AI Immortality

UK TV is running a news piece this morning about AI being used to digitally capture pop [[soul) acts performing in their prime. This is then stored & brought out for VIRTUAL TOURS in future times.
This situation has already happened with ABBA, a virtual tour having already taken place.
NOW, I saw Frankie Beverly & Maze when they toured the UK in their prime [[+ the likes of Anita Baker, Bobby Womack and many others going right back to the 60's). BUT I don't think I'd be inclined to go along to see them perform virtually.
SEE HERE .... https://abbavoyage.com/
At these shows you can book to watch in seating areas or dance floor areas ... so the concept would be ideal for Motown / soul acts.
I'd rather stay home & watch video of them actually performing live back in the day.
. . . Do others on here think VIRTUAL TOURS are a good idea ?
Attachment 21337

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jsmith

Do others on here think VIRTUAL TOURS are a good idea ?

---

I don't feel that they are a good idea. As the song goes "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing".

Kindly making a correction...as the ABBA show [ABBA Voyage] has not toured. They set up a temporary arena in London, which has been hosting the show since 2022. The plan is for the show to eventually set up in other cities, over time. It is a show that cannot easily tour due to the highly technical nature of it. I was always against hologram type shows. However, being a big fan of ABBA, I decided to make a trip to see the show last summer. It was spectacular. I know that this show is ground breaking, not only due to the technology that was used, but also because it's the first time where the original artists were heavily involved in creating the show, from start to finish. This included them wearing motion-capture suits and cameras on their heads for months, in order to authentically capture and recreate their movements and facial expressions. I've seen bits of the Whitney Houston hologram show and there is absolutely no comparison, because it was completed posthumously, with much of the animation and movement being based on a cheoreographer/dancer who resembles Whitney. They didn't manage to convincingly recreate her essence, like the ABBA show did. It felt like they were there on stage, and the addition of a live band added to the authenticity, along with the highly technical lighting design. Very impressive. I bawled like a baby, as soon as ABBA's animated selves took to the stage. My partner and I had initially bought tickets for only one show, but we loved it so much, we went back the next night. All of this being said, I wouldn't be interested in seeing a hologram/virtual show for any other artists, if they aren't alive and able to be involved in the process. In that case, it wouldn't feel like a legitimate and authentic expression of themselves.

Surely, if the people in the act [[singer / group) involved are still alive, it's easier / cheaper to get them to do an actual live show.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jsmith

Surely, if the people in the act [[singer / group) involved are still alive, it's easier / cheaper to get them to do an actual live show.

---

Sure, it's cheaper, but not always easier. ABBA has refused to step foot in front of a live audience ever again, for the sole reason that they don't feel comfortable. They have said that they would fall short of being able to deliver a show like they did when they were in their prime, and would rather not disappoint their fans and themselves. They're all approaching 80 years old and they haven't toured since 1980. They were offered a billion dollars for a reunion tour 15 to 20 years ago, and they refused it. Some acts know when to call it quits and others don't.