The Museum of Rock in Barcelona

2.000 sq meteres, more than a dozen interactive points, 6000 pieces that come from the private collection of the journalist Jordi Tardà, the collector that has over a million music files of all types. That’s how they present the first Museum of Rock in Europe, which was inaugurated on March 31st in Barcelona, in the shopping centre of Las Arenas.

Las Arenas, once the scenario of the tragic death dance between the bull and the bullfighter, is now a large shopping centre, inaugurated this year and designed by the British architect Richard Rogers.

A “guest” of this new shopping centre – that maintains the original exterior structure intact – the new space offers a musical voyage that goes from Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley to the death certificate of Freddy Mercury, or the drumstick of Lars Ulrich (Metallica).

 

The Beatles and Rolling Stones are the undoubted stars of the place with their themed rooms.

There’s a lot of interactive material in the Museum, with over 5000 sound files, some of them unreleased, and audiovisual documents (1000 articles).

Among the different sections, there are spaces dedicated to Spanish and Catalan music. An auditorium of over 200 seats allows concerts to take place, as well as festivals, theatre and activities for the younger ones.

An area called On Stage, is the jewel of everyone who wants to be a rock star for a day. Here, the visitor (alone or in groups of 5 people). can go on stage and, with all the equipment (light, smoke and crowd), can sing their songs and take the memory back home with them taped on a CD.

The rockers will be able to see over 400 memorabilia objects, over 50 gold and platinum records, more than 60 pieces of clothing from different artists, dozens of signed musical instruments and plenty of objects, rare objects and fetishes. The owners? Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, Ringo Starr, Mark Knopfler, Bruce Springsteen, Kurt Cobain…

“We explain rock with objects”, explains Tardà, who underlines also the importance and the value of the didactics of this new museum project.

Inside, there’s an original restaurant space that will offer the rest that the hungry rocker needs: Happy Rock Bar & Grill offers a wide gastronomical selection in a fun and informal environment.

And, without doubt, the visit to the museum continues in the restaurant with a strong point of the collection: Elton John’s bathtub, reconverted into a table.

The visit to the Museum is also an occasion to visit this unique shopping centre, which preserves all the eagerness of the past bullfighters of Barcelona. The modernity has turned it into a great Mall where all shopping lovers can count with thousands of products and offers which are affordable for everyone.

Museo of Rock: http://www.museudelrock.com/

 

 

 

Paola Grieco

If you’re looking for accommodation around Plaza de España, location of Las Arenas and the Museum, you have a wide selection of apartments in Barcelona a unique offer of comfortable and central apartments.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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Tags: Barcelona, Beatles, Elvis Presley, Las Arenas, Mall, Museum del Rock, Plaza de España, Rolling Stones, shopping centre, theme rooms