HOT: This Week in Holograms
Another day, another music star brought back from the dead…in hologram form. In what is becoming one of the oddest trends in music, deceased heroes continue to make appearances at concerts and festivals, and full worldwide tours starring late artists throughout appear to be imminent. The latest holo-cameo came at the end of a German music festival, when a hologram of Metal icon Ronnie James Dio joined various former (living) bandmates to perform Dio’s “We Rock.” The creator of the hologram says the concept of holograming full concerts by living artists and beaming them anywhere in the world is being explored.
WARM: Drums Make the Band?
In an interview with Ultimate Guitar, Butch Vig made a comment while discussing producing Nirvana’s watershed album Nevermind that just might make Courtney Love’s head explode. Vig said the band came into the sessions very prepared, but said drummer Dave Grohl was “90 percent” responsible with the big sound of the album. Grohl, as the band’s “new” drummer at the time, certainly boosted the power of Nirvana’s sound, but even a drumming heavyweight like John Bonham doesn’t deserve that much credit for Led Zeppelin’s output.
COLD: Overpriced Band T-Shirts
Concertgoers sometimes complain about the cost of artists’ T-shirts sold on tour. Sometimes they’re almost as much as tickets. But a new line of retro band shirts sold at luxury department store Barneys makes those look like a bargain. You can by a 100-percent cotton shirt emblazoned with the famed logo of Punk legends Black Flag on Amazon for about $14. But if you’re the kind of person who insists their T-shirts be made of “brushed Japanese cotton cashmere,” Barneys has you covered for around $250. The company that designs the costly shirts — others feature imagery swiped from Joy Division, Run DMC and David Bowie — seems to use logos and artwork that either aren’t under copyright or are tied up in legal battles over ownership.
