Holograms: Movers & Shakurs

So how do you feel about hologram Tupac?

Personally, I think this is a great idea in a novelty sense, there’s shock and awe, the technology’s really incredible and they probably scared a few people as well in the process.

But if people start using this technique more I can’t see a lot of good coming out of it, and for the same reasons why I have a problem with miming and using autotune in a live performance, because it takes away from the idea of the concert.

When people pay to see a person or a band performing for them that’s what they expect, a performance. When someone, be it Britney Spears or whoever the hell else, mimes to a recording for the whole show then it’s basically thousands of people sitting around and listening to the same CD.

Surely the point of performing is to actually play to people in person, an experience that you can only mildly simulate in a recording?

Not only is it dishonest, it’s a betrayal of sorts to the people that paid, let’s be honest, way too much money, extortionate prices even, to go and see an artist that surely isn’t that busy in their day that they can’t be arsed to sing for the thousands of screaming fans they’ve gained through years of (supposedly) hard work?

That’s besides the point on this hologram event however, although some of the comments I’ve heard regarding what we could possibly do with this technology have got me a little worried about where people would be willing to take this.

When people talk about using old footage of Kurt Cobain to have a ‘Nirvana reunion’… that just doesn’t feel right to me at all.

A couple of minutes? That could be nice.

But a whole tour where centre stage is a dead man who can neither approve or deny what’s being done? The main attraction? A miracle for ticket sales?

No, that’s twisted to me, which really makes me want to ask the question of whether that’s a rational disgust or not, because it feels sort of irrational.

On that note then, who would you like to see hologram’d?

You get a top three, and you can’t pick Tupac or Kurt Cobain. Also, by nature of the game they would have to be dead, so no ‘Bob Dylan back when he still played acoustic’.

Rockumentaries

What is it about the story of a rock band going from their humble beginnings to their demises/pedestals that is so exciting to me? Seriously I watched a one hour documentary on metallica a while back full of information that I already knew and I was still completely hooked. Perhaps it’s because it’s always been a dream of mine to be in that world-famous rock band that everyone’s heard of, but I don’t think I’m alone here.

I say this because Foo Fighters just released a trailer for their upcoming documentary on their youtube channel and I’m already completely stoked about the thing, stick in ‘I don’t want to play with that guy from Nirvana’ and ‘It’s just the worst band name ever.” and I’m already completely sold.

Now it helps that I already adore Foo Fighters, Nirvana, and Grohl’s work in general but I really do think its more of a ubiquitous thing, these ‘rockumentaries’. To me they’re entirely captivating, no matter who they are centered on. Particular ones that stand out for me include Jimi Hendrix and Thin Lizzy, but who doesn’t like Hendrix? And no-one can deny they’re a fan of at least one song from Thin Lizzy’s impressive repertoire.

On the subject however, anyone who’s seen the story of Anvil will agree that despite its place in the ‘rockumentary’ frontier, it’s very different and it’s very moving, especially after seeing so many success stories, it’s heartbreaking to watch people dedicate their lives to their dreams and never quite grasp them, it’s the kind of thing that really gets to me and worries me in a very obvious way.

So go watch that trailer, which I will post below and if you have time, watch the story of Anvil because especially if you’re trying the whole musician thing, it’ll tug at your heartstrings a little.