The Hard Rock Cafe is a world wide chain of restaurants with a rock and roll theme. The walls of each restaurant are covered in rock memorabilia. the Hard Rock Cafe has more artifacts and memorabilia than the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or any other organization.
The Hard Rock in my town has just short of 400 pieces of memorabilia on the wall including some that are from well known artists that came from the area; there is even a room dedicated to the local music Hall of Fame.
I first started going to the Hard Rock to celebrate my birthday. Later, I started covering musical events that turned into a weekly event…sometimes more than once a week.
Then I started going during the day, once a week, where I would sit at the end of the bar and work for a couple of hours. Oddly enough, I do best working around music and such environments. The sound of voices don’t distract me as long as they are a general hum; it’s only when one of them rises above the din that it gets distracting. And music is my inspiration…a way to “get the juices flowing”.
Since the outbreak of Covid my weekly wanderings to the Hard Rock have dried up so to speak and unfortunately, I have only been there a handful of times to eat.
The Hard Rock is the one place that makes a good hamburger and the nacho chips are out of this world – they don’t come out of a bag but are made in the Hard Rock kitchen. I Love those chips!!!
One of these days, I am going to have to make a visit to see what memorabilia adorns the walls of other Hard Rock’s. Of the nearly 400 pieces on the walls here are artifacts from Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, the Beatles, Ozzy, Eddie Money, the Stray Cats, Goo Goo Dolls, Prince, Michael Jackson, and Poison.
In the Buffalo Room is a jumpsuit from Rick James and a very unique guitar. Years ago, the Hard Rock held an annual contest – Hard Rock Calling – that began with local bands competing. The winner moved on to the next round, and could continue on to win the grand prize of performing in London and opening for a top-named artist.
A band named More Than Me performed at the Hard Rock Cafe in Niagara Falls, New York and worked their way all the way to London where they were one of the opening bands for Sir Paul McCartney! The night before the big concert there was a big press conference and the boys from More Than Me were asked to play a couple of songs. But, they didn’t have any of their equipment. The Hard Rock had a stack of inexpensive guitars for artists to sign and auction off. The guitar played grabbed one and the bass player grabbed a bucket which he turned upside down to make a drum and filled a soda can with ice for a shaker!
After the show, the guys signed the guitar which now hangs on the wall at the Hard Rock Cafe in Niagara Falls, New York. At the time the guitar was displayed on the wall, the bass player worked at the restaurant and became the only Hard Rock Cafe employee to have a piece of memorabilia hanging on the wall!