Cleveland Rocks!

A couple of years ago, my cousin Chuck got married in Cincinnati. Tiffany and I flew into Cleveland (on the other side of the state) a couple of days early so we could check out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. My cousin Brad met us as well. At the time, my thinking was, "When am I ever going to be in Ohio again?" As it turns out, we decided to go back to Ohio. Once again this was Rock Hall related. It's possible that I have an addiction--not to Ohio, but to the music. 2009 was the first year that tickets to the induction ceremony have ever been sold to the public. Another deciding factor was that Metallica, one of our favorite bands, was being inducted this year. It seemed like a once in a lifetime opportunity that we just couldn't pass up. We flew in on Friday afternoon. We ended up just ordering food from room service and staying in the rest of the night. Saturday morning we got up early and headed to the museum before the masses showed up. In 2007 we spent nearly five hours looking at everything. I figured we could do it much quicker this time. As it turns out, we were there just shy of four hours. I still could have spent more time there, but we did cover some stuff this time that we missed before. The top two floors were filled with Springsteen memorabilia this time, which I thought was awesome. By the time we left, there was a line around the block to get into the museum. We headed back to the hotel to get ready for the ceremony that night. I don't think either of us knew what to expect, but we knew we were in for a treat. The induction itself lasted about four hours. Most of the inductees performed, as well as gave speeches. Metallica played Master of Puppets and Enter Sandman. The four current members were there, as well as former bassist Jason Newsted. Also present were many friends and guests of the band, including Ray Burton (father of original bassist Cliff). It was definitely a unique experience, and I am extremely glad we went. I do have one complaint though. The guys sitting to my left basically talked the whole time, and the two people to our right spent the whole time playing with their Blackberrys. Why do these people even bother to come? It seems like we always end up next to these people. All in all though we were there with a good group of people who came to enjoy themselves. I knew there were other people like us, I just didn't know we had to go all the way to Ohio to find them. At the end, all of the inductees came out, as well as a few special guests and played two more songs: Jailhouse Rock and Train Kept a Rollin'. My guess is that this is my last trip to Cleveland for a while, but I have learned to never say never. I hope it is not my last trip to the Hall of Fame. Recently they opened a branch in New York, and I hope we are able to check that one out as well.

Here is a list of the 2009 Inductees:

The performer inductees: Jeff Beck, Little Anthony & the Imperials, Metallica, Run-D.M.C., Bobby Womack

Early Influence Category Inductee: Wanda Jackson

Sidemen Category Inductees: Bill Black, DJ Fontana, Spooner Oldham

"There's nothing wrong with Ohio, except the snow and the rain.

I really like Drew Carey and I'd love to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame"

--Ohio (Come Back to Texas) by Bowling For Soup