This past Saturday, an afternoon of music and book love commenced and went well into the night as The Deli Magazine and Cloud Entertainment presented the Rock and Read Festival at Bookspace. Proceeds at the door as well as from t-shirt and poster sales were donated to help Rock to the Future, a free after school music education and youth development program. Groovy riffs, lyrical excellence, and an overall love for the power and expression of music dominated the event. Kicking off the festivities was Marybeth Schroeder with fun-loving, casually spoken anecdotes to enhance each performance of her songs, followed by the duo The Jawnettes, propelling quick dance moves and bluesy wails. Satellite Hearts ventured off into the psychedelic rock stratosphere as they oozed Pink Floyd’s “Time,” which left the crowd and bands soon-to-perform singing along. Dragon King laid down snarling guitar licks, edgy vocals, thunderous bass lines, and poppy keys to impress. New Motels, fronted by local English teacher Josh Levandoski, taught a lesson on how to play catchy feel good rock tunes with twang-y riffs. If you didn’t know much about Ninjas or the fact that “boys are dumb and girls are crazy,” Uncle Monsterface helped out with Wikipedia-inspired lyrics and silly experiences. MC Kreacher (pronounced “creature”) came out from his lair and spat some mystical rhymes while his MacBook Pro knocked out the hot beats. Featured artists Harry and the Potters belted out (as you can guess from their name) Harry Potter-inspired songs that had five-year-olds, their parents, and teenagers singing and dancing along. Headliner Mischief Brew was last to rock for the cause, presenting new songs from their upcoming album The Stone Operation, along with old favorites that had the front row yelling out lyrics in unison. There was plenty of rockin’ (and some reading between sets) at this way chill event, and you can check out some of our pics HERE. – Brandi Lukas