fuck holograms

recently at coachella, during a dr. dre and snoop dogg performance, a hologram replication of tupac shakur came out onto the stage and played the part of tupac. and since then, it has pretty much blown up the internet. so i figured i might as well do my part in my little corner of the internet here at 'joshaintfunny' and add my two cents on the topic.

using holograms to replicate other people at live concerts is stupid. concerts, festivals, or any other event where artists perform live is exactly that, a chance to come out and see them perform in the flesh. flesh, they need flesh to accomplish this. without flesh, without blood flowing through veins, without a brain hard at work to make the body move through the performance, it is no longer a live event.

going to wax museums and getting your picture taken with wax figures of celebrities is not the same thing as getting a picture taken with a celebrity. in much the same manner, i consider the concept of a hologram performing at a concert the concert equivalent of wax museums.

we might as well go just as nuts for the animatronic band of bears playing down at the local chuck e. cheese near you. put a tupac tape in the tape player and let her rip!

the hologram is a lower form of homage than karaoke. at least with karaoke, a real life person is putting in some sorta work to make it at least a semi-partial live music experience. even when poorly done, karaoke shows more heart than a hologram.

and this is just the beginning... the first sighting of a hologram at a concert. sure, it's of tupac, and tupac's gone so it's a way for fans of tupac to experience a tupac experience beyond listening to albums at home. but don't have the audacity to package and label it as a concert or the main attraction at a major music festival.

soon we can replace all the dead rappers, singers, and musicians. soon their lives will have less value. no act will be seen as irreplaceable. not even death can keep us from enjoying you.

and that's fucked up. death sucks and it can be a total fucking bummer to think about. but it's final. there's no coming back. and we should respect that. if you didn't get a chance to see tupac, or biggie, or kurt, or bradley nowell before they went, i'm sorry for you. and i never got to see any of them either. but i can't in good conscience ever convince myself that going to see a hologram version of any of these artists is the next best thing. it's not even close.

the next best thing is in your head. you honor the dead in your memory. we all do. that's where we keep them, in our heads and hearts. their legacies live on through us.... and that's it... there's no other way.

there's supposed to be a certain purity to the live music experience. that's what i fucking love about it. it's you and the artist connecting together, in person, in celebration. there's a psychic bond. it's one of the most amazing experiences i know in life and a fucking hologram is not gonna cut it.

and beyond the honor of the dead... think about the living. soon enough they'll replace themselves with holograms. why tour? why go on the road? they're all free to stay at home now and collect paychecks while we spend ours on their holographic images.

this could get out of hand. this could be the beginning of the end of something special, something important. if companies can figure out a way to make more money with this than with actual touring human beings, we're all fucked...

unless we promise not to go to these shows. coachella goers, you weren't warned and it's not your fault. but no one should empty their pockets to go see holograms perform under the guise of "live, tonight: (your favorite band's name here)."

we're alive. we demand something alive in return.