Rock and Roll Hall of Fame reopens with a laid-back vibe
— On Monday morning, the new sliding glass doors of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opened and the world let out a collective yell, “Let there be rock!” Sort of.
The Rock Hall closed on March 14 due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, at 11 a.m. Monday, the museum made its return with some new artifacts, social distancing measures, and a limited number of guests.
With new safety guidelines in place, the Rock Hall’s vibe upon reopening isn’t as high energy as a Bon Scott scream on an early AC/DC song. It was more like a laid back solo from B.B. King. Nothing wrong with either. Just different.
New safety and social distancing measures include continuous cleaning, hand sanitizing stations throughout the museum, visitors staying a minimum of 6 feet apart, temperature checks upon arrival, mandatory masks and timed ticketing.
Tickets have to be purchased online, as part of a new digital ticketing system that allows visitors to scan pre-purchased tickets at stations set up inside the museum’s main atrium. Attendees will be given timeslots to visit in half-hour increments to avoid lines.
Aside from the masks, however, you never get the feeling you’re visiting the Rock Hall in an age of quarantine. The museum’s reopening felt more like a slow day with several exhibits under construction.
Listening stations were roped off or removed. Touch screens were turned off. Smaller exhibit spaces, such as the Forever Warped: 25 Years of the Vans Warped
Tour, were inaccessible. Theaters and the popular Interactive Garage, where guests can play high-quality instruments, were also closed.
To its credit, the Rock Hall was very creative about social distancing, using pictures of Run-DMC and Aerosmith on signs that read “Walk This Way” to direct people. Arrows were also spread across the floor to set a steady path for visitors to follow to avoid anyone bumping into each other.
The limited number of guests also has its advantages. Visitors get as much time as they want in “Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll,” the biggest exhibit in the Rock Hall’s history, that’s been extended through the end of the year (Though the portion of the exhibit on the Rock Hall’s level 6 was closed off ).
The reopening comes with a few new artifacts as well. Two Harley-Davidson motorcycles belonging to Artimus Pyle of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s and Billy Idol have been installed on the museum’s main floor. Pyle’s 1979 Sportster XLS 1000 features custom airbrushed artwork in honor of former Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Ronnie Van Zant.
A glass case on the main floor that previously contained Prince items now houses song lyrics and concert posters for Laura Nyro. The Rock Hall also recently added a stunning, white fringe Lanotta Studio blazer and hat Lady Gaga wore on her “Joanne World Tour” in the museum’s “Right Here, Right Now” exhibit.
The Rock Hall’s plaza was open with food trucks as well. Live music will return to the plaza on Thursday and Saturday evenings in July, proving Monday’s reopening was only the beginning of a return to rock, which could reach its peak with an induction ceremony on Nov. 7 (fingers crossed).