Finally got to visit the museum w/ a friend on a recent afternoon, and while we enjoyed our visit -…read morewe also both said, almost simultaneously, "It could've been so much better."
Bottom line up front - it's totally worth a visit. It's easy to get there, and because it was a weekday, we had no issue finding parking on a side street nearby. Plan on spending 3 hours or more. It really would've been nice to see more of the documentaries that were playing. We just had time to consume a bit of them.
There's a lot to admire and learn.
What they've managed to pull together is impressive. I can't imagine all that goes into dealing with estates, copyrights, on and on. The interactive experience -- where you can pick up a guitar, hop on a drum set, take to a mic in a studio - is really entertaining. The massive exhibit on SNL was great. Whoever edited the video of all of the performers is truly a master. It was excellent.
BUT - we kept feeling like there were so many artists who were left out. There was almost nothing of Elton John, Freddie Mercury, David Bowie, U2, Bob Dylan, Carole King, Blondie, and quite a list of others.
Neither of us uses Spotify, so we couldn't listen to (via QR code you scan) numerous coordinating play lists that went with exhibits.
Not sure if they have the staff or not, but there was no special exhibit set up to honor the late mega-star, Hall of Famer Dolly Parton - just a tiny, sad table at the front of the gift shop that the escalators funnel you directly into in order to exit the museum.
The staff who greet you barely say a word and don't even give you an exhibits map. No friendly advice on which way to go, etc.
We liked the exhibit focused on "revolutionary women," but again, if you go to the trouble of acquiring a performer's outfit/costume, you should expend a little more energy & get a really nice picture -- or even better, some video (!!) al-- of that person in the outfit! How about some stories behind the costumes? A little spotlight on who made it, why the performer chose it, etc.
Unless we missed it, there was little to nothing about the legendary people behind the scenes --- the producers, like George Martin (the "5th Beatle"), Phil Spector, Mutt Lange, etc.
Again, we enjoyed ourselves, but it could've been so much better.