Live
Erja Lyytinen
Islington O2 Academy 2
11 April 2025 (gig)
13 April 2025
A vociferous and enthusiastic crowd were treated to a stellar performance from Finland’s Erja Lyytinen on Friday.
I’ve seen her before, but this stripped down 3 piece outfit puts the music over with terrific force and quality.
With Heikki Saarenkunnas on 5string bass and Jesse Lehto, drums they acted as the perfect platform to show off her immaculate control of riffs, solos and sublime slide guitar.
She played the whole of her new album ‘Smell The Roses’, adding ‘You Talk Dirty’ (from the 2022 album ‘Waiting For The Daylight’) and ‘Wedding Day’ (from the 2019 album ‘Another World’), encoring with ‘Lover’s Novels’ (From the 2017 album ‘Stolen Hearts’)
There were more than a few real highlights – ‘Stoney Creek’ really brought out the images of hiking in the Finnish forests, her slide playing on ‘Ball and Chain’ was superb and ‘Abyss’ was really dark and intense. ‘Going To Hell’ was an opportunity for her vocals to be the main feature and she, again, did not disappoint. My favourite number of the night was the ballad ‘Empty Hours’ – dark and beautifully strained and her guitar cutting like a scalpel.
Her riffage is complex and it was important for her to have a bassist capable of keeping the melodies going - Heikki Saarenkunnas was exceptional – and her soloing is among the best around these days. Her slide playing is just the best though, she really has chops, and it is notable that she has played with some of the best modern slide players.
There are many fine live artists around at the moment, Erja Lyytinen is the equal of the very best.
A brilliant evening from a stellar performer.
Photo by Richard Bolwell
I’ve seen her before, but this stripped down 3 piece outfit puts the music over with terrific force and quality.
With Heikki Saarenkunnas on 5string bass and Jesse Lehto, drums they acted as the perfect platform to show off her immaculate control of riffs, solos and sublime slide guitar.
She played the whole of her new album ‘Smell The Roses’, adding ‘You Talk Dirty’ (from the 2022 album ‘Waiting For The Daylight’) and ‘Wedding Day’ (from the 2019 album ‘Another World’), encoring with ‘Lover’s Novels’ (From the 2017 album ‘Stolen Hearts’)
There were more than a few real highlights – ‘Stoney Creek’ really brought out the images of hiking in the Finnish forests, her slide playing on ‘Ball and Chain’ was superb and ‘Abyss’ was really dark and intense. ‘Going To Hell’ was an opportunity for her vocals to be the main feature and she, again, did not disappoint. My favourite number of the night was the ballad ‘Empty Hours’ – dark and beautifully strained and her guitar cutting like a scalpel.
Her riffage is complex and it was important for her to have a bassist capable of keeping the melodies going - Heikki Saarenkunnas was exceptional – and her soloing is among the best around these days. Her slide playing is just the best though, she really has chops, and it is notable that she has played with some of the best modern slide players.
There are many fine live artists around at the moment, Erja Lyytinen is the equal of the very best.
A brilliant evening from a stellar performer.
