Seattle’s Hard Rock Cafe–at 116 Pike Street–opens to the public on Wednesday. Live music starts in March.I had a chance to wander around the glossy new Hard Rock this morning (on Pike, between First and Second). The folks have really gone all out. It’s shiny, it’s new, and if you’re predisposed to hating on big and tall tourist attractions with rock shows and outdoor decks with views of Elliott Bay, you may as well move right along. For my part, I was very impressed with what they’ve done with the building (and the fact that their happy hour runs from 3-6 p.m. and 8-10 p.m. M-F). First things first: the “upstairs” room includes a full bar, stage (above), and room for 477 peeps if the tables and chairs are all taken out. Amy Bauer, formerly of Loveless Records, is the club’s marketing manager and booking all the shows. She’s planning on monthly residencies on Tuesday nights hosted by bands, blogs, and record labels. Sundays are reserved for all-ages matinees. By the end of March, Bauer expects to be booking three or four shows a night, local and national.Elvis Presley’s warm and fuzzy jacket.Stacey O’Bryan (Idaho, class of ’86), Hard Rock’s area vice president, scouted the location and said that the company had been looking for a location in town for about 15 years. Because the venue is largely a tourist attraction–O’Bryan says some Hard Rock fans/collectors don’t even visit the location in their hometown — they needed a location that was at the center of where a tourist would think to look for a Hard Rock. The current location became available, O’Bryan says, when the real-estate market took a dive and it was no longer pegged to be turned into condos.Last Question: Every time that a Walgreens goes up, a Rite Aid isn’t far behind. So should we expect a House of Blues across the street from Hard Rock?”There have been a lot of copycats that have tried to re-create a theme around–whether it be a Planet Hollywood or a House of Blues,” O’Bryan says. “Those were all thematically designed to compete with Hard Rock, but they didn’t become that organically the way that Hard Rock did, just as its natural occurrence over the years. But I would expect some good opportunities for other tenants to come in to really improve the area.”This is the view from the 138-person capacity rooftop deck. In a city that boats shamefully few places to drink and overlook the Sound, this is a killer addition. There is a bar on the deck, fires, couches, and cabanas are on the way.A drum set beaten to death by Alice in Chains’ Sean Kinney.The main floor’s restaurant boasts local artifacts that lean heavily on the grunge era of the ’80s and ’90s, as well as some items with loose/hilarious local connections. A jacket once owned by The Who’s Keith Moon, for example, is said to have been spilled on in Seattle, and subsequently purchased by the offender.This bass was used by Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic during the In Utero tour.This jacket is signed by former Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan.This guitar was once owned by Eddie Vedder. The lyrics to “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter In a Small Town” are written on top.