Cleveland-Buffalo 2017: Cleveland Downtown and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

For several years now, we have been meaning to take what we called "the Rust Belt Tour".  Over 2-3 weeks, we wanted to visit parts of northeastern United States that are characterized by declining steel and auto producing industries, but still boast excellent art galleries.  Many of these cities are starting to go through a revitalization and resurgence.  The initial route on our planned tour included Buffalo, Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.  We considered this our "fall-back" trip in the event that we did not receive a home swap to Europe, or some other opportunity that could not be postponed.  Since we were lucky enough to get home swaps for four consecutive years since retiring in 2012, our Rust Belt tour continued to be delayed.  We finally decided to break up the tour and complete it in pieces.  In 2017, we undertook the first leg by traveling to Cleveland and then Buffalo for a 6 day road trip.

For our 3 days in Cleveland, we wanted a centralized location where we could walk to some of the downtown attractions including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  We selected the Drury Plaza Hotel, recently renovated with 189 rooms.  The hotel is situated in the former Board of Education building, which was designed in the Beaux Arts style with Italian Renaissance influences.  The magnificent front lobby featured a pair of murals by Cora Millet Holden (1895-1938) which depicted philosophers and historic figures such as Socrates, Aristotle, Confucius, Immanuel Kant, Augustus Caesar, Leonardo da Vinci, and Francis Bacon.  In addition to the great location and fairly reasonable room rates, the hotel also offered free food and drink on a daily basis.  In the morning, we received complimentary breakfasts that included pancakes, sausage, eggs, home fries and warm biscuits with gravy.  Each evening during "happy hour", there was a huge buffet of rotating items that included hot dogs, nachos, rice, salad, baked potato, pasta and more.  While it wasn't exactly fine dining and you only wanted to eat the offerings so many days in a row, the price was certainly right.  The buffet came with two free alcoholic drinks but the lineups for this were so long that it wasn't worth our effort.  Instead, we helped ourselves to free coffee, tea, pop, juice and ice tea which was available all day long, as well as free popcorn.  One treat that I was introduced to was the International Delight hazelnut flavoured creamer that we could add to our coffee.  I liked it so much that we searched for it when we got home.

The rear entrance of our hotel led to the Veteran's Memorial Plaza, where the beautiful Fountain of Eternal Life could be found.  Created in 1964 by Marshall Fredericks as a war memorial, the fountain features a 35 foot tall bronze sculpture of a man climbing out of the flames of war to reach skyward in search for eternal peace.  The ornate sphere that he stands on represents the earth and the granite sculptures at the four corners of the fountain represent the "geographic civilizations of earth", symbolizing superstitions and legends of mankind around the world.

A few blocks further in Cleveland's Public Square was the Cuyahoga Soldiers and Sailors' Monument, a massive War Memorial constructed in 1894 as a tribute to the American Civil War soldiers and sailors from the surrounding area.  The Goddess of Freedom holding the Shield of Liberty stands atop a tall central pillar atop a cubic Memorial Room that can be toured during open hours.  The four corners of the esplanade of the monument each boasts a bronze sculpture depicting battle scenes from the four military factions—Navy, Artillery, Infantry and Calvary.

Inside the Memorial Room are marble tablets listing the names and ranks of 9,000 Civil War veterans that served with Cuyahoga County regiments.  There were also four bronze relief sculptures depicting the Beginning of the War in Ohio, the Emancipation of the Slaves, the Women's Soldiers' and Sailors' Aid Society and the End of the War. As is to be expected, Abraham Lincoln is prominently featured in these works.

Wandering around downtown Cleveland, we spotted attractions that appealed to each of us.  I was delighted by the giant ink-stamp sculpture, created by Claes Oldenburg in 1985, that lies on its side in Willard Park.  Originally intended to be installed across from the Soldiers and Sailors monument, the word "FREE" at the end of the stamp probably referenced the freeing of the slaves.  Rich liked the USS Cod, a World War II "Gato-class" submarine that was inauspiciously named after the cod, a fish prevalent in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans.  At a cost of $875,000, the Arcade Cleveland was opened in 1890 as the first indoor shopping centre in America, modeled after the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II i Milan, Italy.  Restored in 2001, it is now home to boutique shops, restaurants and the Hyatt Regency which occupies the top three floors of the arcade.  Looking for somewhere to eat, we came across East 4th Avenue, a pedestrian-only strip where restaurants, coffee shops, stores and the House of Blues can be found. 

