Michael Jackson’s jacket came out of Hard Rock Café vaults in London specially for the occasion.  Preparing the iconic red garment for exhibition, Kim wanted to give it a hug, but she didn’t.

As worn in the Beat It video

Instead the jacket – along with back stage pass to a Liza Minelli show in one of the pockets – remains untouched in a shiny metal display case not far from the gleaming white Elvis all-in-one, just round the corner from John Entwistle’s black suede suit.

Hard Rock Couture is an extraordinary mix of old and new memorabilia from the now famous collection which started with Eric Clapton’s gift to the original London café, more than 70,000 collector’s items ago.

“They all have stories to tell, they bring so many memories back for so many different people,” says Kim, from the Edinburgh Hard Rock Cafe, who had spent the last couple of days setting up the Glasgow exhibition  – pausing every now and then to text her dad a tantalising picture. Freddie Mercury’s black and white striped catsuit (so small), Elvis Presley’s  white one (so large).

Long live the King

“Where are you!!!” her dad texts back at one point.

The answer is Glasgow Royal Concert Hall where  the Hard Rock Couture show is celebrating the imminent arrival of Glasgow Hard Rock Café just down the road in Buchanan Street. Some of the Walking Heads team were among the guests at the opening night of the show which runs until Sunday 25th August and we spent a happy two hours wandering through the exhibition with time-frozen costumes in metal cases which – depending on your mood – could be quirky coffins or designer shop windows.

Many of the wearers have now departed to that great gig in the sky – Mercury, Entwistle, Presley, Jackson – but others are still very much alive and kicking  Close-up, you get a chance to see how beautifully crafted is the eye-popping gear of Madonna, Lady Gaga, Shakira.

A beautifully crafted cone corset 

So who will be on the walls of the new Hard Rock Café which opens in Buchanan Street in November?  That remains to be seen – though KT Tunstall’s cardy is a definite gift from the Edinburgh café – but whatever the memorabilia the Hard Rock staff are obviously excited about joining the here-and-now of Glasgow’s music scene.

“We’ve been waiting for this opportunity for so long,” says Jo Wilkie, Glasgow Hard Rock General Manager. Also standing by is Rita Gilligan the warm and welcoming longest serving member of staff who began the Hard Rock life as the company’s first waitress in 1971, has attended the opening of every Hard Rock café across the world and can’t wait to do the honours in Glasgow.

On the way home we just happened to see Rita with the rest of the Hard Rock crew standing outside the former Athenaeum theatre in Buchanan Street, admiring the wonderful old building about to be transformed into Glasgow’s latest live music venue. Right next to Forever 21.

And on the Glasgow Music Tour route.

Walking Heads Dougal Perman and Fay Young meet Lovely Rita

Hard Rock Couture is at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall until Sunday 25th August.