STATE VISIT - LIVE IN SWEDEN 1973

In 1972-1973 the Finnish group TASAVALLAN PRESIDENTTI, with their new vocalist Eero Raittinen, were on the top of their game and enjoyed popularity even abroad; as the detailed liner notes of this CD/LP tell, both the third studio album Lambertland and the gigs were warmly received in England. Jukka Tolonen's debut album Tolonen! (1971) had also powerfully increased his status as Finland's most respected guitarist. The other line-up change was Heikki Virtanen -- Tolonen's cousin -- replacing Måns Groundstroem on bass. The aspiring and eager quintet features also the reeds player Pekka Pöyry and drummer Vesa Aaltonen.

When returning from their succesful UK tour in March 1973 the band travelled to Southern Swedish city Göteborg whereby there were lots of Finns who longed to hear Finnish bands live. Jam nights of Finnish musicians were being organized, and this was the perfect circumstance for TP to perform there. The gig (tracks 1-2 and 5-6 when speaking of the LP track order; on the CD the Göteborg set is logically tracks 1-4) was recorded and broadcast by Swedish Radio, as well as the gig in Stockholm's Skansen in August '73 (tracks 3-4). The sonic quality is surprisingly good all the way.

The material here concentrates on the mentioned Lambertland album. I'm not going to analyze the performances in detail like Petri Kuljuntausta does in his liner notes. However, it's important to point out that the band plays severely extended live versions with lots of improvisatory approach. For example the instrumental 'Dance' lasts 21 minutes. I'm a bit bored by this kind of fusion stuff, to be honest, and I really wish there was a keyboardist in the line-up, too. Pöyry plays some electric piano on 'Milky Way Moses' (the title track of the fourth studio album) but this is basically a jam-oriented live performance for electric guitar, reeds and rhythm section. Also Raittinen bravely participates in the improvisation with his singing. The other non-Lambertland piece is the almost 20-minute version of 'Ramblin'', originally on Tolonen!.

A listener favouring jam-oriented live material starring guitar and saxes has all reasons to rate this release much higher, but I give a neutral 3 stars. If I hadn't received this album for reviewing, I probably wouldn't have cared to give it a proper listen in the first place. In recent years there have been quite many TASAVALLAN PRESIDENTTI releases of archival sources, and time and time again the material tends to concentrate on the Lamberland era. So, at least in my personal opinion there isn't any need for another live set like this one. But I'm not a big friend of live records, and especially in the case of this group the live stuff is to me less appealing than the more eclectic musical spectre on the studio albums. So excuse me if this (undeniably deserved) first review is more like a delivery of news than a subjective, dedicated review.