Artist: Erja Lyytinen
Venue: Sheffield, The Greystones
Date: 14 November 2023
"Despite being a school night, nobody left early as they wanted to savour every last moment of Lyytinen’s stunning performance."
This evening was the final night of the Finnish Blues guitarist/singer’s five-date UK tour. It was her 20-vuotisjuhlakiertue (20th Anniversary Tour) where she was also promoting her new live album ‘Diamonds On The Road - Live 2023’.
For those unfamiliar with The Greystones, it’s a Thornbridge Brewery pub, with a purpose-built extension for music, The Backroom. This evening, they had laid out five rows of chairs, which accommodated half the hundred or so punters who had made their way to the venue, a few miles south-west of Sheffield city centre.
Erja Lyytinen stepped out with her band Iiro Laitinen (drums) and Heikki Saarenkunnas (bass) to warm and enthusiastic applause and proceeded to entertain the appreciative crowd for an hour-and-a-half with a spellbinding performance. The demographic was roughly ninety percent male heading towards retirement age (I assume many had already reached that milestone).
The ponytailed Lyytinen was dressed all in black leather with sparkly sleeves and boots, plus a leather jacket with shoulder pads straight out of the eighties (it was almost as wide as it was long), but it was her fantastic guitar playing we’d all come to see, not her dress fashion. Lyytinen has quite a strong accent, which adds a unique quality to her songs, and like most Scandinavians, speaks (and sings) English better most of us born in the UK, with really good diction and annunciation. Throughout the evening she repeatedly told the crowd how good it was to be back in Sheffield, promising that she would not leave it another four-and-a-half years before returning to these shores. Indeed, she already has dates scheduled for next April.
‘Diamonds’ and ‘Rocking Chair’ got the evening off to a flying start. The set list basically followed the same running order as the new live album. By the time we came to ‘Bad Seed’, the opening track from the ‘Waiting For The Daylight’ opus, the “Lightning” Finn had the whole audience mesmerised with her playing. The sound and mix were both good throughout and fortunately not too noisy, but loud enough not to be drowned out by people talking. Mercifully, this evening, the latter was very rare, and the audience were impeccably behaved (a few popped in and out to refresh beer but did so in a quiet manner).
One fan could not contain his excitement when Lyytinen announced she was going to play ‘Black Ocean’ from her ‘Stolen Hearts’ album, which she proudly said she had recorded in London in 2016. It certainly was one of the highlights of the evening, with Lyytinen’s right hand smoothly plucking away at the strings, whilst her left hand just seems to be possessed, gliding effortlessly up and down the neck of her guitar.
Lyytinen commented that ‘Last Girl’ was a song highlighting bullying in schools, whilst ‘Waiting For The Daylight’ featured (another) incredible solo. At this stage the songstress joked, “I’m going to play a ‘Lullaby’, which might put you to sleep.” The start of the song, with Lyytinen playing solo just seemed to hypnotise the crowd further until she said, “It’s time to wake up!” at which point the rest of the band joined in for the fantastic ‘Erja's Contribution To Jazz’, a very enjoyable instrumental, concluding in a drum solo. ‘You Talk Dirty’ showcased Lyytinen’s virtuoso slide guitar, which has earned her the nickname “the Bonnie Raitt of Finland”. The main set concluded with the epic ‘Wedding Day’, which had a George Thorogood & The Destroyers vibe.
The three band members briefly left the stage to warm applause, but soon returned for a rip-roaring cover of the Jimi Hendrix classic ‘Crosstown Traffic’, including a kazoo solo from the main lady. Fittingly ‘End Of Music’, including a bass solo, brought the evening’s entertainment to a fitting climax. Despite being a school night, nobody left early as they wanted to savour every last moment of Lyytinen’s stunning performance.
Erja Lyytinen may sing the Blues, but she has a smile that could light up an entire city and is as infectious as her music.
Setlist (Spoilers)
Review: Mark Donnelly Photos: Mal Whichelow
Location
Comentários