I have had the distinct pleasure of seeing Brooklyn, NY-based Wizardry twice in the past several months within the extremely cramped confines of the dirty, dank, dingy basement of the Lit Lounge (for those not familiar, imagine a dimly lit basement performance space no more than 15 feet wide, walls made entirely of stone, dirty couches in the corners, and a stage big enough to hold just the drummer for most bands… the whole place kind of resembles a medieval torture chamber).  Both times, pretty ordinary dudes came in to set up the band’s equipment, left the stage, and less than 5 minutes later were back in the FULL accoutrement you see in this video — furs, robes, makeup, everything. In fact, I completely seriously remarked to the show promoter last week how I thought Wizardry were awesome for having their own roadies; man, that made me look like an idiot.

In any case their live show absolutely stunned all those in attendance; for all the possible ridiculousness a band that looks like this could bring, these guys are completely serious and totally pull it off. More people ought to know about this band, so hopefully posting their new video for “Under the Wizard’s Sleeve” will help. When you’re done, check out some of their heavier tunes on their MySpace page. Remember — completely serious. Seriously.

NYers can catch Wizardry at Union Pool in Brooklyn on August 23.

-VN