Experience Music Project

For those who don't know, the Experience Music Project (usually referred to as the EMP) is located in the Seattle Center with the Space Needle and the Monorail. It's the abstract mirrored building across from the "Ride the Duck" attraction. I've been to the EMP one other time a while ago with my mom, but this time my dad took me.

When I went the first time, I wasn't as much of a music appreciator as I am now. My knowledge of music has grown exponentially over the years and the genre no longer matters to me. I'm not a huge fan of grunge or rock and roll itself, but seeing all this stuff was really interesting anyway. The first thing you see when you walk up to the second floor of the building is this giant guitar structure. Those are really the only words I have to describe it... unless there's a real name for it. It's just how it looks; a bunch of guitars strategically placed around each other that goes from the ground of the second floor to the ceiling of the third. Such a novelty.



The EMP just added a Nirvana wing to their second floor and it is AMAZING. I've listened to a couple Nirvana songs but I wouldn't consider myself a "fan" in the least. I still thought it was really cool, mainly because I know Nirvana is from Seattle and that made it a lot more personal. There was a bunch of memorabilia including instruments, vinyls and clothing that Kurt Cobain actually wore. I just thought all of it was really cool, even though I'm not a huge fan of Nirvana's music.
The next leg of the tour was the Jimi Hendrix room. The look of the room
really caught my attention because it was retro and awesome. There was a TV playing one of his live concerts with a few purple couches in front of it. Behind that were four black and white blown up photos that represented him. I loved those because of my love for photography. On the wall next to that was a bunch of memorabilia from Jimi's musical career including photos, records, and little blurbs about his life. Just outside the Jimi Hendrix room was the orange and pink outfit he wore at Woodstock. The actual clothing that was on Jimi Hendrix's back..... SO COOL.



This is kind of off subject, but I remember hearing about Rogers High School's prom last year that took place at the EMP and while I was there, I found out the actual location of the dance floor. It was a wide open space with high ceilings and a HUGE TV. The TV was playing Jimi Hendrix's performance at Woodstock that I talked about earlier and in front of it were more chairs and couches. It made me feel like I was actually there watching him play and I loved it. It made me appreciate Jimi Hendrix, who is also from Seattle, so much more. Also on the second floor, the EMP had an Avatar exhibit. They change this section of the building out frequently so if you went back in a month or so, you would probably see something completely different. I thought the Avatar stuff was pretty cool though. There was a part of it where you could stand in front of a red screen and play the part of one of the characters in a certain scene. I didn't do it myself, but I watched someone do it and it made me realize how advanced we are in technology. Connected to that was a horror movie exhibit where they had a bunch of TVs playing old horror movies, random props from those movies, and a scream booth. I thought they spent way too much money on an exhibit that wasn't that interesting, as least to me. Upstairs was the Sound Lab. My favorite part of the whole thing. You could go into little booths with actual instruments and get a free guitar or drum lesson. They also had recording studios where you could go and jam out for 10 minutes at a time. I guess I'm more of a hands-on person which is why this has always been my favorite part. Also upstairs, they had a Battlestar Galactica exhibit with props and information about the show. I thought this was kind of random, seeing as how it's called the "Experience Music Project" and the only thing in that section related to music was a playlist from the show. All in all, I had a great time at the EMP and I hope to go back another time :)