Queen's official tribute band is a stroke of genius

FEW are the people more worried about how they might (not) fit in to an AI-curated future than people in bands. This is because musicians, historically, have been cautious of seismic change within their industry. It was feared the advent of recorded sound might bring an end to live music. Home taping. Drum machines. Sampling. Spoti... well, okay, yes: they may have a point with that last one. But really, AI is just another thing for a next generation to ingeniously co-opt and turn to their advantage, I thought of how this might be possible when Queen, late last week, announced a full scale tour by their "official" tribute act Queen Extravaganza. For what are tribute acts if not a primitive, beta version of AI? There is no record of who the first ever of their kind was, but you can bet your bottom dollar the manager of whichever band they were doing an impression of was sitting behind a desk snarling, "Well hang on a bloody minute."

- Hamish MacBain

"Band members are used on a rotating basis from our ever increasing pool of musicians," it reads at the foot of the poster: the "our" there being the surviving members of Queen. As far as I know they are the first to do this. Yes, plenty of tribute acts may get a nod of approval.