When J. K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in 1995, no one, including her, could have imagined it would become the phenomenon it is today. In a few short years, Harry Potter mania swept the world so hard, even Mr. Miyagi would have found it admirable. Conservative types were outraged that children were reading about witchcraft, little kids were actually excited about reading, and entertainment bigwigs were licking their chops at the millions of dollars to be made.
In 2002, two brothers named Joe and Paul DeGeorge, also excited by the fantasy world of magic and Hogwarts, started a band called Harry and the Potters as a tribute to Rowling's works. Over the past six years, they have become an internationally known success, singing songs based on the seven-book series to young Potter fans all over the world.
Nothing about the music is very impressive. Listening to the songs, there's not one that stands out as more than pretty typical indie rock. And yet the band are wildly popular. Kids flocked to buy the books, they lined up for hours to see the movies, and I wouldn't be surprised if they pack Neumo's when the band come to Seattle on Wednesday, July 23, to see two geeky brothers dressed up as Harry Potter, singing goofy songs about riding dragons and skipping broom-flying practice.
I'm not hating on these dudes for being dorky. Plenty of bandsâAtom and His Package, Blöödhag, for exampleâhave embraced the geekier side of life, and that's no problem. I can fully support and relate when a band talk about how sweet video games and reading are, but the concept that Harry and the Potters have built themselves around seems more like leeching onto someone else's huge and successful idea, than a simple homage to something the band really like a lot.
Harry Potter was great, deserving of all of its success, but it's safe to say it's been exploited to the fullest. Hundreds of young wizards and witches are sure to be lined up in front of the dark, cavern-like club regardless, so I'm just gonna say it: Now that the series is done, it might be time to put Harry and the Potters on the "no longer relevant" shelf of pop culture's library. 
