Rolling Stones/Switzerland 2017

Another item from the “NO FILTER” tour to be released at the same time is Zurich on September 20th. This will be released without having seen the Austrian event on the 16th, where Keith’s “Brown Sugar” incident became a hot topic. What became a hot topic here in Zurich was Keith’s hustle throughout the entire show. Many fans who witnessed it reported that “Keith has regained his form.” Keith had been playing with great enjoyment since the start of the “NO FILTER” tour, but on the other hand, it was undeniable that the essential playing had become neglected. However, Keith on this day was not just enjoying himself, but was also trying to “get on board” with the play in many places. I would like you to check out the expressions and actions on YouTube and other sites uploaded to the Internet, but you can get a good sense of it just by listening to the audio. Furthermore, the entire band was literally “shedding its skin,” and the performance that finally regained its form, centered around Keith, was directly linked to the good reputation of this day. Of course, the overall groove is still that of the Slow Rollers, but there is no doubt that the confidence they gained from the three previous shows was imprinted on the band. As if to prove that, on this day they performed “Hate To See You Go” for the first time live from the “Blue & Lonesome” album. The song that even had a music video made for it when the album was released last year was finally performed on stage. It’s a blues song with repeated riffs in an up-tempo setting, but Keith and Ronnie are used to playing this kind of song. The atmosphere is exquisite, as if it reminds us of the days when the Stones played at the Marquee before their debut. Rather, it seems that Mick is a little nervous because it’s the first time they’ve performed a faster-tempo repertoire. In addition, following the previous Austrian concert, this day’s set list was a fresh composition in which no acoustic numbers or slow ballads were played in the first half of the show, and instead, “Like A Rolling Stone” was played with humor, as Mick said, “A song that Dylan wrote for us.” The Stones were very familiar with this song, and the performance was completely safe and rock-solid. Going back and forth, the last performance of “Dancing With Mr. D” was in Zurich. We heard a very wonderful performance in Munich, which I introduced earlier, but the performance here was also wonderful. Daryl Jones’ bass playing, which incorporates flashy phrases everywhere, was also impressive. Since it has become familiar as a repertoire so far, I can’t help but hope that they will continue to play it. As the performance progressed, the Stones’ performance improved rapidly, but the ignition point was the ending of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”. The tempo of the band, including Charlie, was amazing. Rather, the performance stopped suddenly due to too much momentum, and it was a pleasant atmosphere that Keith was about to reprise it as if he was not yet satisfied. Keith’s hustle was also there from such a scene, but it was interesting to see both the happening and the hustle in the two songs he sang. First of all, in “Happy”, he was singing really happily, but when the interlude started, there was a problem where Ronnie’s slide guitar sound was interrupted. Furthermore, at the ending, the band’s performance and the chorus were not in sync at all, and it ended up being a mess. Still, he didn’t seem to care much, which is typical of the hustle Keith of that day. On the other hand, in “Slipping Away”, Keith started playing the intro, but Ronnie was not ready, so he canceled it for the time being. Again, he didn’t seem to be troubled at all, and instead the performance started again with Ronnie’s jokes. “Midnight Rambler” was a complete change from such a peaceful but loose mood and gave us a great performance. The performance got more and more intense from the reggae-style humming “Yo-yo-yo” that Mick had already played in Munich, and it was promoted to the best version since the start of the tour without any exaggeration. After all, this song is something you want to hear a wild performance. The following “Miss You” was one of the repertoires that lacked a bit of crispness after the start of the “NO FILTER” tour, but finally here, a wonderful performance that regained the original groove was revived. The finishing touch was “Brown Sugar”. This song caused a fuss in Austria, but on this day the band came together and played a solid performance. It was also nice to see Keith strumming his nails even after the performance ended as if he had not done enough here. As you can see from listening to this far, Zurich is worthy of being called the first great performance after the start of the “NO FILTER” tour. Moreover, thankfully, the sound quality of the audience recording that appeared on the Internet was of very good quality. Hamburg has a spectacular roughness and on sound image, and Munich, which was released at the same time, has a mild listening comfort, and this Zurich is “solid”. As was evident in the previously mentioned “Dancing With Mr. D”, Darryl’s bass line can be heard very clearly. Instead, the original sound source had a negative point that the bass drum also sounded loud, but as a result of adjusting it for this release, Darryl’s bass line balance was maintained and the excessive bass stress was eliminated. And yet the sound image is still on. Although, it is funny to see the excitement of the middle-aged audience trying to lift Charlie alone during the member introduction. Regardless, the high quality of the audience recording also realistically conveys the performance of the Stones, who finally got into the groove. Please enjoy Zurich, which is worthy of being called the first masterpiece from the “NO FILTER” tour! Live at Letzigrund Stadion, Zurich, Switzerland 20th September 2017 Disc 1 (71:44) 1. Intro 2. Sympathy for the Devil 3. It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll 4. Tumbling Dice 5. Hate to See You Go 6. Ride ‘Em on Down 7. Dancing With Mr. D 8. Like a Rolling Stone 9. You Can’t Always Get What You Want 10. Paint It Black 11. Honky Tonk Women 12. Band Introductions 13. Happy 14. Slipping Away Disc 2 (61:12) 1. Midnight Rambler 2. Miss You 3. Street Fighting Man 4. Start Me Up 5. Brown Sugar 6. Satisfaction 7. Gimme Shelter 8. Jumping Jack Flash