Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex

Holy shit. I loved this place. Of course, I am the ultimate music lover so being handed some headphones to listen to all time hits around the «museum» was heaven. The design of the place is very modern/​techy. Displays information of each band/​artist in a very simple way but I like simplicity and getting to the point. I’ll admit, I could be walking around in circles with a blindfold and headphones on and still give it 5 stars.

Loved, loved, LOVED this!
While visiting New York during New Year’s, my friend’s dad got us all tickets to check this out.
They start you off by having you watch a short film that chronicles all the late/​present great rock n’ roll stars. Everyone from The Beatles to The Rolling Stones to Jimi Hendrix. The video is only about 5 minutes long, but it’s interesting and gets you totally jazzed to go inside and see all of the memorabilia.
There’s a lot to see in here. Handwritten lyrics by The Doors, John Lennon’s glasses and piano, Bruce Springsteen’s car, Johnny Cash’s cowboy boots, etc. I was most impressed by the tributes they had to CBGB and The Clash. They had a few old tables and chairs from CBGB and the old awning that used to hang over the entrance.
The Clash was the band that got the biggest exhibit. So of course I spent most of my time reading every piece of information they had and trying to view every display. A lot of the things I learned I had never knew, so I definitely found it interesting to not only view some of the band’s memorabilia but to also learn more about the band members and the band itself.
A note: Don’t be too disappointed if your favorite singer/​band isn’t featured in this exhibit. It’s an annex, meaning that it’s only a small portion of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. But there’s something here for everyone to see, so I don’t think it’ll be that big of a problem.
But what really bothers me is when people who come to see something like this start complaining about just that. My friend’s dad wouldn’t stop complaining about how he felt The Beatles should have gotten the larger tribute instead of The Clash. Or that Johnny Cash shouldn’t have even been inducted. I think he was missing the major point which is that it doesn’t matter who gets more displays or tributes, it’s about the musical contribution that each of these people have made throughout the years and how their music is still considered some of the greatest of all time.
If you can push all of that bias aside, you’ll enjoy yourself.
The gift shop was cool too, I ended up buying a cute CBGB bracelet with silver guitar picks with the CBGB going all the way around it. It’s adorable!

I believe this exhibit closed in january. I felt it was def worth the trip, but overpriced at $ 30 a ticket. The thing to keep in mind with my review is that I had been to the John Lennon exhibit «Imagine» in Montréal a few months earlier. There was a lot more to that one and it was free. Some of the things were repeated in nyc. Even so– yoko had the bag containing Lennon’s clothes he had on when shot, F**kin amazing and startling. Just the reaction she was hoping for I’m sure. Plus the photo of his broken and bloody glasses and a grammy they won. That was the closest I’d ever been to a grammy and i gotta say it was pretty cool. There’s also instruments, clothes, signs, handwritten lyrics, etc by a variety of musicians. you get to wear your own headphones while walking around and it keep the experience more private. If you are a music fan– you’d enjoy.

Awesome exhibit when it was still around (went for half-​price with
). Went on a slow Sunday morning when it opened and we were the only two who went in (they stagger entrances). Loved the technological aspects and the Lennon Era stuff. Made me wanna trek to Cleveland even more after seeing this and being at the 25^th Anniversary shows at the Garden within a few weeks of each other. Was able to snag a few pictures and even some video, but be careful.

Came here because of the John Lennon exhibit.
Notes to keep things in perspective:
1. Don’t be disappointed by what you see here. I’ve heard about people feeling lackluster about the experience. Just remember, it’s memorabilia, instruments, and random scribblings formally owned by dead people in glass displays. What exactly did you expect to see? Zombie Lennon?
2. Come in early in the morning. As early as possible. That way you can take your time enjoying the displays and your view is never blocked. Something like this takes time to savor. If you come in the afternoon, the whole thing gets crowded and touristy. You won’t be able to appreciate anything.
3. It’s the Annex… not the Guggenheim. Don’t expect a HUGE exhibition.
Likes:
1. There are things that I learned and never knew about Lennon. It makes me love and appreciate him, NYC, and music more.
2. You were able to sign a giant poster about gun control and peace that will be sent to Obama after the Annex ends.
3. 4 screens showing clips and films featuring or made by Lennon himself. It was cool just to sit there and stare in awe.
Dislikes:
1. No pictures allowed in the Lennon exhibit. Curses!

If you don’t get out much, and you want to see glass cases filled with famous musicians’ guitars, shirts, etc., then this is your place. But you can see stuff like this for free at places like the Hard Rock Hotel and at numerous galleries in many tourist destinations. Not worth $ 30.
The John Lennon room had some interesting videos playing that might not be readily available, so I added one star for that.
Don’t pay full price — get a discount coupon online and print your tix at home.

