| La Coruña, 31 July, Rume
I am back from the last concert of the Then & Now tour, and I must say that this is probably one of the best concerts given by Mike Oldfield ever (Musically, because my personal experience with this concert was very bad, people came in and put in front of me and ruined my concert from Outcast to FATC :(
More than 100.000 people in this concert (take note, Phil ;), all singing Moonlight Shadow was very very impressive. Mike was very very happy, including when The Corrs were playing because Mike showed on one of the sides of the stage and everybody cheered and shouted and Mike waved hands in the air. It had to be a good concert.
LNL was very impressive, I love this group more than ever before. They are all very nice people (especially Bieto Romero and Rosa Cedron) and make great Galician-Celtic folk music. The Corrs were...well, whoever who liked their music would have enjoyed, but not me.
Mike's part of the concert was incredible, he was happy as I never saw
him before. His guitar playing was very impressive, there wasn't any mistake (one on the drums of TSOS) but what the hell, it was a live concert after all :) Ommadawn was great, he even tried to mix Incantations when he started to play the marimba-glockenspiel-whateveritis thing (thanks to Pedro for this, I didn't notice).
At the very end, when 100.000 people were shouting "oeeee-oeeee", Mike picked up his guitar to join us, but the guitar volume was turned down to 0, so he told to turn the volume up, and join us to play the "oeeee" with us.
There were 5 people playing FATC (Molly,Luke, Mike himself, Caroline Monk and I guess the other was Maggie, the tour manager). About the bells, they were real bells, no doubt. Maggie's face when she made a mistake was the proof :) Maggie played one when she didn't had to, so we could hear the bell sound (a bit low), and I think that this proves that the bells were real :)
Stockholm, 27 July, max hult
TSODE-tracks were REALLY great... mike improvised a lot in his guitar-playing, in LTBL he even played the TB-theme once during a "solo"... not everyone, but some in the audience noticed it and applaused...
shadow on the wall was great too... pepsi is definitely the right singer... can't say i liked her movements, though...
then, my favourite track, ommadawn... it started off too fast, and although this is a very soft and emotional track, pepsi danced around...
then came the guitar-tracks... track 1-4 on the cd... i have to admit that they were better live than on the record... muse is definitely not my favourite track with mike oldfield, and not my favourite track on guitars either... but it was the highlight of the evening, really... it featured mike on guitar - solo... he truly impressed me with his guitarplaying all evening...
tubular bells 3... i can't say i like it that much... but outcast and the inner child were good performed, though... much better than on the record... serpent dream was good too, but mike missed a bit in the middle of the song, strumming an e-chord which resulted in mike playing just half a second after the other instruments... but he did his best and worked his way up to the music again...
the encore... moonlight shadow was great... mike extended the song by playing some extra solos... family man was pretty good too... but it didn't get the same responce from the audience as moonlight shadow... not the same magic in the air... with secrets and FATC again, i was fed up with those songs... but the TB-theme suited secrets very good... mike's children came on stage and danced around during FATC... btw, why not play man in the rain and the top of the morning instead?
during the whole concert, pepsi and claire did some really annoying and ugly moves... when they didn't play, the danced around... and it didn't fit to the music at all... it looked like pepsi thought ommadawn was some dance track, or something... pepsi belongs in a disco somewhere... if i was mike, i would've knocked her off the stage... when mike was performing a guitar-solo, she jumped around like never before... all eyes were on mike anyway... same thing goes with claire... they made the concert a whole lot less good... other than that, i was pleased... credits to paul harris for the text in the little booklet...
Prague, 24 July, Vasek
We were waiting about 4 hours before the hall where takes the concert place, so we can get the first row. At 20:00 there was about 15000 people waiting anxiously for the beginning .. there comes young Czech girl called Raduza singing and playing on accordion.
Finally Mike's band came, and they started to play so known music. After a few moments came - highly applauded, Mike Oldfield. He started to play on guitar and people applauded again and again. We saw Mike wipe away tear from his eye. Mike's guitar playing solois was so high, unheared before. He gave us to know his feelings, he opened his soul and was walking through its secrets...
Next time Pepsi was singing and all the people before the stage were singing with her repeating the words, "I stay, I pray .. " we all sung 3 or 4 times more. Mike looked surprised. We were so happy with Mike and the evening looked endless.
I will not repeat all what was writen about concert. The songs was the same as in Spain or Germany, but the experience was unique. At the final song we all in the front row were talking commonly with Pepsi, Carrie and Mike: "... nothing was ever heard from him again, except for the sound of Tubular Bells".
And that was the end. Now we are waiting with hope that Mike Oldfield will soon return to Prague! After all, Mike Oldfield is very popular in Czech Republic, before this concert he obtained two golden and one platinum disc for more than 30000 selled CD's.
Zürich, 22 July, Pierre-Alain Gschwend
Dans l'enceinte du musée national Suisse, le spectacle a commencé avec la précision d'un coucou hélvétique, à 20heure30, avec "in the Beginning", qui voit l'entrée en scène de Mike. Durant le morceau, il salue gentiment le public, prend sa guitare, et attaque "Let there be light", puis enchaîne sur "Supernova"."cristal Clear" prend la relève, et lorsque Mike joue la dernière note du morceau, il la tiend suspendue durant 30 secondes avant d'attaquer "Shadow on the Wall" sur cette même note. Génial!! Et Pepsi, quelle voix ! La preuve que cette chanson s'adapte aussi à une voix féminine.
