Harry Potter, and rock n’ roll. Two staples of today’s pop culture that most wouldn’t necessarily associate with each other. Wizard rockers Harry and the Potters aim to change that.
Brothers Paul and Joe DeGeorge started the band in 2002, penning seven songs of their first self-titled album over the course of an hour and then performing them for a crowd in their own backyard in Boston.
The group’s literary punk rock has attracted a lot of attention. They perform not at concert halls or auditoriums, but at libraries and bookstores. They manage to be squeaky clean and edgy at the same time, advocating libraries and reading and encouraging the audience to “stick it to the man” by rocking out.
The DeGeorge brothers have stated that Harry and the Potters serves a number of purposes, including getting kids to read and exposing them to new musical ideas. Indeed, the songs have an indie rock vibe to them with a lot of nerd punk thrown in for good measure, with titles such as “My Teacher Is A Werewolf,” “Luna Lovegood is OK,” “Stick It To Delores,” “Cornelius Fudge is an Ass,” and “In Which Draco Malfoy Cries Like A Baby.”
As of Summer 2006, with three albums (“Harry and the Potters,” “Voldemort Can’t Stop the Rock,” and “Harry Potter and the Power of Love”) and several tours under their belt, the “wizard rock” franchise has definitely grown.
While Harry and the Potters have established a cult following among teenage readers who wear shirts reading “Mrs. Potter” to the concerts, they also amuse the parents who come along to the shows with their younger children.
They’ve even inspired a rival band, Draco and the Malfoys, who are traveling with the group on this summer’s tour and play songs Potter fans love to hate, such as “My Dad Is Rich,” “Your Family Is Poor,” and “Hippogriffs Deserve To Die.” Although they essentially serve as Harry’s opening act, Draco and the Malfoys are every bit as hilariously entertaining.
For the first time, both groups are bringing the rock to Texas. Their Summer Reading and Rocking Tour is making stops in Garland, Austin, Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth. There will be a free show at the J. Erik Jonsson Library in Dallas on Saturday, Aug. 12 at 2 p.m. The show later that night at the Metrognome Collective in Fort Worth at 8 p.m. costs $5.
