August 10, 2012
Where Magic Happens Lightning Is Sure To Strike
At wizard rock shows around the country, HPA chapters are volunteering to get audience members registered to vote. Clinton Miller, a member of the Los Angeles Auror Brigade, tells us what it’s like.
The Troubadour. The classic LA venue where Guns N’ Roses was signed and where a medley of other famous bands like Mötley Crüe, and Elton John played, and Monday night, it’s where lighting struck. An hour before the show started, people were already sitting in their wizard robes and playing with their wands. I showed up around 5:45pm and I did not look liked I belonged at a wizard rock show. I wasn’t wearing robes and I didn’t have a wizards hat or wand, but I carried a love of wizard rock that has grown and been cultivated for the past 5 years.
However, I wasn’t at the show just for fun; I had a duty I took very seriously. Well, as seriously as a person can be while dancing around like a crazy person and giving people high fives while screaming “Let’s WROCK!” I was there with a small group of representatives from the Los Angeles Auror Brigade. These amazing people included chapter organizers Amy Teplow and Mindy Rice (who was also our photographer that night) as well as Neta Vilenchik, who is doing a study on social media and activism. Katie Tucci, Ally Heraper, Tracy Potter and I were in the trenches. Our job was to engage the crowd and register people to vote or to allow them to file the paperwork for a change of residence and to get word out about the HP Alliance and the Auror Brigade in general, and on that level we soared.
I was very surprised that, of the audience members that attended the show, almost all of them were already registered, and the ones that weren’t got registered through us! In all, we registered 6 people as new voters and had 4 people file change of address forms.
The shows were amazing – Potter Puppet Pals had the crowd laughing so hard I think I saw a few with tears in their eyes, and when Harry and Harry came out on stage, the place exploded–and that’s when the magic really happened. Harry and the Potters played an amazing show to a packed room. It was hot and sweaty, but nobody cared as they were too busy laughing, dancing, and singing along to the music with their friends. During several songs both Mr. Potters entered the crowd to the delight and giggly delight of their ever present fan girls.
After the show Paul and Joe stayed in the bar area and signed autographs and pictures. They were also happy to talk to you and just let you know that you are generally awesome. Once the crowd had died down, Paul asked how we did and when we told him, he thanked us for all our hard work. This was my first ever WRock show, and I have to say it couldn’t of been more perfect. With the highlight of the night being the chance to meet a young girl in a wheel chair with her mom and grandmother who were there from Ohio. Just seeing the light in her eyes as she watched the show was a treat. While I wish we could have registered more people, I was proud to be a part of this event and I see this as just the start – and what an amazing start it was.