"Ommadawn" vient ensuite, juste après un "Gutten Abend" de Mike. Puissament remaniée, on peux dire que cette musique n'a pas pris une ride, et le public, en manifestant son enthousiasme comme il l'a fait, ne s'y trompe pas: c'est dans les vieilles casseroles qu'on fait les meilleures soupes, et ce morceaux est une grosse réussite.
Suivra "Guitars", d'ou Mike à tiré ses morceaux suivants: "Cochise", "Embers", "Summit Day", et surtout "Muse", qu'il a interprété seul, assis dans un rayon de lumière tamisée, à la guitare sèche. Quel beau moment!! Ceci dit, et à part "Muse", ces quelques morceaux ne gagne rien à être joués en Live.
Deuxième partie du spectacle: Mike et sa troupe jouent "the Source of Secrets", "The Watchful Eye" "Jewel in the Crown", "Outcast" et "Serpent Dream". Grandiose! Une vraie réussite. Il ne manque que "Man in the Rain". Mais on ne peux pas tout avoir, et l'interprétation de "Secrets" et "Far Above the Clouds", mélêe d'un zeste de "Tubular Bells I" rattrape aisément cette petite erreur. Je n'avais jamais eu la chance de voir et d'entendre les légendaires "Tubular Bells", et bien c'est dorénavant fait, et bien fait. Cette sonorité profonde, ces notes cristallines suspendues à leure révérbération, me laisseront un souvenir impérissable, comme "Moonlight Shadow" et "Family Man" chantées par Pepsi lors du premier rappel. Sublime!
Pour terminer, une deuxième couche de "Far Above The Clouds" en guise de deuxième rappel, et la soirée c'est terminée comme elle avait commencée: dans une belle excitation. Dommage que Mike et son équipe soit partis si vite, après juste une petite courbette en guise d'au revoir.
Munich, 21 July, Marcus Junglas
2 days after the Singen festival I went to Munich with Ralf and Konrad. The location seemed very bad (old, dark and sprayed all over) and I thought "man, Mike has reached his lowest level", but inside it was a nice old hall with wooden top. Not too bad and I was happy again.
The day was hot and sunny and so was the old (dark) hall - very hot and after the people went in it became very uncomfortable and humid.
After a long time (half an hour later, which makes 1,5h after we entered the hall!) the band came on stage and started. Again no support act.
The sound was good but too loud! It didn't clip like at SIngen but my ears were nearly blown away - in the nagative sense.
I also like bass which is shaking me, but FATC was just loud noise to my ears. MY EARS CLIPPED! ;-(
As I said the hall was very hot and humid. The air condition was bad, the air wasn't moved a lot. So the whole band sweated a lot and also Mike. After Pepsi sang MS and FM she was completely down and stood there with a red face and I already thought she can't go further on. But she did. In the airal environment Mike also seemd to be uncomfortable. He drank his cool beer very quickly. Also he played not that good and made a couple of timing faults, hit some wrong noted and took wrong starting points.
Anyway apart of this the people were happy and often after he wanted to say something the applause was louder again and he had to stop and so he stopped again and laughed.
Okay, for the rest fill in the average review of the last concerts. Same cigarette gag, same tracks, happy Mike, the same good concert... and that stuff. :)
I was happy to meet Paul Harris at Munich. Hope you had a nice time - we missed you at the end. I expect you were behind the stage somewhere. :)
This was my last of 4 concerts. First 2 were planned and then after the tour became longer I added Munich and 3 days before SIngen I was forced my Ralf to join him. ;)
Munich happend with a panic situation because I forgot my ticket at home when I started of my tour to my parents, about 500km away. A friend entered my appartement with the house keeper, took it and send it off to me 2 days before the concert. It arrived in time... pffff... =8-l
Wembley, 13 July, Gareth Randall
I really wish I could have gone [at NEC] to compare and contrast, because Wembley left me with very mixed feelings indeed!
First thing to mention is the low attendance - the venue was less than 50% full, with the rear section curtained off to make it appear less empty.
I've been to many gigs at the Arena, but apart from this one, only one other has ever been so undersold as to force the curtaining.
In one sense, this is A Bad Thing (for obvious reasons), but in another it *could* be A Good One. Perhaps rather than discouraging Mike from playing future gigs in the UK, it'll force a realisation that he ain't a Wembley-size act any more and needs smaller venues. The Royal Albert Hall would have been *so* much better; he could have sold it out, and it's a much more pleasant environment for some serious musical appreciation (IMHO).
My other major beef is the musicianship. Of course, Mike's guitar-playing was almost unimpeachable (some bum notes and mispicks aside, along with his tendency to play slightly too fast when on stage), but the rest of the band just didn't seem as tight or together as they should have been. I was *so* looking forward to Ommadawn, yet parts of it were just a mess - and this wasn't aided by the sound level, which was often *too* loud, to the point of distortion... perhaps they still had their PA set up to fill a whole venue, rather than half of it.
And why does Mike insist on miming the bells? They were clearly coming from a sequencer (anyone else notice the parts where they were chiming, but no-one was hitting them?), so why pretend? As someone suggested to me afterward, maybe Mike understands that everyone knows the bells aren't real, so he just goes through the motions of striking them purely for the symbolism.
Anyway, those are the gripes. I know some people will find this almost unbelievable, but I *did* like parts of this particular curate's egg... and surprisingly for me, they were generally the parts I was expecting to
dislike!
Pepsi's version of SOTW is stunning. Roger Chapman? Who he? She's still the wrong voice for Moonlight Shadow, though.
The piece that was played in place of Secrets when FATC was reprised (the one featuring the bell sample tucked away in the rhythm track) was absolutely wonderful. Part of the new album, or just something knocked together for the gig - or perhaps a TB3 outtake?
