THIS IS NOT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE (LATE SHOW), THERE WERE TWO PERFORMANCES ON THIS DATE. THE BOOTLEG IS FROM THE EARLY SHOW.
(See the notes below)
The Background:
It’s 1973, the Rolling Stones play a live benefit concert for victims of the Nicaraguan earthquake. The show at the Forum in LA on January 18, would be their first live performance in six months, since the closing date (July 26, 1972) of the North American tour, at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Three days after this benefit concert, they took to the stage of the Honolulu International Centre in Hawaii, to begin their Winter tour. After three shows they returned to LA for further work on the forthcoming follow up to ‘Exile On Main St.’
On February 9, the Stones arrived at Sydney airport in Australia, to conduct the usual press conferences for promotional and publicity purposes before flying to New Zealand to perform at the Western Springs Stadium in Auckland on the 11th, their only date in this country. Nine shows then followed in Australia, taking in the cities of Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and finally Sydney on February 26 & 27.
Mixing and overdubbing for the upcoming album ‘Goat’s Head Soup’ continued throughout the spring and summer months. The first single from the album, ‘Angie’ backed with ‘Silver Train’ was released on August 20th
The ‘Goat’s Head Soup’ album would be released on the last day of August, and the European tour in support began the very next day in Vienna. The tour comprised of 43 shows over 49 days. This bootleg is from the third last show, not the official release from the evening show, although a few tracks are common to both.
The Bootleg:
At the time of writing, the Rolling Stones bootlegs database, lists 65 different titles for this early show (of which at least part of the show has appeared on). I have downloaded numerous variations over the years, a few of the titles I have been through - Bunnies, Bombs, Busts & A Princess (Halcyon), Bedspring Symphony, Nasty Music (VGP) & Europe 73 (VGP) in fact, five editions of the latter. A book could be written about just this one Rolling Stones show and the endless amount of bootlegs that have been derived from it. The one that remains on my shelf is this: Brussels Affair - Definitive Edition! released in 2000 on the Rattle Snake bootleg label (RS 015/16). Other Stones fans may have their own favourite from the titles I have previously mentioned but what is important, is that you have a copy of the show.
Reviewer’s Comments:
“The boot is the Stones' finest hour in terms of live performance captured on tape”
“Midnight Rambler on the first disc just soars (Mick Taylor is in top form) and the recording is a primal moment. The way the Stones come back into the full tempo ending from the conclusion of the breakdown 3/4 of the way through is something magical and transcendent.”
“Gimme Shelter is perhaps the most original and enduring song in the Stones cannon, capable of knocking a listener out in any of the many interpretations the band has put forth over the years. However, listening to the guitar interplay between the savage slashing of Keith Richards on the rhythm riffs and Mick Taylor's monster soloing will take your breath away.”
“This is in fact the best Stones album bar none. Yes, really! Sound quality is amazing. The Stones are at their peak musically and as a performing band.”
“Arguably the best live release from the band's illustrious career, this is one affair that will remain fresh after repeated visits.”
“This snapshot of the 1973 Rolling Stones tour of Europe in support of the Goats Head Soup album finds the band at the pinnacle of their live prowess, Brussels Affair is such a revelation”
The European Tour Dates:
September
1st: Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria
3rd: Eisstadion, Mannheim, (West) Germany
4th: Sporthalle, Cologne, (West) Germany (early show)
4th: Sporthalle, Cologne, (West) Germany (late show)
7th: Empire Pool, Wembley, London,
8th: Empire Pool, Wembley, London (early show)
8th: Empire Pool, Wembley, London (late show)
9th: Empire Pool, Wembley, London
11th: Belle Vue, Kings Hall, Manchester, England
12th: Belle Vue, Kings Hall, Manchester, England
13th: City Hall, Newcastle, England (early show)
13th: City Hal,l Newcastle, England (late show)
16th: Apollo Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland
17th: Apollo Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland
19th: Odeon Theatre, Birmingham, England (early show)
19th: Odeon Theatre, Birmingham, England (late show)
23rd: Olympiahalle, Innsbruck, Austria
25th: Festhalle, Berne, Switzerland
26th: Festhalle, Berne, Switzerland (early show)
26th: Festhalle, Berne, Switzerland (late show)
28th: Olympiahalle, Munich, (West) Germany (early show)
28th: Olympiahalle, Munich, (West) Germany (late show)
30th: Festhalle, Frankfurt, (West) Germany (early show)
30th: Festhalle, Frankfurt, (West) Germany (late show)
October
2nd: Ernst-Merck-Halle, Hamburg, (West) Germany (early show)
2nd: Ernst-Merck-Halle, Hamburg, (West) Germany (late show)
4th: Vejlby-Risskov Hallen, Aarhus, Denmark (early show)
4th: Vejlby-Risskov Hallen, Aarhus, Denmark (late show)
6th: Scandinavium, Gothenburg, Sweden (early show)
6th: Scandinavium, Gothenburg, Sweden (late show)
7th: Brondby-Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark (early show)
7th: Brondby-Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark (late show)
9th: Grugahalle, Essen, (West) Germany
10th: Grugahalle, Essen, (West) Germany
11th: Grugahalle, Essen, (West) Germany
13th: Sportpaleis AHOY, Rotterdam, Holland
14th: Sportpaleis AHOY, Rotterdam, Holland (early show)
14th: Sportpaleis AHOY, Rotterdam, Holland (late show)
15th: Sportpaleis Merksem, Antwerp, Belgium
17th: Foret Nationale, Brussels, Belgium (early show) (bootleg)
17th: Foret Nationale, Brussels, Belgium (late show) (official release)
19th: Deutschlandhalle, Berlin, (West) Germany
Rolling Stones Brussels Affair - Definitive Edition!
