Take a FREE Memorabilia tour at Hard Rock Cafe

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Have you ever wondered where all the Hard Rock Cafe memorabilia comes from? Everything on the walls of Hard Rock Cafe restaurants has a story to tell. The first Hard Rock Cafe opened in Piccadilly, London in 1971 and the rest is rock history. I am going to share the secret as to how you can learn about the history on your next Hard Rock Cafe visit.

Hard Rock Cafe isn’t just home to killer burgers and cold beers. It hosts over 15,000 LIVE music events every year! The first Hard Rock Cafe concert was in 1973; and it was none other than rock royalty Paul McCartney and Wings performing a “warm-up” gig before a UK Tour.  Can you even imagine being in that cafe?

On a recent visit to Hard Rock Cafe Baltimore my teen daughter and I were treated to a special tour of the Cafe memorabilia collection. What you see on the walls tells a story; a story from a time in music history. If your kids love music this is a fantastic fun and FREE tour.

Bear; our VIBE host knew his stuff, he is a music historian and actually performed with a few of the artists on the walls! I mean talk about knowing your stuff. He has a pretty great story about the first time he met Prince; be sure to ask him about it next time you are at the Baltimore Hard Rock Cafe.

This tour is called the VIBE tour and is free to any Hard Rock guest. These tours are given by a specially trained VIBE host. The host knows every inch of history from floor to ceiling of that location. Some have a background in music themselves; some just a passion for musical history. No matter; you are in for a fun treat.

Did you know that the first piece of memorabilia came from Eric Clapton? He was a regular at the Piccadilly location and wanted his regular bar stool marked with a guitar over it. So the bartender hung it on the wall; a week later a guitar from Pete Townsend came in the mail. The rest has now become the biggest memorabilia collection in the world. Imagine the stories some of these items could tell!

While the Baltimore Hard Rock Cafe may be on the smaller side it has great items to show off.  We learned the history of the art on a Led Zeppelin cover, saw a home-made guitar by Bo Diddley; and an outfit Prince once wore. Oh and a really swanky jacket worn by Elton John.

The first US Hard Rock Cafe opened in Los Angeles in 1982. You can now find over 200 Hard Rock Cafe locations in over 68 countries. On your next vacation schedule a VIBE tour and learn about the rock history at Hard Rock Cafe. You may just find some amazing items from your favorite artists.

Thank you to the Hard Rock Cafe Baltimore staff for hosting us. We had an amazing visit and will be back soon.