the world, and i'm not entirely sure that this is a good thing.

yes, once upon a time, i would have been pretty excited to see my favorite band about books, harry and the potters, leading what is apparently a world-wide trend in writing music about the harry potter books. well, scratch that. i am still excited that harry and the potters seem to be a phenomenon and are pretty much considered the kings of wizard rock and are written about in entertainment weekly, on mtv.com, and (with their indie cred, perhaps?) pitchfork.com...to name a few. they're really all over. this bothers me not one bit except that paul and joe aren't nearly as quick with responding to queries as they once were as i'm pretty sure that their fanbase has grown tenfold or more since the release of voldemort can't stop the rock.

no, harry and the potters success has bothered me not one bit. however, i am a bit dismayed at the sheer number of bands that have since popped up who attempt to rock in the same vein, but come up pretty short.

for example, recently, a livejournal community has been dedicated to the genre of wizard rock (check it out here), and with some investigation into the matter i was able to see just how much this has grown as a genre. apparently, wizard rock is the new black, and writing songs about harry potter and life in the world of magic guarantees you legions of fans.

(you don't even necessarily have to be good, as some of those bands most definitely are not.)

maybe i wouldn't mind if i didn't just really love harry and the potters so so much. i hold bands that i love near and dear in my heart and i don't want H&tPs success to be infringed upon by other bands such as draco and the malfoys (who are actually quite good, i must begrudgingly say) or the remus lupins or the whomping willows, or the whole list of wizard rock bands that can be found in the info section of the wizard rock community. i mean, is it necessary to have a band for every character that appears in the harry potter books? and, at what point does originality cease to exist? harry and the potters were the first wizard rock band (well, first harry potter wizard rock band, as there definitely have been wizard rock bands in the past, as people are apt to point out...) and though the other bands are writing their own songs with their own takes on the harry potter mythology, it's not very original to cop the idea when someone else did it first and has done it better and has started this genre of harry potter wizard rock?!

though the brothers degeorge do not seem to mind this, it still bothers ME (and here, as i've said before, my opinion is what counts). they even recently organized and performed at what appears to be a very successful rendition of the yule ball. (which i wish that i had been able to attend, however, boston is kind of far from minneapolis)

maybe it was inevitable, though. harry potter has taken over the world in so many ways that perhaps the music world was the next logical choice and if H&tPs hadn't started it then someone else would have. so, perhaps, i shouldn't be so judgmental and i should just go with the flow. if something is going to take over the world, i'd rather it be wizard rock than something horrible. after all, almost all of these bands are anti-voldemort (grrr, draco and the malfoys. grrr....), and thus, anti-evil, so that must be a good thing. it really could be worse.

so, in conclusion, i have no point. just that the number of wizard rock bands is overwhelming. and, if you're looking to start your own, i have some ideas:

the severus snapes
the potion masters
the golden snitches
the gryffindor lions
the squibs
the dementors
the basilisks
the half blood prince
the death eaters
the order of the phoenix
the prophecies (perhaps you could sing about all of madame trelawney's predictions? just an idea!)
gilderoy lockhart and the obliviators
professor quirrell and the turban of doom
wormtail and the silver hands
the flying cars
the muggles
dudley and the dursleys
the fleur delacours
viktor krum and the wronski feints
the veelas
the room of requirement
the tom riddles

and so on...