''Brussels Affair (Live 1973)'' is a live album by

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

, released in 2011. It is compiled from two shows (mainly from the second show) recorded in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

at the

Forest National Forest National ( French) or Vorst Nationaal (Dutch) is a multi-purpose arena located in the municipality of Forest in Brussels, Belgium. The arena can hold more than 8,000 people. It hosts indoor sporting events as well as concerts done by a ...

Arena on Wednesday 17 October 1973, during their

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...

. At the time, the band was unable to enter

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, as guitarist

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

had been temporarily banned from visiting the country after being charged with drug possession by a French court. The album was released exclusively as a digital download through

Google Play Music Google Play Music is a discontinued music and podcast streaming service and an online music locker operated by Google as part of its Google Play line of services. The service was announced on May 10, 2011; after a six-month, invitation-only be ...

on 18 October 2011 in the US and through the Rolling Stones Archive website for the rest of the world in both lossy MP3 and lossless FLAC format. The 2011 digital edition has been bootlegged on physical CD. On 29 August 2012, an official announcement was made, stating its physical release as a high-priced boxset (from $750 to $1,500 depending on the edition). All three releases include a triple LP and double CD. ''Brussels Affair (Live 1973)'' was officially released on a two-disc CD in Japan in 2015 as a bonus of the CD/DVD Set "Marquee Club (live 1971)" (Deluxe limited edition; Ward Records / Eagle Vision). The same 15 ''Brussels'' tracks also appear on the 2020 Super Deluxe (3 CDs + Blu-ray disc; Polydor / Rolling Stones Records 088 503-2) and Deluxe (4 LP; Polydor / Rolling Stones Records 089 398-1) box set reissue of ''Goats Head Soup''. The title of the release is the same as that of several famous and widely known bootleg recordings. The most famous iteration consists principally of the early show as broadcast by the ''

King Biscuit Flower Hour The ''King Biscuit Flower Hour'' was an American syndicated radio show presented by the D.I.R. Radio Network that featured concert performances by various rock music recording artists. History The program was broadcast on Sunday nights from 197 ...

'' (with "

Starfucker Strfkr (a disemvowelment of "Starfucker"), stylized in all caps, is an indie rock band from Portland, Oregon. It began in 2007 as a solo project of Joshua Hodges. History Members include Joshua Hodges of Sexton Blake (vocals, keyboards, gu ...

" omitted due to its lyrical content) and several bonus tracks ("

Gimme Shelter "Gimme Shelter" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones. Released as the opening track from band's 1969 album ''Let It Bleed''. The song covers topics of war, murder, rape and fear. It features prominent guest vocals by American singe ...

", " Happy", " Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)" and "

Street Fighting Man "Street Fighting Man" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, written by the songwriting team of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Considered one of the band's most popular and most controversial songs, it features Indian instrume ...

") added from the Tuesday 9 September 1973 London show. The official 2011 release is mainly culled from the second Brussels show; however, "

Brown Sugar Brown sugar is unrefined or partially refined soft sugar. Brown Sugar may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Brown Sugar'' (1922 film), a 1922 British silent film directed by Fred Paul * ''Brown Sugar'' (1931 film), a 1931 ...

", "

Midnight Rambler "Midnight Rambler" is a song by English rock band The Rolling Stones, released on their 1969 album '' Let It Bleed''. The song is a loose biography of Albert DeSalvo, who confessed to being the Boston Strangler. Keith Richards has called the nu ...

" and a transposed guitar solo on " All Down the Line" were taken from the first show.

Concert film clips

On September 8, 2020, the concert footage of the live album was officially released for the first time, in any format, on streaming services such as YouTube. The videos are short clips that keep repeating as the live album plays.

Overview

The album was recorded during their

1973 European Tour The 1973 European Tour was a series of golf tournaments that comprised the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) tournament circuit. It is officially recognised as the second season of the PGA European Tour. Historically, the PGA's Order of Me ...

, promoting their latest album ''

Goats Head Soup ''Goats Head Soup'' is the 11th British and 13th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. It was released on 31 August 1973 by Rolling Stones Records. Like its predecessor '' Exile on Main St.'', the band composed and ...

''. In 1973, the Rolling Stones were banned from entering France due to pending drug cases against

Bobby Keys Robert Henry Keys (December 18, 1943 – December 2, 2014) was an American saxophonist who performed with other musicians as a member of several horn sections of the 1970s. He appears on albums by the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Harry Ni ...

and

Anita Pallenberg Anita Pallenberg (6 April 1942 – 13 June 2017) was a German-Italian actress, artist, and model. A style icon and "It Girl" of the 1960s and 1970s, Pallenberg was credited as the muse of the Rolling Stones: she was the romantic partner of the ...

. The band decided to organise a concert in Brussels for the French audience; RTL Radio chartered a train for French fans.

Critical reception

Reviewing for ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character t ...

'', Robert Christgau cited "Starfucker" and "Happy" as highlights, and wrote of the album, "The rare arena-rock recording that does justice to the subgenre's power dwarfs their 26 march 1971 Marquee Club vault-pull while making a case for the excision of 'Midnight Rambler' and 'Brown Sugar' from their A list". John Harris was more enthusiastic about the release, writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' that it is "unimpeachably great: a beautifully recorded, often unhinged 70 minutes during which the Stones manage to sound like the Platonic ideal of a rock band: simultaneously tight, unhinged, absolutely convincing, and gloriously ludicrous."

Track list

Personnel

;The Rolling Stones *

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

– lead vocals, harmonica *

– guitar, vocals *

Mick Taylor Michael Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, he appeared on: ''Let It Bleed'' ...

– guitar, slide guitar * Bill Wyman – bass guitar * Charlie Watts – drums ;Additional musicians * Billy Preston – piano, organ, clavinet, vocals * Steve Madaio – trumpet, flugelhorn *

Trevor Lawrence William Trevor Lawrence (born October 6, 1999) is an American football quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). Considered among the highest-touted college football prospects, he won the 2019 National C ...

– saxophone ;Technical personnel *

Bob Clearmountain Bob Clearmountain (born January 15, 1953) is an American recording engineer, mixer and record producer. He has worked with many major acts, including Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Toto (band), Toto, Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams, with whom he ...

– mixing

References

{{The Rolling Stones albums The Rolling Stones live albums 2011 live albums