Rockin’ The City Of Angels: Celebrating The Great Rock Shows Of The 70s review

A mighty hardback of live classics from the 70s

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By ( Prog ) published
Rockin’ The City Of Angels: Celebrating The Great Rock Shows Of The 70s book cover

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Sure, this says ‘Celebrating The Great Rock Shows Of The 70s’, but don’t panic, there’s plenty of prog in Douglas Harr’s hernia-popping 380-page hardback slab.

Separated into four themes – Rock Gods & Entertainers; Shamans, Storytellers and Mellow Rockers; Virtuosos & Classic Rockers, Encore (Genesis and Peter Gabriel) – Harr’s taken the soundtrack to his teenage years in LA, focused on 36 stadium shows and rounded them up with oodles of classily curated live shots. Added to that is Harr’s pick of each act’s best live DVD/audio release out there for today’s concert buff to appreciate at home. Meanwhile, The Who, Queen and Cat Stevens mingle on page and on stage with Heart, the Eagles and AC/DC, but it’s the prog goblet that runneth over. Tull, Yes, Supertramp, ELP, Kansas, Floyd, Wakeman, Camel, Rush, Kate Bush and Crimson get great billing. Zappa is underserved with one shot and two spreads, but features on PFM, Dixie Dregs, Happy The Man and U.K. give the book a deeper gusto. Printed on thick, glossy paper stock and served up at $79.99 (£65), it’s no casual investment. But Harr has created an absorbing read, with fun, personal recollections and a real sense of his own love and enjoyment.

Jo Kendall
Jo Kendall

Jo is a journalist, podcaster, event host and music industry lecturer who joined Kerrang! in 1999 and then the dark side – Prog – a decade later as Deputy Editor. Jo's had tea with Robert Fripp, touched Ian Anderson's favourite flute (!) and asked Suzi Quatro what one wears under a leather catsuit. Jo is now Associate Editor of Prog, and a regular contributor to Classic Rock. She continues to spread the experimental and psychedelic music-based word amid unsuspecting students at BIMM Institute London and can be occasionally heard polluting the BBC Radio airwaves as a pop and rock pundit. Steven Wilson still owes her £3, which he borrowed to pay for parking before a King Crimson show in Aylesbury.