As a tourist, I’m not hard to please. I’m happy when I can view great art collections, then after dark, listen to live music. On a recent trip to Seattle I managed to get my fill of both. Between visits to the art galleries and museums, I enjoyed a lively nightlife that fully satisfied my appetite for live blues and jazz.

There are more than a half-million people in this sophisticated and vigorous city. The liveliest areas are Pioneer Square, the Pike Place Market, the waterfront and the Seattle Center.

Left over from the 1962 World’s Fair, the Space Needle is a towering 602 feet (183.5 m) high.

For rock star lore, I visited Seattle’s Experience Music Project (EMP) at the Seattle Center, which opened in June 2000. Microsoft millionaire Paul Allen created EMP at a cost of US$ 240 million, in part to house his personal collection of Beatles memorabilia. He also wanted to provide a focus for pilgrims looking for traces of the famous Seattle musician Jimi Hendrix. EMP has displays ranging from stage costumes, posters and instruments to a high-tech recording studio where I could have cut my own CD in the digitally equipped sound booths.

Another technical marvel at the museum is the shoulder-slung computer included with admission price (US$ 20). This gizmo is destined to be a part of every major museum. The device allows visitors to listen to sound recordings, and to scan the displays to connect with Websites and digital archives.

EMP is impressive, but if you’re not a Hendrix fan you won’t get that much out of it. The curatorial focus is narrowly on the mainstream of American rock. The computer databanks that promised to hold the entire history of pop music came up blank when I did a search for some of my favorites from the distant past, like The Rezillos, Arthur Brown and Elvis Hitler.

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Canadian architect Frank Gehry designed the EMP building around a motif of electric guitar bodies. This colorful jumble of organic curves caused a stir in the Emerald City even before it was built. As construction neared completion, Seattleites were polarized in their opinions about the museum. Three years later they still are. Some love the innovative design; others consider it a costly joke.

In addition to the EMP, the Seattle Center is home to the Space Needle; the Pacific Science Center, with its IMAX theater and planetarium; The Children’s Museum; the Fun Forest Amusement Park; and numerous arts organizations, including the Seattle Repertory Theatre, the Seattle Children’s Theatre, Pacific Northwest Ballet and the Seattle Opera. The Space Needle and the center are remnants of the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair.