How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
If you live in Palladium residence hall, you're sleeping on the site of U2's live debut in New York. If you have class on 25 W. Fourth St., you enter the same building Bruce Springsteen did when he played a weeklong stint to promote his 'Born to Run' album over 30 years ago.
Both of these once legendary venues, formerly known as The Academy of Music and the Bottom Line Cabaret, respectively, are now owned by NYU. But their legacy as monumental landmarks in the history of music continues. An exhibit featuring them is on display in the recently opened Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex in SoHo, an expansion of the original Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH.
The Annex hosts many exhibits, including the Hall of Fame Gallery which features every inductee's signature on the walls. Each artist's name seems to call to mind his or her music. Jimmy Hendrix's signature is wild and sprawling, not unlike his brief but explosive career. The music and lights rise in a climactic crescendo as visitors enter a theater whose exhibit aims to imitate a variety of rock's legendary performances. The Beatles' Shea Stadium performance, complete with screaming teenagers shaking the fence in a frenzy, is replicated particularly well.
Upon exiting the gallery, visitors are given wireless Sennheiser headphones so that music pertaining to certain artifacts or galleries is transmitted automatically. This seemingly small detail really defines the experience of the Rock Annex. When visitors walk up to the 'Big Suit' of Talking Heads' lead vocalist David Byrne, music from their 'Stop Making Sense' tour booms from the headphones; the absurdity of the costume is immediately reflected in the music.
'We really wanted a connection between what you're looking at and what you're hearing,' said Natalie Gilhome of Running Subway Productions, the production company behind the Annex. 'It is a conscious way to immerse the patron in that moment a lot more than just looking at it in a glass case.'
Other standout artifacts include Madonna's favorite leather jacket, hand-painted by artist and friend Keith Herring. Her original handwritten lyrics to the song 'Express Yourself' sit beside the jacket, complete with her misspelling of the word 'mayby.' Visitors can also listen to a missing verse from Simon & Garfunkel's 'The Boxer.' The verse is given special resonance because it's taken from the first 'Saturday Night Live' show filmed after Sept. 11.
The Annex welcomes music fans of all ages. There are older people who sing, dance and reminisce with the music, and there are younger people who are learning a lot for the first time.
'I would definitely love to visit. Led Zeppelin is one of my favorite bands, and I don't know as much about them as I would like to,' Tisch junior Chelsea Davison said. 'I'm always interested in finding out more. None of my parents were into [the Hall of Famers] so I kind of missed out.'
Although the Annex is an extension of the original Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Gilhome sees the new exhibit as a sort of greatest hits package.
'Cleveland is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and always will be,' she said. 'What New York is intended to be is a highlight of [the museum].'
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex is located at 76 Mercer St. It is open Thursday and Sunday (11 a.m. to 7 p.m.), and Friday and Saturday (11 a.m. to 9 p.m.). Student tickets are $19.50 with an NYUCard.
Ruby Hlivko is a contributing writer. E-mail her at features@nyunews.com.
