Roy Orbison: A Hologram Star Is Born

Evan Agostini for BASE Hologram – “In Dreams – Roy Orbison In Concert: The Hologram Tour”
BASE Hologram interactive concert performance with Roy Orbison and Maria Callas at the Jazz at Lincoln Center Frederick P. Rose Hall on Sunday January 14, 2018, in New York.

Holograms of dead musicians hasn’t exactly been either a commercial or critical success, from Tupac Shakur’s appearance with Snoop and Dr. Dre at Coachella back in 2012, to Michael Jackson’s stint on the Billboard Music Awards four years ago.

BASE Entertainment’s inelegantly titled “In Dreams – Roy Orbison In Concert: The Hologram Tour” – currently in the midst of 25 North American dates, starting at the Wiltern in Los Angeles on October 2 through November 19 in Clearwater, Fla. – is about to change that perception. The tour is being booked by Paradigm Talent Agency in the U.S. and internationally (ex-Europe) and by CODA in the U.K. and Europe.

When the hologram image of the late rocker, who died in 1988 at the age of 52, emerges from the bottom of the stage to take his place in front of the live, 30-piece orchestra and leans into the operatic plaint of “Only the Lonely,” there is an audible gasp from the audience, then nervous laughter.  The 360-degree image is so realistic, you can see the fringes moving on his jacket.  What might seem slightly ghoulish at first immediately gives way to suspension of disbelief and going with it as if you were at a regular concert. Must be like the first time an audience heard Al Jolson open his mouth and sing on the screen.

“It’s incredible, isn’t it?” says Alex Orbison, his youngest son, who runs Roy Orbison Productions with his brother Roy Jr. and half-sibling Wesley. “The first time, it was the thunder and booming sound of my dad’s voice, its realness. By the time he gets to ‘Crying,’ I was sucked in completely.”

And that seems to be the opinion of even die-hard Orbison-philes. Indeed, the very ghost-like, ethereal nature of the medium, and it’s “not quite there” quality is precisely the feeling inspired by Orbison’s pitch-defying heights. 

Michael Lewis for BASE Hologram – “In Dreams – Roy Orbison In Concert: The Hologram Tour”
Roy Orbison in Concert The Hologram UK Tour at the Motorpoint Arena on April 8, 2018 in Cardiff, Wales.

As Orbison scholar Peter Lehman, a professor at Arizona State University, blogged, “His public persona was so mysterious that his fans didn’t know much about the man behind the shades … He seemed to be defined by an absence, which then materialized as a dark, quiet persona who always kept his eyes covered in public, inviting people to project their thoughts, fears and melancholy onto him… [He’s] an ideal avatar for this new form of music.”

Alex, who had a previous deal with another hologram company that ended in litigation, found a willing partner in BASE Entertainment, which launched a hologram division a year ago, and is presently mounting shows with the late opera diva Maria Callas and dinosaur expert Jack Horner. After a mostly sold-out 18-date tour of U.K. and Europe (selling almost 40,000 tickets), and an upcoming residency at Branson, MO’s Andy Williams Moon River Theater, BASE hopes to make between $25-35 million in revenue from the tours, based on a ticket priced between $39.50 and $79.50. The 1,850-capacity Wiltern sold around 1,500 tickets for the event. Most of the venues are in the 1,500-2,500-seat range.

The 65-minute, 16-song set – Peter Frampton’s son Julian Frampton has been the opening act in the U.S. – is divided into three separate sections, with the Orbison hologram literally disappearing into puffs of smoke before each break, and into twinkling stars at the end. The hologram image comes from a single projector somewhere just below the stage, which can easily be packed up and checked into first-class after every show.

“It’s a very easy rider,” laughs a rep for the show, referring to the backstage requests which come with every performance contract.

The footage for the image is shot from an actual individual imitating Orbison’s moves, then enhanced with CG effects, but this would be a freak show without those vocals, perfectly synched to the nano-second.

Alex and his brothers assembled the vocals by isolating them from the master studio recordings, some original and others re-recorded later for a greatest hits package Orbison released in 1985 after his original label, Monument Records, went bankrupt and they became unavailable.

“I didn’t want the vocals to sound like you were just listening to an album,” says Alex. “So we re-recorded them at the same speed as the originals, then massaged them so they sit over the orchestrations and come across live.

When Alex first saw the show, he was relieved when people began clapping during “Only the Lonely.”  He said, “This is for all those who didn’t get to see my dad perform live, or for those who just want to get that one more experience in. I’m not only his son, but the biggest fan of Roy Orbison ever.”

Frozen in time, as Alex explains, sometime between 1987’s famed “A Black and White Night” and his death less than two years later, this Roy Orbison acknowledges his back-up orchestra and thanks the audience, even turning around on occasion.  For the most part, like he did when he was alive, the Orbison hologram stays anchored to the microphone, the slightest of gestures achieving maximum impact.

Aside from his greatest hits, the set list includes a pair of songs the real Orbison never performed live, including “A Love So Beautiful,” which was only released after his death, and “I Drove All Night,” a Tom Kelly/Billy Steinberg song that underlines Bruce Springsteen’s stylistic debt to Roy.  

Alex insists his dad “was always interested in the new, new, new,” and would be proud to be the pioneer in this emerging field. “He always pointed to how Elvis Presley was the ‘first-est’ and the ‘most-est.’ How important it was to be an innovator, to break ground.”

Orbison is getting his moment in Hollywood, with his music spotlighted during a key scene in “A Star Is Born,” as Bradley Cooper melts down during a Grammy tribute to Roy with a performance of “Oh, Pretty Woman.”  Having released a comprehensive coffee table book about his dad with his brothers last year, Alex is currently in talks for a documentary and, eventually, a biopic.

But right now, Alex is immersed in holograms.

“When my father was asked about his legacy, he’d say, ‘I’d just like to be remembered,’” he explains. “This is the best way to have a groundbreaking, emotional experience and be part of something new and unique.”

With the rapid improvement in hologram technology, thanks to Roy Orbison, it’s only a matter of time before we’re beaming in the Beatles in Hamburg, James Brown at the TAMI Show or Prince at the Super Bowl. 

“This is a testament to a man I love and am so proud of,” concludes Alex. “When I heard that thunderous voice, I looked around and everyone around me was crying.  If that’s not a Roy Orbison show, I don’t know what is.”