Carter Alan

Part music history, part concert reviews, and part autobiography, DJ Carter Alan walks us through 45 years of concert going. This was a real walk down memory lane as his concert going years pretty much mirrors my own and I've been lucky enough to see many of the same bands. The book is entertainingly written and the recollections add a personal touch that takes the book beyond just being a series of reviews. The idea of a suggested playlist for each of the concerts was a clever touch, and show more one I enjoyed so much that I ended up building a full playlist for the book on Spotify - the first time I've been inspired by a book to do that. show less

Boston disc jockey and author Carter Alan has written a memoir-cum-rock history in the form of fifty memorable concerts he has attended, from his first (James Gang, 1973) to, well, certainly not his last, but still pretty recent (Joe Walsh, 2015). Some concerts are disappointing shows by artists at career nadirs (Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Aerosmith). Some are shows by artists Alan was not familiar with prior to seeing them live (B.B. King, Ted Nugent, Alison Krauss). Some are special due to show more unique circumstances (CSNY playing in a deluge the day Nixon resigned; Zack Wylde's infamous one-off gig with the Allman Brothers; Roger Waters and friends at the Berlin Wall; a Traffic-Free double bill, last shows by each, with a combined encore jam as the electricity gets cut off and the beat goes on). Alan makes even the most mundane shows sound enjoyable (unless there's rain and mud involved, that is). Narratives of rock concerts beyond descriptions of musicianship sometimes wander off into social analyses of the purple prose variety, so it's to Alan's credit that he keeps the focus on historical context, personal impressions, and his own backstory. Basically this is the story of an average guy who parlayed a love of rock music into a career and has a gift for sharing it through words. Any fan of rock with wide-ranging taste could enjoy this book, but I feel it's aimed at and best enjoyed by people like Alan (and me): "Rock and roll has cruised along for more than sixty years ... It's been my privilege to travel along with it a good part of that way." show less

What a fun, rollicking read! Carter Alan has basically written a memoir/concert review history of the last 40 years of rock n roll. I can't tell you how many memories this stirred up for me of my own concert experiences even though I've been to far fewer than Alan. From his very first to 2015 Alan writes like a true fan rather than a smarmy rock critic who only likes things no one has heard of even if it's crap. Excellent, good time read!

When I was selected to receive The Decibel Diaries in LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program, I was elated. Rock and Roll has been part of my life for more than half a century, and I still enjoy it today. When I received the book and looked at the table of contents, my enthusiasm waned. Oh, punk rock. Meh. Heavy metal. Yuck. At least half of the shows reviewed were for acts I didn't care that much about. I put the book aside for a few weeks.

I was foolish. You don't have to like a group to show more enjoy a description of their concert, particularly when recounted by an unpretentious recorder like Carter Alan, who takes us from 1973 to 2015, from his teenage years to middle age, in 50 concerts. As a DJ and program director in Boston, he had terrific backstage access in his later years, and many of the stories he recalls are quite fascinating. He also fleshes out each concert review with information about the act that I wouldn't have known otherwise. I may check out some of the acts he saw that I'm not that familiar with. Maybe I'll enjoy them after all. But not the heavy metal groups. Yuck. show less