Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock: Harry and the Potters

So last night I totally let my inner nerd out to play. Thanks to a tip from blogger EH, I made the voyage out the the Bohemian Beer Garden in Astoria, Queens, to see Harry and the Potters. Man was that fun! And I'm not kidding: the songs were uber-silly but rockin' (you can check out an example here), and you really can't beat the beer and food at the Bohemian.

However, while I hate to admit it to poor Harry, the show last night was totally stolen by Draco and the Malfoys. The insider references were spot on with these guys (the song Hippogriffs Deserve to Die was priceless) and the music was more than just a backdrop for the lryics. Speaking of, check this out! I'd totally see them again.

But the best part of last nights show wasn't even the music but the kids in the crowd: the unabashed coolness of being nerdy was really awe inspiring. I mean, I'm sure we've all been around (and perhaps been a part of) groups of hipsters that front themselves in that nerdy-cool sort of way. But last night was a completely different type of experience: these kids were genuine nerds and they were genuinely cool.

And speaking of genuinely cool, check out the Harry Potter Alliance. Their representative at the show, Andrew, is a kid that grew up with Harry Potter and is motivating fans and people of his generation to take the lessons of courage and love taught through the books out into the real world in the form of activism against genocide, poverty and environmental abuse. I only wish I was so cool as a kid.