Erja Lyytinen – „Live In London“ – cd & dvd – Tuohi Records – Distribution: Rough Trade – THC-002

Erja Lyytinen is often declared as “The Northern Slide Divineness”. She has published eight solo studio cd’s. All of them are virtuoso, but the finnish blues-rock lady is always at her best “Live & Dangerous”. There she is once the wild and the other second the tame pantera by her stunning vocals and six-string-seducements. By her second live-cd and dvd recording “Live In London” she was utmost proud and keen to present and record the show at the 100 Club in London. “The Who By Who” of legendary artists have played there; BB King, The Rolling Stones, Alice Cooper and Paul McCartney. The long list could be continued endlessly. For Mistress Lyytinen the real reason of the recording there was the show of her beloved icon Son House in 1970 there, released by the title “Delta Blues and Spirituals”. So are you ready for Erja Lyytinen – “Live In London”? Enjoy & Praise The Delta Blues!

The show started by the a-capella gospel-title “It’s A Blessing”. The voice of Erja is absolutely soulful and to enchant! The track glided into the first blues-rockin’ track “Let It Shine”. EL is playing ever so hot slide guitar-solos. Together with her masterly guitar partner Davide Florena they contributed also a buckshot of Jimi Hendrix axe-technique. Her longtime rhythm section of Roger Inniss on bass and Miri Miettinen on drums were the rhythm aces. The second song “Person To Person” was the rollin’ and tumblin’ boogie to elicit. The bottleneck slides made the dobro bar to emblaze. The fans were on fire! “Crip Of the Blues” was a delightful blues ballad to honor legends Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy and again Hendrix. The absolute highlight of the show was the soulful and meditative “Change Of Season”! The voice of EL is ever so charming and together with Davide she played some starry solos. After a little time of recreation the band got powerful again by the blues-rocker “Everything’s Fine”. Dynamite power on stage. The following “Hold On” was a fine jazz-blues with a Texas strut. By “The Sky Is Cryin’” – The Lady From Finland” lets her axe do the talkin’. The two final tracks “It Hurts Me Too” and “Dust My Broom” are the explosive conclusion. Pantera Erja is to growl wildly to keep the devil away. Together with senore Floreno she included also a slow, sensitive guitar-duett by ”DMB” as shiny special. A “Over The Rainbow Show” was over!

The dvd as special bonus-gift is an absolutely delight to see Erja Lyytinen and bandmates to play live and in heat! A great witness of the whole action and specially the solos. The hd-picture quality is a blast. The sound in pcm-stereo is high-dynamic, it could have been also in 5.1. Dolby sound… The only drawback is the missing of aficionado fans. A shiny document and witness of a glorious live show*****