By PeterCovino

Entertainment Editor

Is the new Hard Rock Cafe Tampa the most unusual Hard Rock Cafe in the world?

You can bet on it.

The newest Hard Rock Cafe opened this week at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and it is the first cafe to feature gambling.

The 17,500 square-foot cafe features 20 slot machines in the bar area as well as a blackjack pit with four blackjack tables.

But there is a lot more than gambling at the newest Hard Rock venture, which will be a prototype for future Hard Rock cafes.

The cafe includes a 371-seat restaurant, outdoor patio, the Band Shell Bar and a live event stage, said general manager Donny Crawley.

But as with all Hard Rock Cafes, the biggest drawing card is the music memorabilia, and the newest cafe will have its own collection on display, plus the latest in multi-touch technology — Hard Rock Interactive.

Think iPad, but an iPad that takes up a whole wall and you get a pretty good idea of what Hard Rock Interactive is all about.

The Rock Wall is a “touch” system that operates very much like an iPad, said Hard Rock International Director of Technology Joe Tenczar. The giant display screens feature more than 2,000 “floating” objects – all bits of memorabilia found at a Hard Rock location somewhere in the world.

There are images of John Lennon’s signature glasses, historic rock concert posters, costumes and outfits worn by Jimi Hendrix and Michael Jackson, as well as a vast assortment of legendary rock guitars.

If you touch an image on the screen, Tenczar said, everything freezes and the object, say a collection of Beatles’ bobblehead dolls, is “captured.” Just like an iPad, you can touch that image and make it grow to a much larger size. There is also an information button that talks about the history of the Beatles’ bobbleheads, plus where bobbleheads are on display in the world.

Other features of the touch screen include a slide and drag technique that produces sounds. If you touch one of the famous rock guitars on the screen and drag it across the screen, you will get a guitar sample sound.

Eventually, many more of the Hard Rock’s 70,000-plus collection of artifacts and rock and roll treasures will be “catalogued” into the display system, he said.

There are more touch screen wonders at dining tables and at the bar. Mini-versions of the touch wall let guests explore more than 1,500 memorabilia items as well as plug in to the in-house music video system. You can even cast your vote on the next song and explore Hard Rock memorabilia related to those artists, Tenczar said.

The in-house collection of Rock memorabilia at the Tampa Hard Rock location includes:

• A 1972 Lynyrd Skynrd guitar which was used to record “Freebird.”

• An early 1970s pink Elvis Presley jumpsuit.

• Michael Jackson’s fedora for his “Billie Jean” dance number during his 1997 world tour.

• Buddy Holly’s line suit, the suit he wore during his ill-fated 1957 tour.

• The Beatles set list for a very early concert, around 1961, consisting exclusively of  covers of old rock ‘n’ roll songs.

• A 1962 Fender Precision Bass owned by The Who’s John Entwistle.

• A pair of Wayfarer sunglasses and costume jewelry owned by Madonna from the early 1980s.

• Bruce Springsteen’s sheet music from an early draft of “The Fever,” written in 1973.

• Janis Joplin’s shawl that she wore onstage with her post-Big Brother group, the Kozmic Blues Band.

The new stage at the Hard Rock will go into high gear New Year’s Eve with a concert by Sister Hazel at 10:45 p.m., followed by DJ Rockstar and Chris Craze at 1 a.m. Other future concerts include comedian Ralph Harris Jan. 17 and Jim Belushi & The Sacred Hearts Jan. 28. The best of local bands performs on the stage Thursdays through Saturdays.

Other cafe highlights include a restaurant menu which features an assortment of Angus beef burgers, made to order; a smokehouse menu of barbecue ribs and chicken as well as the Martorano’s menu, featuring items from Martorano’s at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in South Florida. The menu includes fried eggplant stack; grilled meatball sandwich and Bibz chicken wings.

The cafe drinks menu features house specialty hurricanes, margaritas and signature favorites. The signature ‘Hurricane” drink is served in a souvenir glass.

The cafe also features a gift shop with rock ‘n’ roll-inspired items, as well as Hard Rock Cafe Tampa merchandise.

The newest Hard Rock Cafe is located inside the casino and hotel, east of Tampa at 5223 North Orient Road.

Hard Rock also operates a cafe at CityWalk at Universal Orlando.