The British Music Experience
Cunard Building, Opens 9th March 2017
Words, Patrick Kirk-Smith
We tend to leave music to our audiophile counterparts at BidoLito and GetintoThis. If I’ve got to admit it, the furthest I get towards being a ‘fan’ of music is getting really into Adam Ant when it comes on the pub jukebox. It wasn’t the Spice Girls, or Oasis playing in the background that got me excited at the new British Music Experience though, it was the posters, the fashion, the pivotal cultural histories just a panel of glass away from me.
That’s where the fascination with music lies for many though, in the culture that surrounds it. Think of Bowie or the Beatles. They created these enchanting stories that legions of fans wanted to follow, and to this day, those fans are still being created.
It’s a music museum in Liverpool though, so it does have its vices; its plays to the city; cabinets of Beatles guitars, museums, posters, outfits; the inclusion of Cilla Black; Northern ties to Manchester’s brit pop boom; etc.
Of all the history, all the fashion, what stands out as the BME’s big hitter though, has very little to do with the music; it’s how interactive it is. From guitar lessons in the gallery, to scrollable timelines of an entire 20th Century this experience is going to do all it can to live up to its ticket price, and so far it promises to be worth it.
Before I looked around the museum, I popped into Open Eye to take a look around their exhibition, NORTH: Identity, Photography, Fashion. It’s incredible to think that exhibitions that are undeniably ‘art’ can cover the same subject as this new interactive museum (at least in part), and if you manage to make it to both just stop for a moment to take stock of the things tying them together.
Oh, and did I mention that a holographic 3D projection of Boy George is going to be opening it from their fully functional sound stage, kitted out with the latest state of the art holographic gig equipment (remember when they resurrected 2Pac and it was super creepy… that stuff). So as well as constant films, on the hour, every hour, will be holographic projections to watch live in the museum. So it doesn’t matter that Boy George is in Australia filming The Voice Australia because he hates ITV, he can still be there to launch this incredible new addition to Liverpool’s cultural adventure.
Unfortunately, there’s loads of other stuff we’re not allowed to tell you about yet… which is a bit upsetting, because I don’t like keeping secrets. It’s exciting though. And it opens on the 9th, so go find out for yourself, don’t just wait for us to tell you.
