MIKE OLDFIELD’S ‘TUBULAR BELLS THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION’ – BRIGHTON DOME 5.2.23
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Mike Oldfield’s ‘Tubular Bells’, the multi-million-selling and multi-award-winning album is being performed live in concert across the UK. Tonight at the Brighton Dome was the second show of the celebratory UK tour.
‘Tubular Bells’ was created in 1971 and released in 1973. It was the debut studio album by English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and songwriter Mike Oldfield. The album, which was the first long player put out by Richard Branson’s Virgin Records, went on to become the highest selling instrumental album of all time.
Now, I have owned many copies of this album across the various formats. The album, ‘Tubular Bells’ has become part of the fabric of popular culture. Pretty much everyone has or has had a copy? ‘Tubular Bells’ is world-renowned as one of the most celebrated examples of music in film for its sound tracking in the horror classic ‘The Exorcist’. Mike Oldfield’s performance of the album’s main theme at the iconic London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony was a rare performance of the project.
‘Tubular Bells The 50th Anniversary Celebration’ featured in Brighton an expansive live group (I counted eight!), conducted and arranged by Oldfield’s long-term collaborator Robin Smith. Robin sat behind his keyboards and was joined on stage with a plethora of instruments. Add the musicians and it was packed pretty tight up there!
The show was split into two halves. We were to be treated to ‘Tubular Bells’ performed in full, along with further Oldfield compositions.
A bold and progressive fusion, ‘Tubular Bells’ is a journey through classical, jazz, folk, progressive rock, and electronica and went on to win a Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition in 1974.
Robin Smith, the conductor of the show, was completely mesmerised by ‘Tubular Bells’ the moment he heard it. He was educated at the Royal Grammar School High Wycombe and then studied composition at the Royal College of Music. Smith has collaborated with Mike Oldfield for over 30 years, with performances of ‘Tubular Bells’ including at Edinburgh Castle, and also the aforementioned 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.
As I mentioned, the performance was set over two sessions. The first session delivered a brilliantly constructed listing made up of some of Mike Oldfield’s “Greatest Hits”.
The set started up with a new arrangement of the ‘Opening Theme‘ from ‘Tubular Bells 2’. The lights dimmed and smoke swirled across the stage. I am not a fan of excessive use of smoke machines, but tonight it was spot on. It provided a wonderful support for the atmospheric lighting, bouncing the colours around the stage and into the auditorium.
Next a couple of tracks from later releases with ‘Ommadawn’ and segued into ‘Return To Ommadawn’. Masterfully done. As the set started, Peter was on his own at the keyboards, but as the set progressed he was joined with a full band. We were then whisked off to ‘France, Paris’ from the album ‘Discovery’ originally with vocals by Maggie Reilly, followed with ‘Summit Day’ from the ‘Guitars’ album and used in the recent movie ‘Shazam!’
A personal favourite and a highlight from the first set for me was the wonderful ‘Moonlight Shadow’, again Maggie Reilly on original vocals. The vocals for the two songs performed tonight were spot on. Two wonderful vocal performances and with the sound of the full band it was magic. Then off into the rockier ‘Family Man’, ‘The Gem’ and closing with some ‘Tubular Bells’. Set one ended as the band left the stage for a 20-minute break.
Unusually, the almost sold out audience leapt to their feet and gave the band a standing ovation, we were only half way through!
So, set two was upon us. I had seen Mike Oldfield perform ‘Tubular Bells 2’ in Edinburgh. What a night that was, great sounds and a gentle gale force wind blowing across the castle esplanade. Therefore, tonight the assembled musicians had a pretty tough act to follow!
‘Tubular Bells’ doesn’t really have a track listing as such, so that’s easy for me! We had side one and side two! Looking at how the set had been broken down we had the opening from ‘Tubular Bells’, a calmer bit then a heavier bit, mandolin, rocky bit and closing with ‘Tubular Bells Part 2’. There were other sections in between!
The sound was excellent. Every instrument and vocal was clearly heard, from the mighty timp drums to the gentle tapping on a xylophone and strumming of chimes. Each of the guitars were perfectly balanced as were the percussionists. These musicians were clearly experienced and masters of their instruments. The bass player was stunning as those known and at times tricky riffs and patterns were pretty much constant throughout. I went to congratulate the sound and lighting desk team. They worked hard to deliver the sounds and lighting that made the whole evening completely perfect.
The set was perfectly played with Robin’s arrangements and his hand on the wheel as he steered this orchestra of musicians through the performance. He didn’t sit still for a second as he changed keyboards, standing up conducting and smiling into the crowd.
The whole evening was wrapped up with an energetic arrangement of the ‘Hornpipe!’ I didn’t expect that. It had the crowd up, with feet tapping, clapping hands and happy smiling faces, thanks to the wave of nostalgia that had just been perfectly delivered and washed over us.
The orchestra got together for a well-deserved bow for the Brighton crowd who were now on their feet for the second time tonight. It was THAT good!
We all filed out into the cold frosty air and everyone was clearly buzzing about what they had just seen and enjoyed. It was great to see the Dome nearly full again, and also the wide range of ages making up the audience. This is a concert for anyone, for those who grabbed the album when it came out on vinyl in 1973 to the Spotify audiences of today. Music is at its best when it’s live! A most enjoyable experience.
I would go and see this show again in a heartbeat and this performance comes with the highest recommendation I can give. ‘Tubular Bells’ deserves to last forever and with strong performances like this, with or without Mike Oldfield up front, it will. Stunning.
We saw this in Portsmouth last night. I was rather disappointed. Maybe the band is getting tired of playing the same thing every night!
Hi. Was Mike Oldfield actually present? I cannot tell from the pictures. That guy with a guitar looks a bit like him, but… has he put on weight or is that a completely different person? 🙂 Thanks