We chose the Greenhouse Tavern because of its interesting menu, especially the appetizers which we decided to load up on instead of ordering main courses.  We selected the Crispy Pig Ears covered with BBQ sauce, served with crispy shallots, sesame seed and bok choy. the Crispy Chicken Wing Config with roasted jalapeno, lemon juice, scallion and garlic, and the Fried Brussels Sprouts with maple aioli, lemon, fresh mint and red onion.  We were going to order some rosemary aioli fries as our fourth appetizer, when our very persuasive waiter talked us into choosing their "signature dish", a platter of oregano chicken, bread and fermented relish cooked in a puffed pasty like a beef wellington would be.  He made it sound so interesting that we decided to go for it, even though we now had way too much food.  When he brought out the platter to show us before carving up the pastry, it was even larger than we imagined.  We ate what we could of the tasty dish, but ended up taking a big portion of this back to the hotel and ate it for breakfast the next day.

One of our main reasons for visiting Cleveland was to tour the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a museum that celebrates the best known and most influential artists and producers who helped map the development of rock and roll.  The geometrically shaped building designed by I.M. Pei, also known for the Louvre Crystal, opened its doors in 1995 although the foundation to honour Hall of Fame inductees was established in 1983.  The first thing that we saw as we came down the escalators was a giant hotdog, a prop from a concert by Vermont jam band Phish, which prepared us for the fun props and memorabilia that we would soon see. We also passed by an awning emblazed with CBGB, the New York music club touted as the birth place of the New York rock scene, and which we visited earlier in the year when we were in Manhattan.

The initial exhibits of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame trace the roots and influences of Rock and Roll.  There are displays featuring artists and their memorabilia from genres of Rhythm and Blues (e.g. Bo Diddley, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, The Platters, etc.), Blues (Muddy Waters, Howlin' wolf, BB King, etc,), Country/Folk/Bluegrass (Lead Belly, Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, etc.) and Gospel (Aretha Franklin, Staple Singers, etc.).  Items shown included wardrobe, sheet music, guitars, record album covers, concert programs, letters, photographs and more.  There were interactive booths where you could hear music from the popular stars of the various genres, and see who their earlier influences were.

The most prominent and iconic artists and groups had entire sections dedicated to them, with the largest being for Elvis Presley, the original King of Rock and Roll.  In addition to a large-screen video documenting his career, there were personal effects such as his war records, leather jacket, and motorcycle.  A hilarious poster gave examples of Elvis souvenirs that could be purchased including handkerchiefs, socks, billfolds, scarves, mittens, sneakers and more, all emblazoned with his handsome face.

The Beatles display included Ringo's drum set, outfits ranging from their brown mohair suits with the rounded necks that they wore in early performances to loud flowery shirts in their hippie days, album covers, bobble-head dolls and more.  The piece of memorabilia that interested us the most was the certified letter from the Whittier Hotel in Detroit dated September 6, 1964, which certifies that the Beatles stayed at that hotel, in the executive suite and that the attached piece of linen was actually from the sheets that one of them slept on (in this case John).  This seems like profiteering from Beatlemania, taken to extremes.

The Rolling Stones display featured many costumes that were worn by the ultra-thin Mick Jagger, including a t-shirt with the iconic images of Jagger's lips and tongue printed in different colours and a hot pink tank top with tight pants.  Keith Richard's pinball machine from 1980 plays excerpts from Stones classics including Satisfaction, Jumping Jack Flash and Miss You.  A Rolling Stones Tour notebook features what looks like a Chinese propaganda poster.

Jimi Hendrix is right up there with the rest when it comes to flamboyant costumes.  Several pieces of his wardrobe were on display the section dedicated to him.  Also featured were two electric and an acoustic guitar as well as a charcoal sketch of a Rock and Roll Band which Hendrix drew in 1956.  According to his father, Hendrix was self-taught and drew all the time using crayons or a pencil.

