Kids in London – O2 British Music Experience

Since it opened in March, I had been meaning to go along and have a look at the BME and yesterday I got my chance. On entry you are given a smart ticket, which the introductory talk explains you use to activate the interactive displays and activities and then allows you to “replay” them on-line when you get home. Neat.

I passed through a hall in which some youngsters were learning the fine art of DJing and MCing in a club-like environment. Some relatively small folk were rather wrapped up in a hip hop masterclass while their parents looked on. I wandered around was the Gibson suite – here you can play a guitar (or drums, or piano – luckily, some of the sound is muted and players use headphones) and select video lessons (beginner, intermediate and advanced) from your favourite rock and pop stars. Whilst there were a healthy number of kids looking suitably engrossed, there were a fair few dads who had become lost in their youthful dreams of becoming a rock star.

There is also a vocal studio where you can record your own singing lesson with the X Factor vocal coach – again, for storage and later review on your smart ticket. You can also peek into what looks like a real recording studio which is for educational programmes. Wish they’d had school trips like that when I was small.

Then you enter a darkly lit core area – which has loads of interactive displays providing videos, questions, pictures and all sorts of educational information about the history of British music. There are also a few cabinets containing old fashioned TVs and radios. But there is no way this is a stuffy old museum. I loved the huge map where you moved your cursor with a ball (not as easy as it seems) to your place of birth in the UK and then see the associated famous artists, gigs and movements with your hometown.

There are areas around the core themed for each decades – starting at 1945 – to provide a comprehensive introduction to British music and its influences. Each room has music appropriate to the era playing and has a large interactive timeline where you can select particular years, artists or other critical events for a multimedia guide. There are more cabinets here containing outfits and real artefacts. You use your smart card and a nifty fret panel to select those items that you wish to know more about. All tagged items are saved on your smart ticket. Each area also has Table Talk too – containing exclusive interviews with the leading musicians of that period. Then there are projected images onto the table where you select to hear or see more. The technology was like something out of Star Trek – the kids looked completely at home with it, the adults struggled. Atlantic crossing showed the interplay between the US and the UK – and you could even play a game with the folk in the next room.

The current era room is fluid. There are interviews and artefacts about Duffy, Amy Winehouse, Estelle and Leona. And an exclusive interview with Dizzy Rascal. Back in the core, another neat feature was a cubicle where you can select one of 12 dance lessons – you learn the dance and then get videod. I watched a couple of kids pick up the steps to a ska dance pretty quick.

Your time at the exhibition ends at a six minute Soundstage show. This large room has screens all around and after some impressive 3D multimedia tricks you are launched into a series of videos of Britain’s greatest gigs – the double layer projection makes it feel as if you really are in the crowd and the light show adds to the realism. The kids danced and parents tapped their feet to music including Led Zeppelin, Amy Winehouse, Prodigy, Rolling Stones, Specials, Clash, David Bowie, Robbie Williams and Queen. It was brilliant and made me proud to be British. I left the hall with a spring in my step.

An eight year old girl told me that she thought the exhibition was “Absolutely brilliant” while her 12 year old brother was more muted in his response, although he did comment that “all the interactive stuff is good”. You exit, of course, through a well stocked and extensive shop.

The curator of the exhibition used to be the EMI archivist. And that is, apparently, how he managed to get his hands on so much authentic and iconic stuff (e.g. dresses worn by Cilla, Lulu and even Leona) and persuade so many big stars to participate in the interviews. But his connections are proven when, right towards the end of the show, we peered at the original Andy Warhol portrait of Michael Jackson – which is being sent to the States tomorrow for auction. Reserve price £800,000 – although the last Warhol reached many millions.

Expect to spend at least 90 minutes there – although those serious about music could easily spend the day. Adult tickets cost £15. There are a couple of special offers at the moment. Kids go free during August and if you book to see Walking with Dinosaurs you get free entry. It’s busy at the weekends and week nights it is open until 8pm.