In this episode of Seeing Them Live, Charles interviews Alan Rosenberg. Alan is the creator and host of The Alan Rosenberg Show on YouTube, a channel dedicated to his lifelong passion for music. Growing up on Long Island, New York, Alan was introduced to rock and roll at an early age through his older sister, whose bedroom walls were covered in posters of The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and The Allman Brothers. By age 10, Alan was already building what would become a meticulously catalogued collection of over 5,000 albums — all of which he has listened to multiple times. In this episode, Alan takes host Charles Zona through the roots of his obsession, including the typed yearly album lists he kept starting in 1973, a tradition handed down from his sister that eventually evolved into a comprehensive digital database tracking every album he owns, every song on it, its chart position, and the year he acquired it. Alan shares vivid memories from more than five decades of concert-going, starting with his very first show — The Rolling Stones at Madison Square Garden in June 1975, featuring the legendary Lotus Stage and a then-new Ron Wood sitting in as guest guitarist. From there, the conversation moves through highlights including the Stones' massive Steel Wheels Tour at Shea Stadium, a Simon & Garfunkel reunion in Central Park, and what Alan calls perhaps his most purely fun concert experience: seeing The Rolling Stones at the intimate MGM Grand in Las Vegas during the 1999 No Security Tour. A standout moment from the episode is Alan's account of seeing U2 at The Sphere in Las Vegas — a venue he discovered before it became widely known — where the crystal-clear, immersive sound system left him calling it one of the greatest concert experiences of his life. The conversation also covers some of Alan's more disappointing experiences, including a Hackney Diamonds-era Rolling Stones show at MetLife Stadium where the sound quality was, in his words, "atrocious," and a Van Halen reunion show at Jones Beach that failed to deliver. Beyond the concert stories, Charles and Alan dive deep into the philosophy behind The Alan Rosenberg Show, where Alan refuses to review a new album until he has listened to it at least five times — sometimes eight or nine — because, as he puts it, music is deeply personal and mood-dependent. He discusses the decline of new music on classic rock radio, the fearlessness of artists like David Gilmour who still play entire new albums on tour, and why he believes the era of great classic rock concert experiences has fundamentally changed due to ticket prices, stadium sound problems, and the industry's shift toward playing only the hits. Alan also touches on his love of deluxe box sets, his growing appreciation for Taylor Swift's Midnights, and the warm, knowledgeable community he has built around his YouTube channel, which now features close to 600 videos. BANDS: The Allman Brothers, Billy Joel, Blue Öyster Cult, Dave Matthews, David Gilmour, The Eagles, Genesis, Harry Styles, Iron Maiden, James Brown, Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin, The Moody Blues, Nazareth, Olivia Newton-John, Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, Ratboys, The Rolling Stones, Ron Wood, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Simon & Garfunkel, Taylor Swift, Tina Turner, U2, Van Halen, Wishbone Ash, The Who, Yes. VENUES: Brendan Byrne Arena (Meadowlands), Central Park, Jones Beach, Madison Square Garden, MetLife Stadium, MGM Grand, Shea Stadium, The Sphere (Las Vegas), SUNY Albany, The United Center (Chicago), The Vic Theater (Chicago), Westbury Music Theater, World Music Theater (Tinley Park, Illinois). PATREON:https://www.patreon.com/SeeingThemLive Please help us defer the cost of producing this podcast by making a donation on Patreon. WEBSITE - BECOME A GUEST:https://seeingthemlive.com/ Visit the Seeing Them Live website and click on the link to fill out a form so we can consider you as a guest on the show. INSTAGRAM:https://www.instagram.com/seeingthemlive/ FACEBOOK:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550090670708