Michael Jackson also had a large display that featured some of his iconic costumes including outfits from his time as part of the Jackson Five, his sequined military jackets, the white suit from the "Smooth Criminal" video, his black shades and of course the signature single glove.  An ornate belt that hung in Jackson's Neverland Valley Range contained relief panels commemorating significant milestones of Jackson's life, including his group the Jackson 5 and his iconic moon-walk performance for the Motown 25th Anniversary special.

Different sections of the museum explored the development of Rock and Roll in different cities, providing examples of the major artists from each location.  Detroit was the home of Berry Gordy's Motown, with artists such as The Temptations, Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Jackson 5 and Smokey Robinson.  Out of Seattle came artists such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden.  Cleveland-based musicians included Styx, Iggy Pop, REO Speedwagon, John Cougar Mellancamp, White stripes and Devo while Memphis gave us BB King, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbinson, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.  We were extremely excited to see the exhibit of artists from London/Liverpool, where we found the drum head belonging to and signed by the drummer of the Yardbirds, who is a friend of ours.

The exhibit called The Legends of Rock showcases wardrobe by a range of rock legends, capturing iconic fashion moments through Rock and Roll history.  In addition to the Michael Jackson wardrobe described above, some of the highlights for us included the gowns made for Diana Ross and the Supremes by Bob Mackie in 1969, David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust costumes, as well as outfits and musical instruments by Aerosmith, Blondie, U2, and ZZ Top.  The ZZ Top drums were covered with a white fur-like material in clear reference to their trademark beards.

Not to be overshadowed by the past, the exhibit called Right Here Right Now looks at the current generation of popular artists.  Included are Beyonce's sparkly golden dress and shoes, the Weeknd's black jacket and sneakers, Katy Perry's little peppermint candy dress, Taylor Swift's shimmery two piece outfit that highlights her abs, a metal gyroscope-like outfit that Lady Gaga wore for her Bad Romance video, Ceelo Green's extremely flowery jacket (literally covered with flowers), as well as wardrobe for Bruno Mars, Elle King, and Sia's iconic blond wig that she uses to hide her face.

There were several temporary exhibits running during our visit.  One was a tribute to singer John Mellencamp, who originally performed as Johnny Cougar (a stage name), which he changed to John Cougar, before adding back his real list name to become John Cougar Mellencamp and finally settling on his actual name of John Mellencamp.   The stage name "Cougar" was forced upon him when he first started out, but he was able to slowly revert to his real German surname once he became famous enough.  The exhibit showcased the musician's 1966 Silver Honda Scrambler 305 motorcycle, album covers, song lyrics, photographs and performance outfits. While we were familiar with Mellencamp's music, we had no idea that he was such a good artist and painter. Six of his impressive works were highlighted. "Stardust Sisters" (2013) depicts Meg Ryan (whom he was dating at the time) and Laura Dern as 1930s-styled clowns.  Inspired by German Expressionist Max Beckmann, "Gates of Hell" (1992) is an allegory for emotional turmoil, reflecting Mellencamp's feelings over a divorce that he was going through.  "Under The Lights" (1991) was painted as a self-portrait of Mellencamp performing.  The raw, graffiti-like feel of the painting "Martin Luther King" (2005) takes inspiration from street artists and reminds me of the works of Jean-Michel Basquiat. 

Another temporary exhibit focused on the San Francisco "Summer of Love" from 1967-1968, when young people got together to promote personal freedom, social equality, peace and love.  Some new bands formed during this time included Chicago, CCR, Fleetwood Mac, Santana, Sly and the Family Stone, Genesis, and Three Dog Night.  The exhibit opens with an giant mural of the 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse, on loan from Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane.  In addition some memorabilia from that time, including dresses worn by Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas and Mary Wilson from the Supremes, the majority of the exhibit focused on concert posters.  The posters of this period were vibrantly colourful, wild, psychedelic and often indiscernible in terms of who was performing, where the concert would take place or on what date.

The final exhibit that we visited made for a fitting finale and good recap of everything we had seen so far.  It featured magazine covers from the past 50 years of the Rolling Stones magazine, since its inception in 1967.  Many iconic images graced these photos including a nude John Lennon cradled up against Yoko Ono from 1980 (photo by Annie Liebowitz), Amy Winehouse lying in bed in a bra and shorts from 2007, Johnny Cash dressed in black shot from behind with his guitar strapped to his back (1992) and more.