Customer Reviews

Black Book: The Live History of blur

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I got this book for Christmas.What a superb read.

It is well written and the author has clearly spent a lot of time on this.The reviews of the gigs i have been at are bang on and i can't disagree with any of what he has said.

I like the fact that Drew let's you know the quality of the recordings as well.

This really is a book that does a great band like Blur justice and is a must read for anyone who is interested in there live history but i would also say that any music fan would enjoy reading this as it is so well written.

Thanks Drew for sharing the book with us.

This is a great, comprehensive look at Blur's live history. The breadth of Athans's research is staggering, and any Blur fan should have this book on their shelves. Even if, like me, you're not an avid collector of live recordings, Black Book is still an indispensable tome for fans of the band. Besides, you might be compelled to seek down some of the shows that Athans chronicles. And if you are an avid collector of live recordings, why don't you have this book already? Highly recommended.

Drew Athans tells us in the foreword to "Black Book: The Live History of blur" that this is a "Fan's labor of Love", so when we go deep in his exhaustive research we really believe that statement. This book is not only a detailed chronology of known (and mostly unknown) Blur's shows, but also a narrative gem wich mixes rich depictions with valuable personal appreciations regarding the artistic fact of a live performance.
Every Blur fan will be delighted with vivid portrayals of band members at stage, accurate sound quality ratings, tour dates, set lists of each show and, on top of that, an innovative biography of one of the most influential bands of the last twenty years.
As a music collector guide, this work pushes the genre boundaries turning the stream of data into a very pleasant reading, fitting perfectly into the multi-layered narrative of the Internet era.
In adition, this book gives you a clear knowledge of the individual talents of Blur's musicians and how they were mixed together to produce part of the sound that defined de 90's. A must have for music lovers and good readers.

This is an indispensable guide for all fans interested in Blur's performances outside of the studio setting. It contains a huge number of gig reviews, from the famous (Glastonbury, Mile End, Alexandra Palace, to name but three) to the wilfully obscure (hello Greenland and the Faroe Islands!), and practically everywhere else inbetween.

It also contains an exhaustive list of Blur songs and if, when and where they have been performed, plus a wonderful tour history list from 1989 to 2009. A marvellous achievement and an excellent read.

Black Book is an amazing book for the hardcore Blur fan. Drew has put countless hours into making this holy grail for fans of Blur's live shows. In the book you can find hundreds of reviews, setlists, and information on Blur's live history right at your fingertips. I myself am not a huge fan of live recordings in general, but when it comes to Blur, it perks my ear. Even if you don't get into the live stuff this book has some amazing information! I would recommend this Blur bible to anyone who is a fan of the band. Truly an indispensable book!

This is a rather thorough guide to most known blur live recordings, put together by a very thoughtful fan of the band. As one who also collects blur recordings, I find this book to be both an interesting right-up on shows that I know and a guide to recordings to search for.

It might be of interest to the general blur fan as well, but it's definitely most intended for those with a more extreme devotion to the band.

Fans of blur who have not explored the world of their concert recordings are missing a significant part of the band's history and music. If you'd like to start on a journey of exploring this territory, Black Book is a great guide on your way!

I bought this book because I'm a big fan of Blur's music. Even though I've only heard their live stuff a few times, this book was good to read just as a history from front to back. The author is really descriptive and you feel like you're there at the concert. There are a lot of funny moments from the stage (the band talking) that are included in here, and if you ever wanted to know every song they played live or every tour date, the section in the back is very large and detailed. This is a great book for anyone who likes Blur or BritPop in general.