Time passed and eventually I received the contract, next, the invitation and last, the RSVP! Damn this was REAL!! No major art museum in the world ever had a Rock instrument section or had even acknowledged that he style, the music and the instruments were art!! The exhibit would be called Play It Loud, and there would be a private viewing and party in the Met on April 1st, 2019. I admit, a couple times I did fear that it would be an April Fool's joke!
We flew to NYC on the 30th of March, nervous and hella excited! Before we knew it, we were standing on the stairs leading up to the Met!! I swear the buzz in that line was just uniform excitement! We all had big smiles and laughter! What an occasion!!
The front entrance had been turned into the sickest venue! A stage stood where the ticket booths usually were, and free open bars were scattered throughout the foyer. A giant Egyptian statue greeted us. We briefly started circling around the room, stopping to chat with Alex Skolnik, the only other Metalhead present. Alex is part of the Metal Allegiance record and tour, and Max is one of their special guests. No other Metalheads in da house!! We stuck out pretty much, since Max had his spiky Soulfly battle vest on and I was ravishing around in a leopard coat, a gift from Sharon Osbourne.
We were going to check out the exhibit, but almost immediately we heard the rhythms pumping through the hall from the legendary Roots band, so we headed back to the front gallery. They were slicing and dicing through the hall and the acoustics were unexplainably excellent! They were joined soon by the Eagles' guitarist Don Felder, who gave us some exceptional guitar sounds!! Max and I had nudged a good corner, front stage spot to watch the show and we weren't moving an inch!
The next surprise guest was Steve Miller!!!! For God's sake!!! Could it really be him!!! We were all flying like eagles. His wicked guitar sound was a masterpiece of crispness blended with a space odyssey voyage! It was brilliant!!
We saw Jimi Paige's double neck guitar on stage all night, but we never saw the master blaster. Later on we learned that he was cruising the exhibit while we were all bouncing from Hotel California to Soaring Like Eagles.
When the Roots had completed their 2 hour set, Max and I slid into the exhibit to catch a peak at his guitar. 15 minutes before the Met was to close, so we didn't get to see much. I passed the Beatles' gear, levitating past my childhood of Eric Clapton, the Who, Cream and the wispy flute of Aqualung himself! I came to a halt when a red BC Rich Warlock winked at me from the center of a display!
And there it was...snug as a bug, in between the Rolling Stone Ron Wood's guitar and flanked on the other side by the very own Beatle George Harrison's acoustic!! COULD THIS BE REAL!! Standing guard over was a Talking Head guitar! This was reality!! We couldn't stop laughing and swooshing!! In fact, I made a plastic surgery appointment to remove that split pie face grin!!
Next up, we got the Met boot...time to close. They weren't getting rid of us that quickly! Nope. We made plans to revisit the next day and get a private tour lined up! Next week, Students, bring your notebook...you are gonna get some lessons in the evolution of Rock and Roll!
Class dismissed....