The Rolling Stones, ‘La Gioia Semplice’ (Golden Eggs – Egg 5/6)
Disk 1; Intro / Sympathy For The Devil / It’s Only Rock’n Roll / Tumbling Dice / Just Your Fool / Ride ‘Em On Down/ Let’s Spend The Night Together / Con Le Mie Lacrime / You Can’t Always Get What You Want / Paint It Black / Honky Tonk Women / Band introductions / Happy / Slipping Away
Disk 2; Miss You / Midnight Rambler / Street Fighting Man / Start Me Up / Brown Sugar / Satisfaction / Gimme Shelter/ Jumping Jack Flash
No Filter Tour, Mura Storiche Di Lucca, Italy, September 23, 2017.
Around half way through their ‘No Filter’ tour now, the Stones came to land in Italy. The show in Lucca was close to the middle turning point. The Stones had pretty much come over their starting-up bump and were now settled in to a leather bar-stool groove.
There are, for better or worse, Keith’s wobbly, winding guitar lines on the leader tracks, though it’s taken as granted as much as death and taxes (Though maybe we’re talking about the wrong man here) that the old fingers need a little flexing before hitting the stage, the rest of the show works neatly and proudly. The Golden Egg label take the same recording that was used on the tri-vinyl Casino records release and put it to good use over two CDs here. A very nice audience recording – see the end of this review – with just enough audience to give it life.
Through the show, there are a few exacting points; Ronnie has picked up again and his backing guitar through ‘It’s Only Rock n’ Roll’, though subtle, is quite sweet to listen for. The two “Blue And Lonesome” tracks sound great to hear, it offers the band something new to lay upon and maybe it’s the simplicity of the tracks but Keef seems to find his form within too (How about a club show in the middle of the UK tour, guys? A set of pure blues!)
‘Let’s Spend The Night Together’, the people’s choice, sounds fresh again, having been the first time on this tour that the Mom and Pop baiting rascal has been unleashed, it’s appearance is very welcome indeed. Sasha’s rousing backing only just competes with Mick’s without taking over. A surprise in a way that we hear ‘Con Me Mie Lacrime’, (as if they’d play it in any other country though, eh?) Mick relinquishes vocal duties for part of the set to the crowd, before zipping back and forth between English and Italian lyrics. His excited laugh at the end, one of triumphal pride in getting it all right. ‘You Can’t Always Get ..’ features a stunning solo by Ronnie, playing like he’s battling for solo supremacy, it flits through heavy metal to classic and round. The coda at the end, a giddy flip of steady energy.
Keith’s solo show follows the regular band introductions – the final chord that intro’s ‘Happy’ hangs, feather like, in the air before the band chug their way through a slightly pitched down version of the track – it’s every bit as nuanced as you want it to be – sea-sawing riff, static buzz from the horns and grinning lyrics – A quintessential Keef rendition. After the band wrap up, the audience begin to call back to the stage, tickled pink by the thought, our pirate popstar throatily chuckles, “Scusa, I’ve got a job to do.”‘Drifting Away’ features another glistening solo by Ronnie. The song for swingin’ rockers setting just the right temperature for this Italian night.
Returning to the stage, Mick commandeers a lengthy ‘Miss You’ – full fixtures and fittings, it again employs enough space to fit in it’s regular bass solos, sax wails and funked up, break downs. It really has become a disco-drama-saga in the way that ‘Midnight Rambler’ holds it’s deathless rule at the top. Speaking of which, two extended work outs right next to each other? It still, strangely, works. There are no part-timers willing to stump up the cash to come see the Stones so I can’t imagine anyone flaking away from the crowd to miss either of these monsters. As a side, Ronnie’s solo right in the middle of all of this is brilliant, just like he has been freshly oiled in between Daryl’s bass break in ‘Miss You’. The barebones, metallic, decimation of the instrumental before Mick’s call and response, really well worked. A notable mention made to the coda which tests the speeds of the band and flys furiously by in an arc of sparks as they burn through a colossal finale.
A sturdy if slow ‘Street Fighting Man’ begets the ending of the show (The expectation of speed is disarming, having listened to too much ‘Brussels Affair’ however) – it is a muscular beast in itself. As is the following ‘Start Me Up’ – Sasha is one of the stars of the part, her high-octane notes working alongside Mick’s, embellishing the song where Keef’s raggedy shouts had done so before. The show ends with a grandiose ‘Jumping Jack Flash’, show slingin’, soloing and robust – it’s a fine way to end up the show.
The Golden Egg label have turned up a great tape for their first Stones release, it hopefully bodes well for this years tour. The covers, in their trad. trifold style, packed with images from the tour (Not one is a grainy, speckled affair) along with a 4 page pull out featuring yet more colour photos.
As a comparable to the other shows from this tour that I’ve reviewed – Rattlesnake’s “The Last Time For A While” and the No Label, ‘Hamburg 2017’, I’d say I prefer the sound of the Golden Egg – Though there’s very little between it – This show, more than for souvenirs sake, features a rare performance in it’s set making it collectable for that scarcity alone.
