We slide down music’s next great slippery slope in Bigger Than The Sound. By James Montgomery Tupac’s hologram at the 2012 Coachella music festival Photo: Getty Images On Sunday, Tupac Shakur thrilled audiences at Coachella , which was rather notable, considering he’s been dead since 1996. Of course, it wasn’t actually Tupac who shared the stage with Dre and Snoop, but rather a hologram, one that cost nearly a half-million dollars to make and probably would’ve blown the collective minds of 100,000 stoned white kids (“BRO, I JUST SAW TUPAC’S GHOST”) had reports of its Coachella premiere not leaked early. And while it wasn’t the first time this level of trickery has been employed live — Madonna used the same technology at the 2005 Grammys when she performed the Gorillaz, as have well-moneyed folks like Celine Dion and the Black Eyed Peas (not surprisingly, a holographic pop star has also been selling out venues in Japan since 2010) — Holo-pac represents something else … something a tad more unsettling. Because, to the best of my knowledge, this was the first time anyone decided it would be a good idea to resurrect a long-dead music icon for the sole purpose of a performance. I’m willing to bet it won’t be the last. Whether or not that’s a good thing is largely up to you. Part s
