Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells – 50th Anniversary European Tour – Live Review

Tuesday 22 October 2024

The Bridgewater Hall Manchester

*****

A joyous re-imagining of a 20th century classic

The History of Tubular Bells

Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells, released on 25 March 1973, made a slow start. It didn’t enter the UK album charts until 14 July 1973, and then only at a lowly number 31. It wasn’t until after the release of the horror film The Exorcist in December 1973, which featured the opening piano motif of Oldfield’s piece as its theme tune, that the album became a massive worldwide success. It remained in the UK top ten for a year from March 1974 and peaked at no. 1 on 5 October of that year. In total, it has spent over five years in the UK top 100. The cover artwork, shot by the English photographer Trevor Key shared an iconic simplicity with Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon, which was released a few weeks earlier. Both album covers, with their classic triangular designs found their way into millions of British homes in the 1970s and beyond. In 2010, the cover of Tubular Bells was featured as one of ten Royal Mail stamps with famous British album covers, along with Pink Floyd’s The Division Bell (1994).

“There was Sibelius in it, there was Debussy in it. It was all of the best bits of music I’d ever heard.”

Tom Newman, Tubular Bells Producer, on the original demo tape

Recording Tubular Bells

Oldfield wrote the album in his late teens and recorded virtually all the instrumental parts himself at the Manor Studio in Oxfordshire. It was the first release on Richard Branson’s record label, launching the Virgin brand. The album was recorded on Virgin’s 16-track tape reel-to-reel recorder, with Oldfield over-dubbing multiple instruments. Oldfield’s Producer, Tom Newman described the album as ‘minimalist’ music. It was partly inspired by the track ‘A Rainbow in Curved Air’ from Terry Riley’s 1969 album of the same name. Newman said that Oldfield, rather than using tape loops as Riley did, instead played each loop by hand to avoid a mechanical feel. The first side of the album ends with the English singer-songwriter, musician, author, and poet Vivian Stanshall introducing several of the instruments that Oldfield played, ending with the tubular bells. This passage is reminiscent of The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (1945) by Benjamin Britten in which an announcer introduces various sections of the orchestra.

Live Performances

Oldfield first performed the full album live in concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) in London on 25 June 1973. He was very reluctant to perform, and only did so because Branson gave him his Bentley which had belonged to George Harrison. Many of the musicians who played in the QEH concert joined Oldfield again for a studio recording of the piece on 30 November 1973, which was broadcast on BBC 2 television on 5 January 1974.

The fiftieth anniversary celebrations began in August 2021 when there was a run of concerts at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Oldfield wasn’t involved with those concerts, having retired from live performance. They were directed by the arranger, composer and conductor Robin A. Smith, who first met Oldfield in Los Angeles in 1991.

“There’s no question that Tubular Bells is one of the most unique pieces of music written [in the 20th] century. It embraces so many platforms. It is highly complex, embracing  minimalist, rock, serialisation, and in many ways heralded the emergence of new age music; chill and ambient.”

Robin A. Smith,
robin-smith.co.uk

Smith was introduced to Mike Oldfield by Mike’s sister, Sally Oldfield, when he was working as a session musician on her 1990 album Natasha. Smith worked with Oldfield on the world premiere of the 1992 album Tubular Bells II at Edinburgh Castle, on Tubular Bells III (1998), and on a live performance of The Millennium Bell (1999) in Berlin on New Year’s Eve 1999. The last time Smith and Oldfield played live together was at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics in 2012.

Oldfield’s live performances of Tubular Bells in 1973 stuck fairly closely to the original recording, but for the 50th anniversary Smith has enhanced the original by adding extra ‘cinematic textures.’ As he said in the Tubular Bells 50th Anniversary Tour Documentary (2022),

‘There will be many people who come here and go, ‘it doesn’t sound anything like the record”.