A real treat for music lovers. I went to see the John Lennon exhibit, but was impressed with the whole thing. This musical museum welcomes you with the names and music by all of it’s inductees and promptly gives all it’s guest a quick refresher course in the history of Rock & Roll with a beautifully done film/​documentary. After that each guest is given the option to borrow listening devices that allow you to hear music and references corresponding to what exhibits you’re standing in front of. So much history was on display that it was kind of amazing. The venue may not do much justice for some, but even if it is a little hidden in SoHo, I suggest finding it.

I thought this museum was really well-​done — the constant musical accompaniment (assuming you like rock and roll) made the experience uniquely enjoyable. Lots to learn and look at, including lyrics, clothing, posters and various vintage memorabilia. Felt like the right amount of stuff to see on a Sunday (the whole thing takes about an hour) and our group really enjoyed it.

I was skeptical about this place when I saw the cheesy looking box office area. However, the exhibits are really well done — the technology used to create this exhibits is cutting edge and sophisticated. The memorabilia is pretty cool, along with the accompanying interactive exhibits. My favorite part of the museum was the area devoted to New York, which included a recreation of a tiny part of CBGB. I also liked seeing Prince’s Purple Rain jacket and Madonna’s Gaultier cone bra corset in person.
I know this is just an annex, but I wish the museum was a little bigger. It would be great if they had entire sections of the museum devoted to different areas that NY has influenced rock, hip hop, and pop music. It would be cool if a performance space or café was attached to the museum as well.
$ 25 is kind of hefty admission for such a small museum, even though what little is there is nicely presented.

They had two days of «Free Admission» so I went at 10 AM, expecting to beat the rush. It looked like about 150 other people had the same plan.
If Patti Smith said so (which she did), you know it’s true: It’s not worth the full ticket price. The exhibits are about on par with Seattle’s Experience Music Project, though, more New York-​centric. The gift shop wasn’t very comprehensive, but did have a large supply of AC/​DC knickknacks (…) Still, I compliment the staff, all of whom were very welcoming and helpful. Can’t really complain, considering it was free, and turned out to be a fun way to spend an hour or so.
I do take issue with the «Good for Kids: No» advisory, unless the parents are over-​squeamish about some rock lyrics. I saw plenty of pre-​teens in attendance, including a little girl, about 3 feet tall, bobbing her head and playing air guitar along with a Jimi Hendrix exhibit.

*FREE ADMISSION TODAY* Today was a score! This place belongs only in NYC, there is too much history here in our city for it to be anywhere else.
Its usually $ 25 per person, my wife works on Saturday so I brought my two boys and the neighbors kid. (they also wanted Shake Shack and Donut Plant)
You walk into a «room»: that has all of the bands segmented into years. I noticed Michael Jacksons section didn’t have his death updated. While you’re waiting, cool rock music is playing from the Rock famers.
You are then escorted to this room where you sit and watch a movie about how the roots of rock were formed. I’m watching all the people and they’re all «sitting’» in their seats. How can you not bop listening to Aretha, James Brown, Led Zepplin and The Stones? They are going through all these different concerts and the music is getting more and more pumped up. They hit a the sweet riff from «Communication Breakdown» and me and my 11 year old are friggin rockin out!!!
Then, you’re given headphones and you listen to all these musical selections, Women of Soul, British invasions bands, Madonna hand written song, «Don’t go for second best baby.»
There is a NYC model with computer touch screens around the model. They show all of the musical history within our city. Madonnas apartment on the lower east side. Jimi Hendrix’s place on the west side. CBGBs. John Lennon. Billy Joel. I could go on and on.
Finally, the last section. All dedicated to John Lennon. How could you not get all choked up after leaving this place? He gives a statement about how loved NYC and first lived downtown with Yoko. It also shows how his life abruptly ended.
His music reflected the times, on what songs he wrote about and sung. War is over (if you want it) and now almost 40 years later we have history repeating itself? How about we all give peace a chance.
We’re all fans! (And I saved $ 75 bucks)

We went for the John Lennon exhibit, which was in one large room. It was a lovely show — memorabilia and personal effects were nostalgic and lovingly displayed. The main exhibits were also grand and lots of fun. I went through half the rooms before figuring out that the audio in the headset you wear is synchronized to where you’re standing, so if you backtrack, you’ll get the same audio.

