Röyhkä and Mattila - friends together again
Friendship is a beautiful thing and worth cherishing. Especially, if the friends concerned are Kauko Röyhkä and Riku Mattila. After decades of silence, the two men have found each other again, and are given an ungrateful job of trying to rouse the lethargic rock crowds as the first act of Sunday on YleX stage. It wasn’t much of challenge after all, as the people seemed quite fresh and energetic during the show.
The song list was loaded with songs from Röyhkä and Mattila’s self-titled new album. What is even better, the new material competes easily with the old songs. I’m sure others would agree with me: the ultra-classy Helvetti (Hell) ignited the audience into furious applause. This is of course understandable, the song is one of the best of this year.
But what would a Kauko Röyhkö show be without the old classics. Talo meren rannalla (A house by the sea), Lauralle (To Laura) and Paska kaupunki (Shitty city) are few of his bombproof hits, and it would almost be criminal not play them. There were even a couple of surprises. Near the end of the show Röyhkä passed the microphone to his bassist Samae Koskinen who gave the audience a small sample from his solo repertoire.
The new line-up seems to have kindled a new fire in Mr. Röyhkä, that ever-young gentleman. The band seemed to enjoy performing to the fullest, and this didn’t go unnoticed by the audience. There was even one colleague in the crowd, for Joensuu’s own hometown hero Ismo Alanko was spotted in the audience.
Text: Jukka Kastinen
Translation: Jari Rytkönen
Pic: Mikael Wänskä