And yes, the Guitars tracks sound a shitload better live than they do on the album... with the exception of Muse. There was way too much top dialled into the guitar, meaning that rather than sounding warm and flowing, it sounded cold, glassy and brittle.
One final thought. Judging by Mike's physical appearance, I would like to add a putative title for the Millennium album :
"It Was Me. *I* Ate All The Pies".
Wembley, 13 July, Ian F. Braidwood
The show started at 8.30, but before that Rob & I got a close up view of Luke Oldfield, as he was lead up to the stage down the isle we were sitting on. He looks exactly as he does in the Dark Star photos, except his pupils aren't red. :-)
As In the Beginning begun and the lights came up, the whole backdrop of the turned a rich, watery blue, which faded and was replaced by three spotlamps. By shining light through various filters and by varying the focus on these spotlights, the engineer was able to give a good impression of water and galaxies turning slowly in space.
Thanks to Dark Star, we were only on the third row and because Mike was standing centre stage, I was for the first time, able to watch Mike's finger- work, close up. There was a spotlight mounted on the front of the stage, which obsurred the view, but this wasn't really a nuisance, because Mike moved around quite a lot. As Let There Be Light began, the galaxies changed into projections of water - waves and water drops on glass - which changed with the rhythm.
As has been said before, Mike is playing brilliantly. I love the way he moulds himself around the guitar, contorting himself into all sorts of strange shapes so he can get this note, or that affect. Also, he often plays with his mouth open not in a stupid, or innane way, but as someone committed, passionate about what he was playing and stretching himself.
Mike elaborated a lot on LTBL and the band/instrument set up suited the electronic albums very well. Pepsi was at the back of the stage singing 'yelola!' etc, with great commitment and gyrating snakeily throughout. My personoftheconcertexceptMike award goes to her.
LTBL faded and the build up to Supernova began and the hall filled with anticipation. By simply switching the colour of the projections from blue to red, the backdrop was transformed from sea to fire; like gazing into a lava field or an infra - red film of The Sun; it was _very_ effective! As the explosion triggered, Mike punched the air and walked to the back, where his mic and an enormous Zildjian gong where waiting. On cue Mike sang 'Ohoeoay!' and played the gong to a crescendo before coming forward again to play Crystal Clear. By this time I was lost to the world, eyes shut, rocking back and forth, with the spotlights playing various colours on the inside of my eyelids.
CC faded and I opened my eyes to see Pepsi come forward to sing Shadow on the Wall. Pepsi is not Roger Chapman and it would have been wonderful if Roger could've been there, where he sang SotW so brilliantly sixteen years ago; but that said, Pepsi is a quality singer and made SotW hers for the night. She gave a powerful performance and for the first time I could clearly hear the words as she sung them, which given her commitment was a real achievement. She deserves to be a big, big star; forget MadonnaCleineCorrsetc Pepsi! Pepsi!
Then Mike picked up a mic and said it was great to be back at Wembley (surprised you remembered dear! ;-) ) and introduced the four tracks from Guitars.
Mike started with Cochise and the live version was better than the album, which I would only criticise for it's percussion. When you consider some of the drummers Mike has worked with, Fergus Gerrand is out of his depth, I'm affraid. It's a shame Alasdair Mollay wasn't available. This is not to say Fergus was at all bad, just that Alasdair, Simon Philips, Morris Pert, Mike Frye and Pierre Moerlen were WONDERFUL.
After the Guitars tracks, Mike spoke again to introduce Ommadawn, the track I would have paid to hear on its own. Many mailers to Amarok have expressed their disapproval of electronics and sampling; I trust Mike enough to know he wouldn't get carried away and deliberately use them inappropriately. However we all make mistakes! Mike picked up his Paul Read Smith, used it to trigger harp samples to start Ommadawn with and the effect was awful! The sound was recognisalbly harp, but cut off too soon on each note, so where the harp is a gentle instrument, this was cold and abbrupt; totally inappropriate. Roland and Co. have some way to go, yet! Bizarrely, Mike then picked up an accoustic guitar to play the next section; Ommadawn would have been heavenly started as a solo and patiently built to the absoloutely astounding climax Fergus, Mike and the rest brought it all. It was fabulous, but Ommadawn is the most organic peice of music in the world. Mike then spoke again to introduce 'a sort of Tubular Bubble & Squeak!'
TBB&S followed TBIII very closely. I'm a 'smell the rose' man, so spotting what bit came from TB or TBII is not a game I'd play, but I recognised nothing from the first two albums. This is the only section of the concert where I remember Mike playing keyboards and an electronic xylophone as well as guitar. They worked their way through TBIII and it was as good as the rest of the concert, but with Outcast, we finally got to see Claire Nicolson, who had been chained to a pair of keyboards till then. Claire did a brilliant job of driving Outcast forward, using an acoustic guitar and giving it a tautness that gives it new life. Unfortunately Claire's skirt was too taut and she couldn't move freely; she'd have been a delight to watch, if she could move.
Serpent Dream was out of this world. I've already that said Mike is playing brilliantly, but I don't just mean sensitively and intricately, but also dramatically. During SD, he struck the strings and plucked them well back near the string mounting to get the very lowest notes. At the back, on the right, Fergus was playing a mean Bodrhan (though you'd expect that with a name like Fergus, wouldn't you?) and to the left, Pepsi was taking deep breaths, preparing for her biggest challenge of the evening: Inner Child. Rosa Cedron is a hard act to follow and Pepsi's voice is of a completely different type. No Pepsi isn't Rosa, but then Rosa could never have handled SotW. Pepsi gave it everything and Pepsi's everything is damn impressive.
aasshhh... Now it was time for Secrets/Far Above the Clouds and apart from a lot of elaboration from Mike, all the music was pretty much as on the album; which means that all the musicians were playing exactly as they were told and no more. This is my criticism of the concert, because I realise I haven't even mentioned Carrie Melbourne. Why? Because to all intents and purposes she needn't have been there. Mike has written some wonderful bass lines so why didn't I even notice Carrie till the end, when she came forward? I don't think it would have hurt to give her and the other musicians a little time in the sun.