so i was very excited to here that this was in town, and i decided to take my dad for father’s day. Every day i got more & more excited! i did my research and couldn’t wait to go! i read the reviews on here and i had mixed feeling for what i was in for.
so i went this morning and I LOVED IT! okay to start you really REALLY have to enjoy music beat by beat word by word. the names & the light show i loved it! … and then going in to the movie part AMAZING! i am completely honest when it had me in tears. just to picture seeing rock legends live!
the exhibit was amazing. so much to see in the small place… audio tour was the best & just being looking at all the items that once played part in music history i can not express my excitement!
john lennon section AWESOME. to stand in front of his infamous NEW YORK shirt. he was all over the place !
deff. a must go for all those that truly love rock & roll
Cleavland here i come!!!

even more disappointing than the real rock and roll hall of fame, which is kind of like a rock star’s garage. this is like the weird room above the garage. what’s here? no one’s sure. why do we care? again… not sure.
i’m just saying, at least at hard rock you can get some mozzarella sticks.

Cool, hip Rock ‘n Roll store in the heart of Soho but don’t expect a whole lot of serious memorabilia. It’s mostly shirts in very, very limited sizes. Staff isn’t the most friendly but then, that’s what one might expect at this type of place.
Wish they had more shirts in more sizes. Boo.

While not as big as the landmark hall of fame in Cleveland, I really enjoyed the annex. Try to use your student ID if you still have it as that will save a few bucks.
You start in a room with all the names of the inducted members. I kind of wish we didn’t have to wait there because after a while you have seen enough of the names. After this room we go to a short video, housed in a club like set and watch the history of the music. This really gets us in the mood for the exhibit. I had never been on a tour of a museum where the headsets stream music depending on the exhibit you are watching. I liked that touch.
We saw memorabilia from CBGB, Prince, Madonna, Michael Jackson and Bruce. The Clash exhibit was cool but not earthshattering.
I love music so I really liked this exhibit. Makes me want to visit the hall in Cleveland again!

Pretty interesting museum, but I don’t think its worth the 26 dollars admission unless you are a serious rock n roll buff. I’m glad as a member of the media that I got in for free. The best parts are the introductory film, Elvis’s jumpsuit and Madonna’s bustier. The little ipod things are cool also, but they always seemed to be playing the wrong song unless you are directly in front of the exhibit. I would like to compare it to the museum in Cleveland.

Like Jason N., I have not yet visited the original Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but I was happy about the prospect of visiting the annex in NYC. We went on Friday night, and it had been snowing most of the day, so no one was around. The neighborhood was dead and the annex was dead; we were actually the only visitors in there, along with about 40 workers.
Before we went in, we were told that if we had to use the restroom, we needed to do so before entering the exhibit since there were no restrooms inside. I figured I’d go then, and boy, that was interesting. The bathroom was so wacky. The toilets, the sinks, the fixtures and everything were all provided by Kohler, and they were clearly some of Kohler’s bolder designs. If you go visit the annex, take a trip to the bathroom just to check out these items. They’re pretty crazy.
The first room in the annex is filled with metal ‘bricks’ featuring the signatures of all the HoF inductees. The accompanying light show is phenomenal.
The next room features a film that goes through a rock and roll history of sorts. It’s really well done, and the highlight for me was the footage of Freddy Mercury rocking little white shorts. I could watch such footage for days…
Onto the rest of the exhibit! There’s some really cool artifacts here: Debbie Harry’s blue sequin dress, Jimi Hendrix’s jewelry, letters from the Beatles to their fans, Michael Jackson’s handwritten lyrics, the CBGB’s awning. I was quite in awe of some of the things. They provide an audio guide for the tour, and it plays corresponding music depending on where you walk. It was quite enjoyable.
The Clash exhibit was cool, too.
And, like any good profitable museum, it spits you out into the overpriced gift shop when you’re done with the exhibit. T-​shirts for $ 35? Check. Autographed memorabilia? Check. CBGB’s onesies?! Check!
The whole visit took us about an hour and a half, but we really stopped to read and examine every single thing in the exhibit. A fairly thorough visit could be done in less time.
If you’re a fan of rock, I think you would enjoy the Annex. I certainly did.

