A great music experience

Jul 21

Posted by: Sofia Zissi in 2009, Artist and the society, Blog

We decided to write this article after visiting the British music museum in London and reading some reviews about it. Below it is outlined why we consider important the existence of this museum. We also give some clear answers regarding the famous artists but this time from a different point of view.

A few details about it:

The British Music Experience, opened for the public on the 9^th of March 2009, as part of The O2 (formerly the Millennium Dome). It is a 2100 sq meter permanent exhibition that contains the essence of British pop and rock since 1945, presented in an interactive way, using audio?visual technology and activities for the visitors along with traditionally displayed exhibits like costumes and instruments of famous artists.

It includes :

….Impressive memorabilia like David Bowie?s Ziggy Stardust costume and Ashes to Ashes clown suit, guitars of Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones), Bill Wyman(The Rolling Stones), Pete Townshend (The Who), Brian May (The Queen), accompanied by videos with the exhibits in action. Other featured artists are The Beatles, Amy Whinehouse, Oasis,The Spice Girls, The Sex Pistols...

…..A Gibson Interactive Studio where you can play guitar, drums or keyboards alongside tuition videos by well known British artists
…..A giant interactive map containing 4,000 British rock and pop landmarks
…..A Dance the Decades section where one can learn dance moves from virtual instructors
…..Free workshops for songwriters, singers, drummers, guitarists, activities for managers, agents, promoters
…..Educational programs for school groups

See the video below for more.

[youtube width="550" height="360"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WagnbN5CveI&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

British music impresario Harvey Goldsmith (promoter of Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Queen, Madonna and others) is the man behind this project who stated that “In America they have the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame but we don’t have anything like that?

Apart from the role of the exhibition as a touristic attraction, we have for the first time in Europe an attempt to record the after-war pop culture. It is important to mention that classical music, despite that it is highly respected, has become overrated and sometimes overshadows the importance and the philosophy of the later, more commercial musicians. The British Music Experience could be considered as an important step for people to get closer to pop-rock music.

The years of the fake idols:

There is a lot of talk by some who think that the very famous artists are the fake or plastic idols of our times. However it is my firm belief that an artist is good or bad regardless of wealth or fame. With this exhibition, for the first time the public can get in touch with the philosophy of many important musicians. For the first time, people who would not appreciate the offer of e.g. Freddy Mercury in music have the chance to change their mind, to understand that being a famous singer, is not only money, record companies, well paid contracts etc… but that behind that there is a philosophy, great artistic skills, a lifetime’s work that has in many cases brought fundamental changes to the society.

There are, of course, unknown musicians that could fit in a place like this, there are singers that would deserve to be famous but due to different financial-social factors they did not manage to get noticed. However this exhibition is not an attempt to change the monetary system and how things work. Addressing these problems is a completely different thing and we believe that the existence of a music museum is a very positive move under the current social system. It is also an important step for the UK where the music standards have fallen dramatically after the mid 90s. What does this mean?… after a few decades, I cannot imagine any current rock-pop band taking place in the BME alongside David Bowie and Queen.

Tuesday 21 of July 2009

Rating: 6.0/6 (4 votes cast)