Cleveland: The museum where the gods of Rock 'n' Roll rock on

By Tina Eck Jun 29, 2010, 13:25 GMT

Cleveland - 'Who Are You' is thundering from the loudspeakers and the glass foyer of the museum in Cleveland is vibrating.

There is no ignoring it: rock music rules here. Whether it's the 'Boss' Bruce Springsteen, U2, the Rolling Stones or the Beatles - generations of rock musicians are at home in the pyramid on the shores of Lake Erie in the US state of Ohio.

The youth rebellion of the past 50 years dominates the unique design by famous architect I M Pei.

The 'Sacred Hall of Rock' consists of an entry pyramid, a cylinder and a box which hovers perilously over the edge of the lake. Outside, everything is cool glass and steel, inside, funky and colourful.

John Lennon's old leather jacket, David Bowie's daring pants, Jim Morrison's downright presentable school report cards and Michael Jackson's famous glove are among the exhibits.

'It was important to me to present the roots of rock music,' said museum curator Jim Henke. Among other items dating to the early days are the sound mixing desk and tape recording machines of the legendary Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee - the place where Elvis Presley was discovered and where blues greats like BB King and country music star Johnny Cash achieved fame.

'Inside the rock scene, Cleveland was always known,' Henke said. For example, it was here that David Bowie had his first-ever US concert. Alan Freed, a local disc jockey made the music of the 50s popular via the radio waves.

And when the 'Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame' decided in the mid-1980s to give rock music stars a home, Cleveland was determined to become its venue in order to gain a tourism attraction.

Together, the city and sponsors came up with 65 million dollars and Cleveland won out over competing offers from New York, Memphis, and San Francisco.

One of the main attractions is located below ground: virtual performances and interactive listening booths help visitors forget the present. You can surf and click on 500 songs.

For those who didn't already know it, here one learns that Bob Dylan was influenced by Woodie Guthrie, and the Beatles by Chuck Berry. Velvet costumes and scarves recall the unique style of Freddy Mercury and prove that Stevie Nicks of the Fleetwood Mac group did indeed have a wasp waistline.

Just how did Jim Henke get access to all these items, such as the scribbled song texts and Sgt Pepper uniforms of the Beatles?

'Yoko Ono was the first person to make all these things from John available to me,' he said in explaining the items related to John Lennon. 'And that turned out to be almost like bait.'

Because then, when he approached ZZ Top, Bono of U2 or Roger Daltry of The Who, he could point to his collection of Lennon stuff. 'This persuaded them to part with a few of their personal belongings.'

Through the end of 2010 Bruce Springsteen is in the spotlight in the two top floors of the building. The special exhibit 'From Asbury Park to the Promised Land' tells the life story of the working-class kid from New Jersey.

The 'Boss' apparently did a lot of clearing out of items: his kitchen table at which he wrote most of his songs is on exhibit in Cleveland, as are his checkered shirts and the Fender-Esquire guitar used in his breakthrough album 'Born to Run.' As well as the blue jeans and shirt seen on the album cover.

The museum's highlight exhibit however is the first-ever live- action digital 3D film of a U2 concert. Wearing the special 3D glasses, the viewer feels like he's right up on stage with Bono and The Edge at a concert in Buenos Aires. It is night time, it's loud and the music is vibrating through your stomach: 'It's a beautiful day.'