Fans of the original record who attended the concert on Tuesday evening in Manchester needn’t have worried – Smith is a consummate arranger, and has even been nominated for a Grammy for his skills in this department. And he was joined by a superb live band who did full justice to his arrangements – which were rich and orchestral in style – and to the spirit of Oldfield’s music.

The First Half of the Concert – from Ommadawn to Discovery and a shiny Gem

The first half began with the opposite of Haydn’s Farewell Symphony (1772), in which the players gradually leave the stage until only two violinists are left. Each performer came on stage individually, starting with Smith who was the evening’s Musical Director, pianist and keyboard player. The opening sequence, played as a continuous medley, consisted of instrumental themes from Tubular Bells II, Ommadawn (1975)/Return to Ommadawn (2017), the song ‘To France‘ (from Discovery 1984) and the instrumental Summit Day (from Guitars 1999). Smith was joined in the lovely contemplative, opening section by Maxime Obideau on acoustic guitar then Jay Stapley on sweet-toned Fender Strat. The track built to a nostalgic, bluesy solo.

Lisa Featherston, who played bass for most of the concert, provided soulful vocals in a lovely arrangement of ‘To France’. Percussionists Jack Davies and Will Miles and cellist Kwesi Edman soon joined, and the band was completed by vocalist Daisy Bevan. At this point it’s worth mentioning the stunning contribution of Bevan throughout the evening. She trained as a soprano with Sara Fulgoni and Mary Plazas at the Royal Northern Collage of Music in Manchester and has performed at opera houses around the world. Her wordless vocalising throughout the evening was stunning, sometimes full-throated and operatic, sometimes soulful, at other times gentle and wistful.

Featherston also sang lead vocals on Moonlight Shadow, Oldfield’s most popular single, which reached number four in the UK in 1983, and number one in several European countries. This was a rockier version than the folk-tinged original, with heavy, rumbling drums giving it more momentum, and a lovely, fluid guitar solo from Jay Stapley. He also provided vocals on a rocky version of Family Man, which reached number 15 in the UK singles charts in 1982.

The highlight of the first half was Robin Smith’s composition The Gem from Tubular Bells Reimagined released on bandcamp in January of this year. This instrumental epic began with atmospheric electronics, some gorgeous slide guitar work from Maxime Obideau, and resonant bass from Lisa Featherston. A plaintive cello solo from Kwesi Edman led to the sonorous main theme, which was reminiscent of the piano theme from another epic prog track, ‘Storm Corrosion’ from the 2012 album of that name by Steven Wilson and Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth. Will Miles and Jack Davies on percussion, including timpani, played elemental, cinematic rhythms. Smith’s piece had some lovely key changes, and an uplifting sense of musical inevitability. The second section was lighter and more folky, with glowingly optimistic keyboards, mandolin and a nice flowing bass line. A cello solo and a piano solo brought a beautiful moment of stillness before the final section with warm wordless vocals from Daisy Bevan, which may have reminded some listeners of Clare Torry’s gorgeous wordless vocals on ‘The Great Gig in the Sky’ from The Dark Side of the Moon. And Stapley’s guitar solo was suitably Floydian. After some heavy, military drumming and further epic key changes, the song ended with an affecting piano coda from Smith. A stunning finale to the first half of the concert.

The Second Half of the Concert – Tubular Bells

The second half was devoted to Tubular Bells. Part I began with low earthy electronics, and a synthesised ethereal choir before the distinctive opening piano theme appeared, to applause from the audience, played by Obideau, and doubled by Stapley’s guitar as Bevan’s voice soared above. A transitional section led to a duet between mandolin and a solo by Kwesi Edman, whose lyrical playing was a delight. A visceral heavy rock section saw the two guitarists coming to the front of the stage, and they soon returned to play a lovely blues duet, with an intricate but funky syncopated section. Smith played honky-tonk piano, smiling beatifically. His calm but enthusiastic presence was a joy to behold. There was more funk with thundering drums, leading to a single repeated note played on the tubular bells which took pride of place at the rear centre of the stage amongst the massed ranks of percussion instruments. A precisely picked acoustic guitar solo led to a heavy metal guitar passage, with funky guitar and a bouncing bass line in unison, and delicate chords from Obideau. There was a sense of anticipation as the music built up to a climax in the closing section where various instruments from the band were introduced by the recorded voice of Sam West. After all the drama, Part I ended with a solo acoustic guitar. There was a well-deserved standing ovation.