As Secrets came to a close we heard Rob Dickins' god daughter say the famous words, though it wasn't quite so simple. Pepsi also recited the verse and I get the impression that it was Pepsi's voice which triggered the little girl's sample. Mike was at the back of the stage and had picked up a mallet, whislt Luke and Caroline were behind the tubular bells. These were not standard bells, there were only six of them and each one was about the size of the gap between your hands, if you oppose your thumbs and ring fingers.
Now there have been comments on Amarok, suggesting that these were just for show, that they only triggered a sample from TBIII. I had clear view and that wasn't my impression. Why vary the length of the tubes if they were just for show? Also the bells were struck on time and each bell sounded a particular note. Finally, the sound which came out of the speakers _wasn't_ the TBIII sound.
Before he struck the first bell, Mike joked with Luke, miming hitting him with the mallet and then DONNGGGG!! Mike played the first two rounds, then Luke the third and Caroline the fourth; Luke seemed to get a real kick out of playing those bells. Wouldn't Mike be a mean dad if all he allowed Luke to do was trigger a sample? I think they're real bells.
At this time of course, the beat was thumping and punching, and in charge. The whole audience was jumping up and down, which was an achievement given the confines. The band left the stage to tumultuous applause and shouts of 'more, more'
After a couple of minutes, the band came on and Pepsi sang us a great
version of Moonlight Shadow and Family Man. Those of us who wanted to enjoy ourselves sang along with 'I stay, I pray' and Pepsi pointed to Mike as she sang FM. The band left the stage again; we clapped, called for more and I thought to myself that I hate the circus and why couldn't Mike just get on with it.
It wasn't over of course, the best bit was just about to happen. The band came on, Mike picked up a guitar and started playing a tune I hadn't heard before; a rhythmic, punchy tune which grabbed you and held you like the gaze of a leopard. This was new, this was exciting, this was wonderful! For the first time, I felt under scrutiny, as if Mike was watching me, but I didn't care: I was too busy grinning so hard my head could have fallen off! This music had the vitality and driven passion of Amarok itself and if it was a section from Millennium Bells, then that's one copy sold! Far Above the Clouds resolved out of the new music and rode the high to a glorious climax and too soon, it was all over. Mike had played nearly two hours.
Having earlier uttered the immortal words: 'I already have about five MO tee-shirts, I don't need any more...' I went over to a stall and bought two more, before having to do my Cinderella act and catch a crowded tube to Victoria and home. Now is the best time to be a MO fan.
Castro Urdiales, 10 July, Rume
This concert has been probably my best experience (Oldfield related, of course ;)) ever. Wonderful concert, wonderful audience, wonderful Mike, wonderful people everywhere.
My concert day started the day before, because I had to pick up Sunjammer and friend to Bilbao's airport. After a 2 hour delay, Sunjammer finally arrived :) We went out the whole night having some drinks and talking about previous concerts. I won't mention what Sunjammer thought about Spanish girls ;)
On Saturday morning, Sunjammer and me went to the stadium in order to see how the stage was finally built, and I put a camera on an apartment so that I could record the concert on video (but it seems that a kid moved the camera so only the first 15 mins of Luar Na Lubre were recorded correctly, but I had to check it up to be sure).
We went to eat a hamburger and went back to the stadium. We were in the queue for 4 hours or so under a very strong sun (Sunjammer's skin turned very red suspictously :)
I tried to get my press pass , but someone said "NO" :(((
Then the concert started. We were at the very first row. LNL started at
21:15 and they played a very moving celtic tunes which prepared the
audience for what will come later. A very good support act (much better than Luka at Germany, in my opinion).
Then at 22:40 (ten minutes later) Mike entered the stage. The concert started with In The Beginning and all the crowd went mad when Mike started to play LTBL, making a very great guitar solo on the 2nd part of the track ,using the MITR guitar solo sound adding a more rocky sound. Supernova sounded fantastic with very loud explosions at the end. Crystal Clear was nice, though Mike made a mistake while playing the final solo :)
Mike moved to one of the corners, and sat on the speakers and all the
audience started to cheer up :)
Then SOTW, all the crowd singing along, Pepsi singing , going from one side to the other of the stage, very moving song.
Then came Ommadawn, with Mike announcing it in Spanish, all the audience singing along the Ommadawn chant, with Mike improvisating on the guitar making it much more interesting to previous concerts. This was probably one of the highlights of the concert.
Mike announced then that he will play 3 tracks from Guitars (Cochise, Embers, and Summit Day). Cochise sounded very rocky, and much much better than on the album. Then before Embers started, someone shouted "Don Alfonso" and Mike played a few seconds of Don Alfonso on his Spanish guitar, and we all laughed then. Summit Day was nice too, with a great extra guitar solo. Then Mike said "Esto es Muse (This is Muse)" and picked up his Spanish guitar and started playing Muse. It's a MUST for forthcoming concerts, you should complain if he doesn't play it.
Mike then introduced "Y ahora campanas tubulares 3 (And now TB3)" and all the crowd started shouting (well, we shout the whole concert :)).
The perfomance of TB3 was much much better from previous concerts, since Mike made a lot of variations while playing, especially on TSOS and Outcast. The Inner Child was one of the most acclaimed themes.
