Christopher Polk, Getty Images
Just two days after a projected image of the rapper appeared at the festival alongsideSnoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, there are rumors that the stunt may lead to a full-fledged tour.
In case you haven't seen the impressive yet creepy footage, the Tupac projection's two-song performance wasn't limited to appearing on a screen behind the stage -- it actually looked as if the rapper was there alongside his former Death Row label mates. According to Ed Ulbrich, the chief creative officer of Digital Domain, the company behind the performance, this wasn't just some old...redesigned to look new. "This is not found footage," he told the Wall Street Journal. "This is not archival footage. This is an illusion."
Indeed, the projection could seemingly interact with Snoop Dogg and say things like, "What the f--- is up, Coachella?" Shakur never uttered the festival's name in his lifetime, because Coachella didn't exist until three years after his 1996 murder. Digital Domain won't reveal how they got the projection, which reportedly cost bet...d $400,000, to say new words. They did admit, however, that the stunt was the "vision" of Dre, who donated a large sum of money to the late rappers's charity as a thank-you forgetting the approval of T...eni Shakur. (Dre is also the one reportedly behind the tour, meaning we're not any closer to hearing his Detox album.)
Nick Smith, president of AV Concepts, which handled the live projecting, shed a little more light on the possibilities but wouldn't reveal how the company was able to get the projection to say things Tupac had never said before his death. He did, however, say that they could do that with any artist.
"You can take their likenesses and voice and ... take people that haven't done concerts before or perform music they haven't sung and digitally recreate it," he told MTV News. It's not enough that we already live in a world where Celine Dion can have Elvis Presley, and not one of the thousands of talentless impersonators, join her onstage for an "...Idol" duet (in my opinion, an indignity, even for a man whose bloated corpse was found in a bathroom). Now anyone with the cash and the proper rights can do it, and make them say, do and/or sing whatever comes to mind.
The possibilities there are endless. I wasn't alive to see Woodstock, but what if it could all be recreated without the traffic jams and the muddy hippies? If I drink enough of the $9.50 beers they'll be selling, maybe it'll seem real. I'd also never have to worry about getting tickets to a show -- the technology should allow for these type of concerts to happen all the time, in multiple locations. And I'd know that they'll show up on time and give the best possible performance, not go on late or half-ass it.
I'll admit that I'm curious to see what happens with this technology, but I know that it's only a matter of time before the potential millions in revenue lead to a George Lucas-like, legacy-destroying alternative to history. Even though it would be incredible to see aBeatles reunion or Nirvana performing their Unplugged album I'm not buying into it. Let the dead artists go, and leave the watered-down performances to cover bands and "American Idol," where fans who really care can ignore them in peace. Keep live music for the living.