Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo, Tavastia,
Helsinki, 12 March 2009
When I heard sometime last year that our boys from
Pori Mika Rättö and Jussi Lehtisalo were preparing for an album and
tour with Kauko Röyhkä, one of the greatest rock icons in Finland,
I wasn’t even really surprised. In fact, it seems that one
can expect almost anything by these rascals. Like for example a
“children’s book” that Mr. Rättö has released
recently. The previous Rättö ja Lehtisalo albums and gigs have
partially tried to appeal to a bit bigger audiences, sure, but this
project is for sure the most grandiose by Lehtisalo’s Ektro
label and the album has also been on Finnish charts.
The trio’s studio album Hiekkarantaa is a
fine combination of Röyhkä’s lyrics that draw from the themes
of love and longing and his great rendering, popular music and the
hypnotic kraut rock of the Circle guys. The quite light overall
sound of the album didn’t prepare me for the band’s
live sound. Jussi had dropped the acoustic guitar in favor of an
electric one, they had hired Tomi Leppänen (also from the Circle
fame) as a drummer and some new blood was brought in with Tuomas
Niskanen (electric guitar, backing vocals) who get to show off on
his pedestal during the guitar solos and bass player Turo
Sinkkonen. In addition to lead vocals Röyhkä also played electric
guitar on some tracks. So the sextet performed substantially more
electric and often also heavier versions of the album tracks and
they drove the full-packed Tavastia Club into the point of ecstasy
with their set. The audience was naturally a mixed crowd or old
Röyhkä fans as well as friends of a bit more experimental music,
and it was nice to notice that everybody seemed to enjoy the gig
equally.
The most enjoyable thing for me was the extension
of some of the tracks towards the end of the set when they added
some pretty wild Circle style kraut rock jamming to the songs!
Rättö was set free to conjure his demons in his gibberish and
Lehtisalo really became inspired to rock out while the backing band
maintained the tight, repetitive groove. Röyhkä seemed occasionally
to be a bit out-of it during the improvisational sections, but got
carried away every now and then. The sound was just perfect and the
lightshow was exceptional, as well. The band seemed to be in high
spirits and this was a totally amazing gig in every aspect and I
really enjoyed in a lot as apparently did the rest of the audience.
It will be possible to see Röyhkä ja Rättö ja Lehtisalo on Finlands
summer festivals (at least in Provinssirock), absolutely worth
checking out.
Here’s the set list from Tavastia:
1. Näin sut unessa
2. Kesäinen polku
3. Hiekkarantaa
4. Kesätyttö
5. Ei kai miehen tarvi aina olla macho
6. Toinen kerta
7. Joulu Thaimaassa
8. Kulta intissä
9. Saarenmaa
10. Oi kaunis Anna-Liisa
11. Kaupungin kaunein tyttö
---
12. Sut kerran nähdä sain
I also did a video recording of the whole gig
(thanks for the permission Jussi!) and I added the audio recorded
by the mix guy Tuomas Laurila, so here are a few tracks from the
gig...
