Lots of Better Places to Experience Music

While the EMP is an utter failure at conveying the fact that rock and roll is actually still being played to this day, it is a booming success as a coffin for the Baby Boomers' rock n roll era. We just wish this was a closed casket affair.

Seattlest knew the EMP wasn't long for this world when we saw the completed monstrosity starchitect Frank Gehry erected to house it, and we confirmed that opinion after the first (and only) time we laid out our 20-spot to get in. It's not a rock and roll museum, it's a shrine to corporate schmaltz and it could have been hundreds of times more successful had the admittedly comprehensive collection been displayed more modestly.

In today's Post Intelligencer there's a great feature on the how's and why's of the museum's disastrous lifespan, including some what-if's that peer into the potentially EMP-less void.

From the PI:

"I think EMP is currently doing some good stuff, and that I think that we need an EMP done right in Seattle," said Dave Meinert, club owner, band manager and concert promoter, adding that EMP has "a lot of great potential."

But insiders say the intangible good that comes from thoughtful, well-curated shows is no longer a priority, citing the Disney and Impressionist shows as proof.

"The promise of the institution far outweighs the premise of it. I don't even understand, necessarily, the mission of the organization, having been there a year. It's not well articulated ... to the staff, and to the public," said curator Larry Reid, who voluntarily left EMP in June.

Those are kind words from Meinert, who could probably roll up a better rock museum experience in an afternoon than the EMP has been able to provide in its five years of existence.

Besides the PI's main article there are also pieces on the "secretive culture" at the EMP, a comparison to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a short exploration of what would happen to the building if the EMP were to vanish. We'd like to hear from you as well: What would you do to the EMP building after the music dies?