SIOUX CITY | Guitar-smashing and a surprise show by a rocker turned country boy helped usher in Woodbury County’s first land casino Friday night.

Upward of 1,000 people jammed into the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sioux City when the gaming and entertainment mecca opened for the first time to the public at 8 p.m.

"Welcome to the entertainment business!" Hard Rock General Manager Todd Moyer exclaimed above the buzz of the huge crowd waiting outside to enter the downtown venue's Pearl Street porte cochere. "It's show time."

With that, Moyer and four other dignitaries -- Hard Rock lead developer Bill Warner, Mayor Bob Scott, Missouri River Historical Development President Mark Monson and Howard Tribble, who led the nine-month-long construction of the $128 million project -- smashed brand-new electric guitars on the concrete, breaking them into pieces.

As the eager patrons pushed toward the doors, a drone hovered overhead, recording the historic moment.

Ryan Groetken, of Le Mars, Iowa, was the first in line, arriving outside the casino just after getting off work at 5 p.m. He sported a purple Hard Rock Sioux City T-shirt, a special edition shirt that Hard Rock developers handed out to supporters while showing the site to state gaming regulators in March 2013.

“I just wanted to come down early and see everything as close as I could,” Groetken said.

Moments before the guitar-breaking, in lieu of a traditional ribbon-cutting, Moyer revved up the crowd by playing short tracks of classic rock hits such as Queen's "We are the Champions" and Journey's "Don't Stop Believing."

Once inside, music remained a centerpiece of the 100,000-square-foot venue that bears the world-famous Hard Rock name.

In a surprise, Aaron Lewis, frontman for the alternative rock group Staind, performed a free show at Anthem, the casino’s 850-seat entertainment venue. Known for Staind hit songs such as as "It's Been Awhile" and "So Far Away," Lewis launched a solo career as a country and acoustic artist.

Lewis, whose appearance was a closely guarded secret by Hard Rock officials, also tossed the ceremonial first roll of the dice at the craps table at 6 p.m. It kicked off an invitation-only VIP party for more than 600 dignitaries, some of whom arrived in stretch limos.

During the two-hour soiree, the VIPs and their guests sipped beer, wine and spirits, and tasted samples of cuisine on the menu at the venue's three restaurants -- Main + Abbey, The World Tour Buffet and Fuel.

The guests also shopped at the Hard Rock-branded retail store -- The Rock Shop -- posed for pictures and admired the architecture and design of the casino, which combined new construction with a renovated Battery Building, a four-story warehouse built in 1906.

“I think it’s beautiful. It looks very cool," one of the guests, Lisa Adolph, said.

Adolph admired a funky costume worn by Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger at a 1989 concert. It's among the millions of dollars in artifacts from rock and roll history that are in glass displays throughout the property, from artists ranging from the Beatles and Michael Jackson to Katie Perry and Kid Rock.

The collection was selected and arranged by Warrick Stone, a curator of Hard Rock memorabilia since the first U.S. Hard Rock Cafe opened in 1982. Stone led a tour of the display cases during a walk-through for the media Friday morning.

To add to the excitement on opening night, Hard Rock officials also filmed a TV commercial on the 30,000-square-foot casino floor, complete with a group of sharply dressed 20-somethings getting excited over winning a jackpot at a craps table.

The casino floor, covered in purple leopard-patterned carpet accented with blue, gold and brown, boasts 839 slot machines and 25 table games, such as jackpot and roulette. An oversized guitar, with wood and metal accents, flashes over the floor, which is also illuminated with decorative light fixtures bearing purple drum sticks.

Support beams boast black-and-white images of legendary rock n' roll stars.

Underneath the floor is a state-of-the-art ventilation system to circulate fresh air on the casino floor, where smoking is allowed.

There are four bars throughout the building, including one in the hotel lobby that doubles as a front desk.

On shelves stacked high above the bar are 313 bottles of various top-shelf spirits, with an estimated value of $6,000.

The 54 hotel rooms on the third and fourth floors of the Battery on opening night were long since spoken for.

As guests admired the hotel lobby and high ceilings in a space where trains once pulled into the warehouse, a lone saxophonist played blues tunes. Above his head, on the brick wall, was a montage of photos of the late rock legend Jimi Hendrix.

The casino, bars, restaurants, retail shops and hotels employ about 500 people. 

In an interview before the guitar-breaking ceremony, Warner said the staff will be key to the Hard Rock delivering on its promise to create a top-notch entertainment destination for downtown Sioux City.

"It’s going to come down to the team delivering a great product, and we’re confident that they will,” Warner told the Journal.