Then came the TB intro theme with the Secrets arragments and FATC
which sounded fantastic. All the people jumping, and shouting and cheering, everything was fantastic.We couldn't even hear the child's speech because we were all saying it as if we were members of a sect :)
Then Moonlight Shadow and Family Man, and a different version of Secrets and FATC again. What can I say, it was fan-tas-tic, everybody singing, jumping, Pepsi moving quickly, making everybody dance.
At the end we started "OEEE,OEEE" and Mike sang along "OEEE, OEEEE" with us, which was very special. I saw Mike very happy.
That's the concert.
Then all the fans went to a local disco and Mike was there!!!! I arrived a bit late, so I was told that Mike signed CDs and I haven't got mine there :(((( So I talked to Caroline Monk (I discovered I could
really speak in English) while Mike was dancing with his girlfriend in order to get my ticket signed and I succeded !!!
(Sorry, Paolo ;)).
We talked with Bieto Romero and he told me that maybe they play TSOTS in Coruña with Mike so... ;)))
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Katowice, 25 July, Wojciech Babiñski
This was the first Mike Oldfield’s live performance in Poland. I was waiting for it for many years and my dreams finally came true. I was very happy when I heard that the concert will take place in Katowice where I live. There was great promotion of this most important event of this summer. Tickets were sold out one week before the concert. There were over 8,000 people in Spodek this night. The concert started at 8.00 p.m. Mike Oldfield performance was preceded by short concert of Medusa (great composer of electronic music). There was even a place where you could buy some Mike Oldfield stuff (T- shitrs, posters ...).
About 8.00 p.m. lights was turned off and the show started. Musicians came onto the stage and played "In The Begining". But the crew was incomlete. Mike was missing. Some of people asked "Where is he ?" but when musicians started playing "Let There be Light" Mike appeared on the stage and started playing his guitar. Next song was "Supernova" and "Crystal Clear". All these songs were conected into one piece.
During the show lights were changing their colours what made fantastic atmosphere. All Songs were great especially guitar solos. When they finished playing TSODE people began to applaud the band. Mike said hello to the spectators and even said "Dzi_kuj_" ("Thank you" in polish"). Next song was "Shadow on the wall". I must say that it was really good, or even great. People started to clap their hands and sing together with Pepsi. The applause was much bigger and lauder now. Then came time for short version of "Ommadawn". It was incredible. People were sitting in great concentracion listening to all sounds. Mike played vibraphone during this piece.
After Ommadawn Mike played "Cochise" "Embers" "Summit Day" and "Muse" from GUITARS. It was really unbeliveable. Sounds of guitars were great and solos much better than that on album (Mike played MUSE alone on one guitar).All tracks were well applauded, some of people started to scream and some of them came closet to stage. Next was short version of "Tubular bells 3". It was "Source of secrets" "The watchful eye" "Jewel in the crown" "Outcast" "Serpent dream" "The Inner child" "Secrets" and "Far above the clouds". It was ofcourse great too. OUTCAST was really hard it was one of the best tracks in concert.
During "The inner child" Mike went out of the stage for a cigarette and beer. He returned when it was tine for his solo but it was played on acoustic guitar. Another difference was "Secrets". Piano theme was changed and tune form openig of "Tubular Bells" was played, Great work.
After "Far above the clouds" people started to standing up and running to the stage.We wanted more. The musicans went backstage but not for long. We must to stand on our seats to see anything because many spectators had the same idea. The applause was incredible everybody was standing. So Mike and his band came back and played 3 more tracks. It was "Moonlight Shadow" "Family man" and "Far above the clouds". I must say that I prefer instrumental works more than songs but this evening they were magnificent and everybody had great fun when they were played. "Far above the clouds" was fantastic ending for the concert. It was a pitty that the concert was only 90 min. but ...
Another thing was that Mike didn’t play MASTERMIND but I think it was played after the concert from CD (but it isn’t confirmed). I can say only one thing - the concert was fantastic. Maybe some time Mike will visit us again? Who knows ?
Katowice, 25 July, Martin Mariner
YES!
At last Mike in Poland. We've been waiting for Him over 20 years...
Absolutely FANTASTIC show last evening!
In the beginning there was 40 min. support - Medusa. Quite boring I must say...
Then at about 8:00 at the stage appeared the members of the band and of course Mr Mike Oldfield himself. He looked very relaxed and happy, and was wearing white t-shirt and white trousers and of c. white hair:-)) They began with ITB, LTBL and Supernova - just the great pieces of the great album. Then Pepsi sang SOTW - with her voice it was pretty strange but still superb! Did you notice how does she move on the stage? It was a great fun for me to look at her (in positive meaning of c:-)))).
After that, Mike introduced the whole team and said "now we'll play a short part of Ommadawn". And that was IT!!! Absolutely brilliant! Just regret that he didn't play the second part...
Then we've heard "Cochise", "Embers", "Summit day" and "Muse", and IMNSHO it was MUCH better than on the album. After "Muse" the audience gave Mike the first standing ovation.
Then they played the whole TB3 (excl. MITR, TTOTM and Moonwatch). During the FATC we could see Molly (who else could it be?) playing the tubular bells with her father. And that was, in Polish language I'd say the most "zajebisty" moment of the show, but in English words FUCKING FAnTastiC must be enough... it was the second standing ovation of this evening.
On the encores Pepsi sang MS and FM, and she did it excellently I must say. During the songs Mike showed people to stand up and to get close to scene. And the complete madness began: we were all standing and clapping hands and singing with Pepsi.
