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Wizard Rock Has Fans in Hogwarts Heaven
(By John Locher -- Las Vegas Review-journal Via Associated Press)
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Wagner winces a bit. "They're really exuberant, that's what I like about them," she says.
Kelley adds, "I think they've gotten better."
Paul DeGeorge is the first to admit that musicianship is not the strength of the band. He sees this as part of its audience appeal: "They know we're not the best singers and keyboard players, but we're okay. And they think, well, I could do that, too. I think that's really encouraging to people, that all you need to be in a band is a guitar and a MySpace page."
That's it? What about, say, talent?
"No, no, no!" He's appalled. "I'm the first opponent to saying that's what you need to be in a band. The bands that I like, I look for passion and ability to engage an audience."
The DeGeorge brothers have vast quantities of both. The combination of their happy, who-cares personalities and Harry Potter fanaticism has cast a spell over book-loving teens across the country.
So is the band geeky? Or is it cool?
"I think it's geeky-cool at this point," Paul DeGeorge says. "I think the indie-rock community at the very least realizes we're taking a very DIY approach to this." DeGeorge is proud of the way he and his brother can roll into almost any town in their van and attract a crowd. He sees Harry Potter -- and, by extension, Harry and the Potters -- as a force for good.
"We're playing to younger kids when they're just starting to get into music, so it will have some kind of long-term effect on them," he says. "Hopefully, this will encourage them to stay in bands, and read, or get into art. This one girl in Texas brought us a zine she made all about Harry Potter. It's really cool to see that we're inspiring them."
When they first played L.A. three years ago, they had about 50 kids in a room at the library, says librarian Virginia Loe, who's in charge of teen programs and books -- and who's watching the show and singing along. The next year it was a bigger room, "but there were too many people," she says. Hence the move outdoors for this evening's gig.
The band gives Loe a shout-out from the stage.
It's an hour into the show and the brothers are tearing it up with "Stick It to Dolores."