Rattle Snake – RS 015/16
Released: 2000
Disc one:
01 Brown Sugar*
02 Gimme Shelter
03 Happy
04 Tumbling Dice
05 Dancing With Mr. D
06 Angie
07 You Can't Always Get What You Want
08 Midnight Rambler*
09 Honky Tonk Woman
10 All Down The Line
11 Rip This Joint
12 Jumping Jack Flash
13 Street Fighting Man*
14 Starfucker
recorded live at the Forest National, Brussels, Belgium on October 17th 1973, 1st show.
Disc two:
01 Brown Sugar Rotterdam Oct 14 (late show)
02 Happy London Sep 9
03 Gimme Shelter London Sep 9
04 Heartbreaker London Sep 9
05 Street Fighting Man London Sep 9
06 Brown Sugar Newcastle Sep 13
07 Starfucker Newcastle Sep 13
08 Dancing With Mr. D London Sep 9
09 Angie Newcastle Sep 13
10 Midnight Rambler London Sep 9
11 Gimme Shelter Munich Sep 28
12 Street Fighting Man Munich Sep 28
bonus tracks
13 Bitch Vienna, Sep 1
14 100 Years Ago Vienna, Sep 1
15 Sweet Virginia Vienna, Sep 1
16 Silver Train Vienna, Sep 1
Are all the tracks combined into one FLAC? Or am I unpacking them incorrectly?
ReplyDeleteYou should have disc one and disc two, see the notes enclosed. If you are burning to disc, select image and cue file depending on your burning software.
ReplyDeleteI'm also stumped on how to get it broken down into separate tracks. I didn't see any notes on this in your post. My cd burning software (Toast on a Mac) doesn't accept the .cue file. Maybe this is just a Mac problem?
ReplyDeleteSince I haven't said so before, thank you so much for this incredible blog.
I use Nero and then select image, then the cue file. I use a PC.
DeleteYou may need something like Image burn or similar. as I don't use a Mac I can't advise further.
I am sure there will be some way around this, perhaps use Google to find some further info.
I think this is the only post without separate tracks, the reason being my original files were corrupted and I had to use a more recent download.
Thanks. I'll see what I can find. If I come up with a solution, I'll post it here.
DeleteFor PC, get Foobar2000, and also make sure you have FLAC.exe saved somewhere on your HD. Drag the cue file into Foobar, select all tracks, right-click, Convert, to FLAC. Choose destination folder and tell it where to find flac.exe, and it will re-save all tracks as individual FLAC files.
DeleteAll you need is CUETools to split the CDs into tracks. It tags them, too. Worked like a charm for me.
DeleteExcellent show thank you for posting. This show is much better than the official release because your can clearly hear Mick Taylor's guitar (which is nearly drowned out by Charlie Watts on the legit version...) . I use a Mac and can recommend a free burning software program XLD which will use a cue file to split FLAC file into separate tracks
ReplyDelete1)select cue file which will display all tracks, times etc.
2) then select "transcode" (make sure to select FLAC as output in preferences)
3)burn tracks into Toast as audio CD
Robert
Your welcome, thanks for the info, it should be of great help for Mac users.
DeleteLooks like a job for...Audacity!
ReplyDeleteAwesome, thanks for another brilliant upload!
ReplyDeleteI'm tardy everywhere lately, but thanks just the same.
ReplyDeleteUse XLD for Mac
ReplyDeleteI've got this version as well. Definitely definitive! Check out the version of Heartbreaker from disc 2. just incredible. so damn groovy. Thanks for sharing :) Btw, the version the Stones released themselves is *mostly* the second show, i believe, with some solo's and other parts pasted in from the first. Fail.
ReplyDeleteThanks, yes that's right. I didn't want to have this pulled by a DMCA notice so I had to mark in capitals at the top of the post that it was not the official release. Take a look at the disc one set and you will know what the asterisks are for!
DeleteWonderful! Just right to warm up an otherwise gloomy summer. Thank you for this and all your other posts.
ReplyDeleteIndeed 2015 - the summer that never started, at least for those in the UK, north of Nottingham!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this!
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for this..
ReplyDeleteThank you. Awesome show!
ReplyDelete