After that - the third standing ovation. Then Mike with the rest of the team left the scene. We were still clapping our hands, and after 2, maybe 3 minutes, when I thought "that's really end..." they came out again! And again FATC was played, and again Molly was playing the bells with Mike:-)))))
What can I say? Great audience (over 8000, all tickets sold out 10 days before the concert) and of course the GREAT, GREAT SHOW! Pitty that only 95 minutes...
About 20 min. after the show Mike and Molly left the Spodek Hall. Then I noticed the buses of the crew and few people near them. There was rest of the band sitting in the bus. And they (YES!!!) gave me an autographs on my ticket! (Pepsi and Carrie wrote word "love" over their names:-))))).
Someone asked "why didn't you play MITR?" and some of the girls answered "Because we decided, that MS would be better":-)))))
No other words needed: Mike, you must come back as soon as possible!
greetings from Poland
Martin Mariner
Singen, 19 July, Marcus Junglas
Singen (Hohentwiel festival) is a very nice location for a concert and it was. Some digicam photos are on Ralfs page, so I don't need to describe it. Anyway it was a special concert and it seems like Mike liked it.
Ralf already wrote a (damn long ;) ) review and as he stood next to me
there can't be too much differences. The people seemed to be mainly non-fans and they didn't know what to expect. I think they came up the hill to join the festival which is a big event in that region.
While we were busy doing a small chat with Carrie (hi there if you read this!) the entrance was opened about 30min earlier than expected and we were just there and talking instead of trying to get to the front. I WAS IN PANIC! But I was very surprised that *NOONE* went to the front of the first 100s of people. Everyone sat there in the green or on old castle walls. This was really irritating. After our chat was over we were the 2nd group of people to went to the front!
As the entrance was that early it took virtually a very long time until Mike started to play (no support act). Until that time the location was
filled up completely, which was nice to see.
Mike played his program as usual (4 Guitars tracks) and he played very well. What I said about the people makes it more impressive that after the rather silent parts of TSODE were over the crowd seems to be very happy, children to grandma's applauded and shouted and Mike seemd to be very happy (as everyone wrote in the last reviews).
One funny story happened when Mike made a gesture to the technicians that he needs something to drink, which was at the beginning of Ommadawn. During he played the midi-pad-thing-orwhateveritis the guy came with a cup of beer and showed it to Mike with an evil smile because Mike was busy at the moment. The crowd and Mike had to laugh. After his solo he got the beer and showed his tongue to the technician and said "prost" to us.
During Moonligh Shadow I lighted a fire and seemd to be the first one. Pepsi saw it and pointed to me and smiled. Mike also did and Pepsi began to let us wave with our arms. This helped that many lights appeared.
After everything was over there was a very long applause and many people were waiting for more. I haven't noticed that many left the place as you can see normally. So it was very successful.
The sound was quite good but clipped early, so FATC sounded at bit destortened.
After a chat with people I met a lightning storm came up and we had to walk down the hill quickly. GOOD luck the concert was try and sunny but then it was flashing like hell. Sometimes it was lightened by several flashes per second. After we reached the car it started raining. I expect Mike had to stay in one of the boxes begind the stage.
Udine, 17 July, Doppia-Croce
It was about 10:00pm of 16th July when two friends of mine and I arrived from Rome to Udine by train, tired but very excited for what expected us on the day after: the first and only Mike Oldfield concert in Italy since 1984. That same night, at about midnight, we went straight to the Castello (Castle) of Udine, where the concert was to be held, to see the place and feel the air. We arrived there at the same time a huge mass of people was flowing out of the Castle's entrance: the Jethro Tull concert was just over. We then climbed up the sinuous slope which leads to the Piazzale (the large square in front of the Castle) and had some looks at the stage. The Castle of Udine is really perfect for a MO concert; it overlooks the ancient centre of the city and is unreached by external noises. In a word, the ideal scenario for a Mike Oldfield show.
The long-awaited concert-day, 17th July, started with several encounters with other Mike Oldfield fans from all over Italy... although I missed Gug and a couple of other Italian friends (Sarà per la prossima volta... sperando che ci sia una prossima volta!). The same morning, I finally had the opportunity to meet a pen-phone-email-pal I was in contact with since 1995 or so (thanks to Dark Star) but had never met in person, that is face to face. Then I bought all the local newspapers, plus the national newspapers, to check if there were articles about Mike's concert. I found four articles on the local newspapers but none on the national ones (sic!). On one of them there was even the tracklisting of the concert, included a mention of "Mastermind" ("Which Oldfield is likely going to play tonight", said the article) and a brief description of the Millennium album. At about 3:00pm we got our booked tickets and prepared ourselves to queue. My friends and I were among the firsts who had arrived to the Castle's portico to queue, so we gained the "pole position". After a 4-hour wait (we could also catch some strains of the soundcheck), the Security guys finally let us go to the concert area. Nobody of us underwent a corporal perquisition (Thanks God!). After we took our seats (I chose a central seat in the second row) I went to the merchandise stand. The available merchandise was: olive-green, black and blue "Then&Now" T-Shirts; "Guitars" T-Shirts; silver TB pendants, 60x80 cm. posters of the Udine concert; various CDs of folk music but none of Mike's. I bought one olive-green "Then&Now" T-Shirt and one poster, the latter having the usual "Live Then&Now '99" red background with Mike on guitar plus a white band on the bottom with all the concert information: date, city, venue, organization, and so on. A beautiful poster. Anyway, there were no posters in Udine advertising the gig...
