Two giants of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia, the Hard Rock Cafe and Bonhams, are delighted to be bringing the Antiques Rockshow back to the original London Hard Rock Cafe on Old Park Lane, W1 from 10am – 1pm on Saturday 22nd September, 2012.
If you’ve ever wondered what that old autograph book is worth or whether that drum stick you caught at a Rolling Stones concert is valuable, here’s your chance to find out.
Members of the public are invited to bring in their pieces of rock ‘n’ roll history to the cafe for a free valuation by specialists from Bonhams auction house (maximum 3 items per person). If they are then interested in selling, the pieces will be put in the forthcoming Entertainment Memorabilia sale taking place at Bonhams, Knightsbridge on Wednesday 12th December, 2012.
Last year’s inaugural event, commemorating Hard Rock’s 40th anniversary saw people bringing in treasures from Pink Floyd, The Who, The Beatles and The Sex Pistols, some of which went on to be sold at auction. Since that first London event, the Antiques Rockshow has taken place in Hard Rock Cafes in Manchester, Edinburgh, Paris, Dublin and Amsterdam with future valuation days currently being planned for Berlin, Munich and Brussels in November.
“With all of our amazing music memorabilia, Hard Rock is the ideal place to host the Antiques Rockshow,” added Calum MacPherson, Area Vice President of Operations for Hard Rock International. “We’re sure that we’re going to see some very unique items at the event. And who knows? Maybe a few of them will be incredible enough to become part of our collection!”
The story of the birth of Hard Rock International’s memorabilia collection is itself a part of music history. The collection was started when Eric Clapton, a regular customer at the original Hard Rock Cafe London, asked the staff if he could hang his guitar on the wall to mark his favourite bar stool as “his spot.” They did, and one week later, a package from The Who’s Pete Townshend arrived with a guitar and a note bearing the message, “Mine’s as good as his! Love, Pete.” Today, Hard Rock owns the world’s largest collection of music memorabilia with more than 73,000 treasures.
