We were lied to! Just a few weeks back, Queen guitarist Brian May told Billboard he’d never perform with a hologram of Freddie Mercury, saying “It just doesn't sit too well with me. I don't want to appear with a hologram of my dear friend. It's the real one or no hologram for me ... Were somebody (else) to use a hologram of Freddie, I would have no objection.” Now it’s clear that May was just mincing his words. Yes, he won’t perform with a hologram of Freddie, but “somebody else” certainly will:
Dr. Dre might have said he’s not taking Hologram Tupac on the road, but we all knew that wouldn’t be the end of the conversation. The Pandora’s Box has been opened; whatever horrors lie inside have forever been unleashed onto the world. TLC were actually the first to jump on the bandwagon: their upcoming tour will feature the apparition of Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, whether we like it or not. And this approach for hologram usage –- reuniting a band with its deceased member –- would appear to be the logical first step for this brave new world of ghost concerts. First a bunch of acts that have lost a member get back together, so that we know definitively the unholy abomination that stands before us has at least been approved by people that were, at least at one point, close to the artist being resurrected. Second, faceless corporations get into the act and begin buying up posthumous live rights, and then manipulating the mass-less limbs of the digitized forms of our long-gone solo heroes – the Elvises, the Frank Sinatras, the Michael Jacksons -- like so many maniacal puppeteers. So: Is everyone cool with that?
"After giving myself a full day to think about the 2Pac hologram, after witnessing the 2Pac hologram with my own eyes (I think?), I can confidently say that if this was an isolated incident, I support it, but if it leads to more holograms, Sunday, April 15, 2012, will go down as a dark day in music/science/rest-in-peace history."
