LeakyCon London Diary – Day 3!

The Saturday of LeakyCon was the last day of programming and was so much fun!

After our late night the night before, the first event we made it to was the Improv workshop our friend Amy was running. Everything in the workshop, cleverly named Improv-imentia, was given a wizarding twist – Amy ‘casting the spells’ meaning the room at one point was packed with angry Whomping Willows, at another point full of wizards under the jelly legs curse and so much more madness. The last part of the session we sat down to watch some improvised scenes by brave volunteers – many laughs were had.

Watch this video for a taste of Improv-imentia.

Wizard Rockers Converge and Converse was next up on our schedule. It was another panel run by our friend Ellie, this time discussing the differences between the UK and the US wizard rock scenes. It was really interesting to get to hear the other wizard rockers’ views on things from over the pond and compare and contrast them with our own experiences.

The Pop Up Wrock Show that happened in the afternoon was really something special. The spontaneity of it made it lots of fun. After a bit of a wander, we set up at the top of a staircase, above the HPA’s booth, forming a makeshift stage for the show. The Deathsticks played first – and Margo really owned it! If you haven’t checked out her music, it’s a must. She really has some of the best wizard rock to offer. People wandering through were enchanted by her beautiful voice and quite rightfully stopped to listen. Earlier in the day, Margo had taught us part of her new song about Gilderoy Lockhart and asked us to sing it with her. It had a great 50’s feel and was really up our street. We can’t wait for her to release her music!

Next, off the cuff, we decided to play our song John Simons – the alternative ending of the Harry Potter series, where Harry wakes up to find he’s a 30 something named John who’s been in a coma and dreamt up the whole magical world. Laura reacquainted herself with the guitar for this rendition – it’s been a while since we’ve played without the trusty keyboard.

We had to hurry off shortly afterwards as we’d arranged to meet friends for lunch/dinner (linner?), but after Hank Green stepped up to play Accio Deathly Hallows our friend Ellie – half of The Lost Diadems, was set to play. Such a shame to miss her play – I hope she cracked out Accio Magic for the gathered wizards, a classic tune.

After eating, we headed back to the apartment to get ready for the ball. We’d accidentally kind of co-ordinated our dresses, going for a bit of a lacy theme. We took a cab to the Grand Connaught Rooms and soon found our friends amongst the crowd. Everyone was dressed to the nines and looked fantastic. We had a boogie and slinked off for a cheeky ice lolly from Tesco at one point, but returned in time for a mass Gangnam Style. Our feet were sore at the end of the night, but we’d had a lot of fun so it didn’t matter.

The following morning, we got a chance to say goodbye to all of our friends at the leaving feast (is that what it was called? It’s what I’m calling it anyway). Just before we left we joined in with a ‘House Of Awesome’ sing-along led by Margo of The Deathsticks on a borrowed acoustic guitar. Singing wizard rock with friends is what it’s all about for us!

Well, now we’ve relived the whole of our LeakyCon London experience it’s time to start getting excited for the next event. Have Yourself A Very Geeky Christmas is approaching!