I have not been to the real R&R hall of fame yet, but with this recent opening, we wanted to give the annex a shot. We got lucky when we were shopping in Soho beforehand and saw a hawker with $ 6 off coupons for the annex– I think it is the first time ever I noticed what people handing stuff out in Soho were actually handing out, and actually took something they were handing out. Anyway, admission is $ 26/​person w/​o a coupon, which we thought was a bit pricey as we had not read any reviews prior to going. It was not crowded. You’ll need to hit the bathroom before you head into the exhibit, because that apparently is not an option once you get inside.
The process is very regimented at first. Without any explanation, we were ushered into a sterile holding room of plaques (embossed by inductees’ signatures) that light up when snippets of their songs played. We were told nothing about what was coming next, so after a few frustrating minutes of feeling like if this is a sampling what the annex had to offer, we had wasted our time, we tracked down an attendant and we were told we had to wait there for 10 minutes for a movie to stop playing for the group ahead of us.
At last, we went into a small theater with barstool seating and watched a compilation of musical clips on several screens in a slick and sophisticated audio/​video format that left us wanting more! The soundsystem was incredible and the timelessness of the concert footage combined with multi-​angle shots really made you feel transported back in time– like you were actually at the shows. This part was really cool.
Then, we meandered around the «museum» part. The «interesting factor» for memorabilia here may range from about a «2» to a «10,» i.e., you will appreciate/​enjoy somethings better than others. Elvis’ sequined peacock jumpsuit? 10. David Byrne’s boxy suit from his tour back in the day, with visible sweat stains on the back? 10. Tons and tons of Clash stuff? 5. John Lennon’s favorite piano? 10. Springsteen’s convertible Chevy?(yes, the whole car) 10. As you walk around, you listen to a headset (included in the price of admission) that plays music from the group whose exhibit you are observing. Mine seemed a little off– I kept hearing jimi hendrix when i was looking at the grateful dead stuff, but oh well– you just need to stand directly in front of what you are looking at to hear the sound. I will say that another neat thing is to see artists’ notes on scrap paper throughout. You get to see how Madonna’s (does she really qualify as rock and roll?) writes the letter «a,» and Springsteen’s notes scratched out with changes to lyrics. A little quibble I have here is the descriptions of these lyric sheets often refer to a «manuscript» in the artist’s own hand, suggesting that what you are looking at is actually the document on which the lyrics were first drafted, and I am not sure that is true. I got the feeling that some of these documents, though in the artist’s own hand, were just written out copies of the lyrics, which is a little less thrilling than looking at THE original creation.
One other kind of neat thing was the topographic model of Manhattan that has touch screens on which you can select certain neighborhoods, so you can read who used to live in your ‘hood, and where. I read the previous review that seemed to imply a 25 minute run-​through. I think that is way too quick. It took me about 2 hours total, and I probably could have easily spent another 30 minutes but we hadn’t allowed ourselves that much time, so we had to move on. This is a fantastic thing to take advantage of at least once if you live in the city, and the perfect site-​seeing option for any friends in town who love music. I think the location scouts might be genius, too… I can picture women buying a few extra hours to shop in Soho while their non-​shopper boyfriends/​husbands rock out at the annex nearby– everybody’s happy!

I was very excited to visit the Rock Annex after being witness to its creation, behind the scenes. The company that I work for had stored and taken part in putting up the exhibits. I had seen a few of the rock «artifacts» in our storage space, including pieces from the Clash exhibit. I am probably the biggest Clash fan in NYC, other than someone who would dedicate body parts to a tattoo related to the band.
Upon entering (I was here for the gala), I received a few free drinks. This in itself was pretty exciting. I had a ticket for the 7:30 show. We waited a couple minutes in a room with signatures of the inducted musicians, and then were escorted into a theater. My boyfriend and I are pretty short so we snagged some stools in front. We watched a 10 minute video praising Rock and Roll/​Blues, featuring footage of musicians. It was pretty impressive, lights and all. During the Led Zeppelin bit they projected the audience onto the screen to make it seem as if we were on stage with them. I saw my face and proceeded to shove it into the boy’s armpit. It was too much…
After the montage was finished we had to ditch the drinks and entered the exhibit itself. We each received headsets which would play music that corresponded to the parts of the show we were seeing. I don’t know if it was because of the JD and coke (FUEL OF ROCK STARS!), but I found myself, and other visitors, dancing and mouthing the words to songs, much to my companion’s chagrin. Whatevz, I was here to have a good time!
The whole shebang wasn’t that impressive to me. The CBGB section was cool, as I have long been upset with the club’s closing and current state of designer clothing store. I had seen much of the museum’s material, and am not blown away by belongings of famous people. The Clash section, however, was a different story. So I’m thinking if you’re a big rock fan, you’ll take pleasure in seeing the instruments/​costumes of your heros, as I did. I was probably drooling on the cases, ogling the leather jackets of the men that created my most favorite music.
The whole thing took about 25 minutes to peruse, so I was pretty happy not to have spent money on it. I’m sure that there are some people that would have a blast here, so I’m giving it 4 stars partially for that reason. The other part is the fun I had at the party upstairs. Free stuff, free hot dogs (Jill M., they were nothing to write home about. The onion sauce was SKANKY)/hamburgers/funnel cake, drinks. And the piece de resistance? Blondie and Dave Mason played. Holla!