Off the record: My pop pilgrimage

After strumming cackhandedly through Tunstall's video tutorial, it's off to a small black box to "dance" to the Macarena in Comic Relief-worthy fashion. This is the British Music Experience, the new £9.5 million pop exhibition due to open to the public at the O2 on Monday. And as the man behind the museum, Harvey Goldsmith, is at pains to point out, the emphasis is on "experience". A museum it is not.

There are glass cabinets filled with David Bowie's outfits, Elton John's sunglasses and Noel Gallagher's guitars — but these are far outweighed by huge digital screens playing endless pop videos and a cacophony of overlapping songs.

It's dark and noisy, like a gig venue rather than an institution. Visitors will spend most of their time wearing headphones watching clips instead of peering at tiny placards, though the digital sheen can't disguise the more sordid aspects of rock — you can still see the stains on the hoodie belonging to Happy Mondays drug enthusiast Shaun Ryder.

It's smaller than you might expect for a major new attraction, with a circular centre leading off into seven different rooms categorised by era, from the skiffle boom of the Fifties to the boy bands and Britpop of the Nineties. Both washboards and iPods are here.

Most popular by far is the Gibson Interactive Studio, where instruments line the walls and video tutorials offer 10-minute instruction sessions which can then be recorded and played back on the website at home.

There is also an enjoyable digital map of some surprisingly obscure rock landmarks. I never knew that John Lennon and Paul McCartney played a 1960 gig as The Nerks in the Fox & Hounds pub, a nondescript local down the road from my childhood home in Caversham.

The organisers claim a fortnight would be needed to read and watch everything, though realistically, people are more likely to spend a couple of hours, so tickets at £15 for adults and £12 for kids may be steep when so many bigger museums are free.

The Dome is now the world's most popular destination for evening gig-goers, but it's usually a ghost town in the day so later opening hours will be needed. The curators will be worrying that the last time Britain attempted something like this, 10 years ago with the Lottery-funded Centre for Popular Music in Sheffield, it closed down within months.
Happily, the reality is that this place really does make British music feel of huge significance. By the time I reached the final holographic show, to strobes, screaming and the sound of Freddie Mercury singing We Are the Champions, I hadn't noticed that anything had been missed out. Aside from hip hop and country, the entire story of modern music is here, from trad jazz to Duffy, with The Rolling Stones, The Clash and Bowie in between, and all of it British. That's definitely a tale worthy of a snazzy showcase like this one.

British Music Experience, O2 Bubble, SE10. Adults £15, concs £12. (0844 847 2477, www.britishmusicexperience.com).

NEW ON THE NET
*Those who think being in a rock band is all awards shows and groupies might get a reality check now that two of Britain's finest have opened their studio doors. Muse, whose next album isn't due until September, have posted videos of the trio recording in a field of sheep and a toilet at http://twitter.com/musewire. Meanwhile, Super Furry Animals, who make their comeback next month, are showing numerous split-screen videos in which almost nothing happens at www.superfurry.com.
 
*Having made their name uniting metal and rave music in the most headache-inducing way possible, St Albans band Enter Shikari are back and veering more towards the guitars. New song Antwerpen, a free download taster for May's new album at www.entershikari.com, features skittering rave drums in the middle but otherwise is all violent riffs and screaming