When I came back to my seat, I suddenly heard a voice calling my name aloud. It was Sunjammer (Ciauz Paolo!), calling me from his seat in the right block behind me! He was with his mother and with a few other friends of his, one of whom I had met in London the previuos year at the TB3 premiere. As there were two vacant seats on the same row I was seated (don't ask me why...), I invited Sunjammer and his mom to join us... which they immediately did (Sunjammer is still thanking me for that...) ;-)) [Vero Paolo?]
Then, around 9:20pm, the support came out on the stage. His name is Beppe Gambetta, from Genua, and he's a fine flatpicking guitar player. He was aided by his son Filippo, who played the diatonic organetto. Although "Beppe Gambetta", as he himself ironically told the audience, is a delicatessen
seller's name than a musician's, his guitar technique is quite amazing and he received big applauses after the first piece he performed with just his acoustic guitar.
At about 10:15pm, The Man came finally on stage... and a huge applause welcomed him back to Italy. Mike stared at the crowd before him, looking very relaxed and happy. He smiled a lot during the whole show, and, as Gug already wrote, he often looked kind of surprised of the audience's response. It was my second Mike Oldfield concert ever, and it was far greater than the TB3 premiere I attended in London. I was delighted by Mike's many variations and improvisations all through the pieces he performed, especially during LTBL, Ommadawn, and Muse, which were, in my opinion, definetely the highlights of the concert. Although Mike made a few mistakes, they were of no importance, absolutely negligible. It was very nice to see Mike get the microphone and sing along "Supernova". He also smoked twice during the concert and drank a cold pint of beer (Sans Souci I think, since it was the official sponsor of the Festival). When he lit his first cigarette one half of the audience applauded him while the other half hissed him. After SOTW, which Pepsi sang SO powerfully and Mike performed like he used to do during the Discovery Tour, Mike took the microphone and said "Grazie" (that he mispronounced "Grah-tsee" instead of "Grah-tsee-ay", as he also did in 1981 and 1984 during his last tours of Italy) and added that it was "a beautiful night" (I think everyone was expecting more words from Mike to the audience, since it was 15 years he didn't play in Italy). Then I shouted a very loud "Welcome back!" to Mike and he thanked me by bowing his head and mumbling a very quiet "Thanks" (Keep always in your mind that I was in the second row, just a few metres from Mike... :-PPP). After that, he introduced "Ommadawn" by saying it was a piece from 1975. A long applause from the audience and then the astounding harp-like sound came out of Mike's classical guitar. I didn't imagine Mike could ever play a live version of "Ommadawn" better than the previous live versions of the 80s. And he did it that night! He played "Ommadawn" in a way I would never have imagined, really! Apart the final SCREAMING section, I really did enjoy the sudden passage to the Gaelic chant, because Mike improvised a fantastic, unforgettable and moving tune along it. I almost fainted, indeed! Another highlight of the concert was of course Mike's playing the vibes, like in Knebworth in 1980.
After "Ommadawn", Mike thanked us again and introduced the musicians. Then he pretended he was counting on his fingers, eventually telling the audience that they were going to play four pieces from "Guitars", namely "Cochise", "Embers", (a little pause) "Summit Day", (another pause) "Muse". I must confess I never liked "Embers" very much, finding it rather flat and
meaningless to my ears. But when I heard it live that night, with all those wonderfull variations and arpeggios, I changed immediately my mind and in fact I loved it! I can't really understand why Mike hasn't put on "Guitars" a version of "Embers" like the one he's playing on this present tour. Same thing as for "Summit Day", which I find it a lot better live. To tell the truth, I generally tend to appreciate live versions much more than studio ones; you know, they are truer, more sincere... they are *live*...
"Muse", as I said, was one of the high points of the whole show. Mike played it without the least mistake and hesitancy. It was perfect. Two guitars in one. Excellent variations of the finest delicacy. I held my breath until the last note was over. Unforgettable. After "Muse", Mike said "Grazie" again, but this time he said it in a very funny way, as if he actually meant to say: "Alright guys, I've got it! Please, there's actually no need of such
applauses!". We were all laughing and clapping our hands, aware that his brilliant performance of "Muse" totally deserved it.
He then introduced the next performance, saying they were gonna play TB3 and TB1. To be honest, I thought that the best part of the concert was now gone, but I was waaaaay wrong! I hadn't enjoyed the TB3 premiere in London, and it wasn't because of the rain; I just didn't, and still don't, like TB3 very much, that's it; but the live version I've heard in Udine, although incomplete, has definetely got me! "The Source of Secrets" was fantastic, and so was "Outcast", with all those terrific variations! After a few seconds "Serpent Dream" had begun, the siren of an ambulance suddenly began to howl, disturbing the quiet performance of "Serpent Dream" but not Mike, who remained impassive as ever. Maybe someone was bitten by a serpent? ;-))
"Serpent Dream" was followed by a charming acoustic version of "The Inner Child", wonderfully sung by Pepsi (and by somebody behind me, too!) and brilliantly accompanied by Mike's classical guitar. I think it much more beautiful than the official version. Don't you agree with me?
Then they played "Secrets" plus "Far Above the Clouds". I've always liked FATC a lot, both live and studio. The whole audience shouted TU-BU-LAR BELLS! along with Greta's recorded voice and a huge applause introduced the well-known and much-loved guitar solo by Mike. It really ROCKED!!!
After FATC, they went backstage and we all immediately began to shout "FUORI! FUORI!" (COME OUT! COME OUT!), which they did soon after, to play the encores. We had "Moonlight Shadow", same version as that of the London premiere. Pepsi did a great job of stirring us up to sing along with her, which the most of us did right away. Then came "Family Man", which I found a lot more catchy than ever, although Mike once got wrong with the tempo. But we forgive you, Mike... ;-))
Then they went backstage again, to come out soon after we started to shout "FUORI!" again. Now everyone was standing up, addressing an endless standing ovation to Mike and his band. This time we had something nobody of us had ever listened to before: what initially we believed to be "Mastermind" but now, as Paul Harris has just revealed, was an ad-lib version of "More Secrets". It was great, anyway! Then, FATC again, with much more energy in it than the previous one. Mike's electric guitar SCREAMED and CRIED and HOWLED and SHOUTED zillion of notes!!!
