Last night, the Rock Hall's induction ceremony came back to the city where every Clevelander thinks it belongs. Rock dignitaries and cheering fans filled Public Hall to see Metallica, Run-DMC, Jeff Beck, Wanda Jackson, Bobby Womack, D.J. Fontana, Spooner Oldham, and Little Anthony and the Imperials inducted into the hall of fame. Another crowd of Clevelanders watched the ceremony simulcast at the Rock Hall itself (pictured).
Rock Hall foundation CEO Joel Peresman said he was looking forward to bringing the induction back here every three years and told the crowd about the beautiful Public Hall's history, including the Beatles' 1964 concert there.
You can read three pages of coverage in the Plain Dealer today, but for a different take, check out the New York Times report, which picked up on how a Cleveland party is different than a New York party:
For only the second time in their 24-year history, the inductions were held in Cleveland.... The show was opened up to the public for the first time, with thousands of shouting, fist-pumping fans lining the balconies of the Public Auditorium here. Perhaps as a result, a streak of populism ran through the speeches.
“Rock ’n’ roll is about possibilities and about dreams,” said Lars Ulrich, the drummer of Metallica.... “Anything is possible if you just have the guts to believe it.”
Eminem, inducting Run-DMC, mentioned the video of "King of Rock" I linked to yesterday (below):
He referred to the storyline for Run-DMC’s video for “Kings[sic] of Rock” in 1985, saying: “The group set themselves up as the gatecrashers of popular music by forcing their way into a museum very similar to the one we’re inducting them into tonight. Run-DMC were told in the video that they didn’t belong in a rock ’n’ roll museum, and 25 years later, man, here we are.”
(Photo of crowd at the Rock Hall for the induction simulcast last night. From Positively Cleveland's Flickr photostream.)
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