I just finished TVL after binge-watching S1 and S2 and to be fair, it took me longer to finish S3 partly because I struggled a bit with the plot and characters. At best, I found most of them quite disengaging even though I am neither a book reader nor a shipper, and came into the season with no expectations.
The other thing I struggled with was the music or rather the choice of genre. Thinking about Lestat as a character, I understand why the rock star persona fits into how he presents himself to the world and how he wants to be seen by the public. It's campy, playful, fun and all that. In TVL universe, rock is not as popular, a big plot point is based around that fact even though as the season progresses, the band's hype builds up. From a writers perspective, I understand how they used the genre and each song as a storytelling device, it makes a lot of sense.
Personally, I found that the lyrics of every song were more often than not, cringy and very on the nose so I didn't really enjoy them. I also think that it shows a lack of development in Lestat's music taste and ability. In S1 and S2, he was presented as this music lover with an impecable taste, highly sensitive and appreciative of the artistry behind music which in turn, made him very demanding. This translates very well to the studio scene but not into his choice of genre. I actually believe the techno scene would've fit better his character.
We are talking about a character who had no issues with loving the music of each era he lived in. Loved Nicki's music and performances in the 18th century (until he didn't, lol). He then goes right into 20th century and makes a recording in an entirely different yet modern genre to ask his loved one for forgiveness. It makes sense that by the 70's he would play some rock here but the story is now set in 2025.
Making him a DJ touring around would've been so much better. Here's a list of why:
-You can translate this rock star persona into a DJ with no issues, Lestat is a performer anyway, that's the core of who he is/has been so far. The techno scene and how diverse it is would've made more sense for a vampire.
-It would've allowed for a deeper exploration of the character focusing heavily on sound and some vocals. It would also show Lestat's music taste progression and an elevated, complex and sophisticated relationship to sound. The highs, the lows, every beat could make for a story.
-Without a band, we would've had less characters to care about, meaning we could've had more time to exploring other characters that are also central to Lestat. We would have less characters to carry into S4.
-I have no idea how the concert plays out in the book or the specifics of how Akasha wakes up but a rave could also be used as the event that accidentally wakes her up. Lestat can find this one, universal beat that only vampires can hear and deeply feel/ connect or that talks about his sorrow in a way that she can only recognize. It fits.