Elvis Presley is the latest artist announced to appear in a virtual concert. Elvis Evolution is being planned to create an immersive experience based on digital imagery in London from November. It’s the latest step in what looks to be a growing and highly lucrative trend.
As the BBC reports, the exact London location is yet to be revealed. It is likely to include a bar and restaurant as part of the Elvis experience. Plans are to then replicate this around the world, with Las Vegas, Berlin, and Tokyo all mentioned in early plans.
The Elvis show will use holographic projections created from original footage and images of the singer taken over the years. This follows the highly successful Abba Voyage show, set in the Abba Arena in East London. That show features avatars of all four band members performing on stage in a concert setting alongside a live band.
The members of Abba all have to spend time performing in motion capture suits to help provide the data and details to create their digital avatars. Clearly, that’s not available to the Elvis Evolution creators, so you do perhaps wonder whether that production can hit the same heights as Abba Voyage. The Elvis show is still highly likely to be a huge success, recreating the artist at his best over the years, but all in one show.
Huge potential for an Elvis Presley concert
The Abba production is estimated to make around £2m a week and has contributed over £300m to the local London economy since its launch in 2022. That’s potentially huge for an artist such as Elvis especially if repeated around the world.
With that sort of money involved, you can see why more artists are showing interest. Kiss for example joined the list of acts planning a digital live experience. They announced an avatar tour for 2027 shortly after their final live concert as a band in December. So it looks like the new trend for the future with AI technology is here to stay.
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