Part II of Tubular Bells began with shimmering electronics, with a spacey almost psychedelic feel as Obideau on mandolin picked out the first theme and Bevan sang tender vocals. A transitional passage led to a pastoral, folky section with added percussion, the musicians smiling in rapturous concentration. Edman played a graceful cello solo with a heartfelt melody. Bevan brought operatic drama to another transition passage, which led to a joyful, folky reel on double guitars with soaring guitars and stirring percussion.

The next section on the original album featured Oldfield’s strange vocal section in which he grunted, growled and shouted in the voice of a cavemen he christened Piltdown Man after the early 20th century fraud in which the remains of ‘early man’ were allegedly found in Piltdown, East Sussex. Oldfield told Richard Buskin of Sound on Sound that, ‘Back then, I was absolutely useless as a vocalist and as a lyricist, and I actually damaged my larynx doing that part.’ The story goes that he only added it at the suggestion of Richard Branson and others who thought that the album needed some vocals. Perhaps wisely, the vocals, which were recorded, were placed very low in the mix in Smith’s version, allowing the two guitarists to shine with double prog metal solos, joined by thunderous drums. Obideau, in full rock star mode, played a stunning solo which drew applause from the audience. Another solo from Edman led to another pastoral section which could have been written by an early 20th century English composer like Frederick Delius. The two guitarists continued to show their versatility with a Floydian solo from Stapley and a psychedelic solo from Obideau, and Smith traversed the keyboard with jazzy flourishes. Bevan came to the front of the stage for a well-deserved solo spot. The piece ended with the full band playing a thunderous repeated chord in true rock’n’roll style. Another standing ovation ensued.

A Jolly Encore

The encore was a witty and joyful version of the traditional piece The Sailor’s Hornpipe, which has become a staple of The Last Night of Proms, complete with audience participation. Stapley encouraged the audience on Tuesday to ‘clap at will’ as the music got faster and faster. There was yet another standing ovation.

A Joyful Performance

The original Tubular Bells was the product of superb musicianship, a fertile imagination and many hours spent in the studio painstakingly overdubbing everything by hand, the product of a singular vision. Robin Smith’s stunning arrangement paid fitting tribute to the original but added drama and cinematic touches to produce a compelling new version. He was joined by an excellent ensemble of virtuoso musicians who performed with joy and dedication, delighting a packed Bridgewater Hall.

Performers

Robin A Smith – Keyboards/Piano/Musical Director
Jay Stapley – Guitar
Maxime Obideau – Guitar and Mandolin
Lisa Featherston – Bass
Kwesi Edman – Cello
Daisy (Anastasia) Bevan – Vocals
Will Miles – Percussion
Jack Davies – Percussion
Sam West – Recorded Narration on Tubular Bells Part I

Sources

Robin Smith’s website
Tubular Bells 50th Anniversary Tour Documentary
Official Tour website
The Official UK Albums Chart
Michaels, Sean, Coldplay album gets stamp of approval from Royal Mail (The Guardian 8 January 2010)
Buskin, Richard, Classic Tracks: Mike Oldfield ‘Tubular Bells’ (Sound on Sound April 2013)

Tubular Bells continues touring, with 13 more dates in England until 12 November and a European tour in March – April 2025

This article was corrected at 16.24 on Tuesday 29 October to confirm that the percussionists were Will Miles and Jack Davies. Tom Marsden played percussion on a previous tour.