Then, the calm after the storm. Mike and his band received the audience's "BRAVI, BRAVI, BRAVI!" and the endless applauses. The last thing I remember was Mike and the musicians putting themselves into a line, shoulder to shoulder, bowing and waving to us like Mike and his past bands used to do during the fabulous tours of the 80s.
The show was over...
Udine, 17 July, Fabio
I'm Fabio, I'm 17 and I was at Mike'concert in Udine with my dear friend Dario.
The show started at about 10:20 in the evening, inside the park of the castle. I think there were more then 4000 persons about... Mike wore very simple clothes : a white t-shirt and blue trousers, but it was really fantastic!
He started playing two pieces from "The song from a distant earth", In the beginning and Let there be light, then he performed a wonderful version of Shadow on the Wall, sang very very well by the amazing Pepsi.
It followed an extract from Ommadawn, four pieces from the new album Guitars, The Source of secrets and maybe another song from TBIII (perhaps The Watchful eye), Outcast, Serpent Dream, Inner Child and Secrets.
At that moment Mike and his band went out of the stand and when he came back it started to perform Moonlight Shadow; it was super ! Everybody stood up singing the wonderful song.It ended with Family Man.
I want only tell that all was great and Mike played best than ever, I hope he'll come back soon and I think this concert will be the best one I will ever take part in.Congratulations to the whole band and particularly to Pepsi.
Bye Bye
Sorry for my english to anyone.
Udine, 17 July, Mara Zanoni
hy dear Mike
my name is Mara Zanoni I'm a 26 years old girl living in Udine Italy.
i listen your lirics since i was 2 years old, thanks to my daddy that is your great fan and bought all yours lp...tubular bells, incantations, platinum, boxes...and so on.....
your music remember me my Christmas, Easter and all good day of my childhood.
so.....when i saw that my Idol Mike Oldfiel will came in udine for a concert i thougth: "that' s a miracle...too much good to be true".....and i bought four tickets: for me, for my hausband for daddy and mummy.
Mike.....that's impossible to say all our emotions of last night.....you was fantastic, your music perfect, absolutely wonderfull.
we wanna thanks you very very much for the great emotions you give to all of us!!!!!
we hope to see you soonest!
we love you!!!!!
bye bye
mara , gianluca and parents
Dublin, 15 July, Paul Mundy
Well, I've just seen and heard the best concert of my life. What a fabulous performance Mike gave us - totally wonderful, with one highlight after another.
It was good to meet up with Conrad Gibbons and Suzanne [Hi!] before the show, and do a couple of swaps. Goodish news to come, Con - read on! And Jim - glad you actually got in the end!
The support was actually a chap called Tim Ambler, aided by another fellow called Dick Farally <sp?>. Enjoyable songs, nice acoustic guitar. Dick played with Sally Oldfield a lot of years ago, apparently, and had just one days' notice for this concert.
I didn't spot one poster around Dublin to publicise the concert. But The Point was maybe 90% full and from my seat the audience sounded pretty enthusiastic. Mike clearly enjoyed the whole evening. He was very relaxed, even joking "A little technical problem!" when one of Claire's guitars was not plugged in.
He freely walked around, at different times sitting on the speakers at the far ends of the stage, swinging his feet.
At one point a string broke on one of his guitars and a techie came on to take it away to fix it. A woman in the audience to my left shouted out "Too highly strung!", and Mike pointed at her and let out one of his maniacal laughs. I wish I'd shouted "No he's not!" at this stage...
Before playing the quieter pieces like Muse, Mike would take just a moment to calm and mentally prepare himself.
Sound was awesome. The bass in Supernova nearly induced cardiac arrest in me, rattling my rib cage!
I was not expecting that good a concert, despite the rave reviews of others on the list. But how wrong I was! Everything was absolutely perfect. Even Ommadawn, which I was worried he would send off at a gallop, was played at a nice fast trot. Just wonderful.
I never spotted one mistake by any of the musicians. Claire I thought was absolutely brilliant, jiving to some of the more upbeat pieces. Pepsi did a grand job of rousing the audience. Carrie and Andy were brilliant and Fergus must really hate that bass drum, from how hard he was hitting it. Not sure who played the tubular bells at the end, but he was wearing like a foam Statue of Liberty crown thing round his head, and looked a right dipstick.
I'd now like to thank the Jobsworth Point security guard for not allowing me to be the first to approach the crash barrier, and telling me to go back to my seat.
During MS Mike downed half of a pint of Guinness. At the end of the FATC encore, he motioned the musicians to the front to receive their applause. He then sank the rest of the pint and handed the glass to a member of the audience.
I met up with Conrad after, and we tried to get to the stage door, but another jobsworth stopped us. I returned to the main hall, and managed to get back stage and into the bar (the Then and Now t-shirt I'd changed into probably helped). Unfortunately the only musician to turn up was Claire, whose signature I obtained. [Send us your snail mail address, Conrad.] All the others had gone. Perhaps Mike was taking advantage of a day off to get home for a while before going off to Italy.
Any Amaroker who is in doubt about attending a concert - doubt no more!! You'd be missing a wonderful experience!
Did I say at the start this was to the point? Sorry for rambling, and thanks for reading this far!
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