Ever wondered what your treasured signed Beatles LP is worth? What about that original Rolling Stones tour poster you ripped off the wall in the 70’s or that broken guitar Brian May gave to you?
Well, now’s your chance to find out at the very first Edinburgh Antiques Rockshow!
Brought to you by two giants of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia, Hard Rock Cafe and Bonhams auction house, the Antiques Rockshow will take place at the Edinburgh cafe on Friday October 14th.
Two Bonhams specialists in the world of memorabilia, Stephanie Connell and Stephen Maycock, will be present at Hard Rock Cafe (20 George St.) between 11am and 3pm and will give a valuation to any genuine piece of music history (Maximum 3 items per person).
Bonhams have previously sold some of the most important rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia to appear on the market, including the Eric Clapton guitar and amp collection in March 2011 for $2.1 million. Other past items include the original artwork for the Clash album London Calling (£72,000), Obi-Wan Kenobi’s cape from Star Wars (£60,000), an autographed copy of the Beatles Sergeant Pepper album (£16,500) and a Beatles autographed Liverpool Airport sign (£19,800). Stephanie Connell, Head of Entertainment Memorabilia at Bonhams is very excited about the Rockshow, “Hard Rock Cafe is an iconic institution in the world of rock ‘n’ roll and we hope to see some great items on the day.”
“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!”
Steven Maycock from Bonhams commented “'After the success of the valuation day earlier this year at the London Hard Rock Cafe, Bonhams is delighted to be the guests of the Edinburgh Hard Rock Cafe. In London we unearthed memorabilia relating to the Beatles, the Stones, Marc Bolan and the Sex Pistols, amongst others, and we are sure that with such a wealth of music talent to come out of Edinburgh something of great interest will also be found”.
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 favorite 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!