| Dublin, 15 July, Michael Fitzgerald
Here's my impressions of last night's Dublin concert:
SUPPORT: 'Celtus' two guitars and some lyrics - sort of Waterboys meets Red House Painters. Biggest round of applause for playing a 'lost' Sally Oldfield track, 'On the Corner' (?).
Then the musicians came on and we were off into TSODE, so the set followed the same order that we've heard about before. It's true though, Mike really seems to be enjoying playing, often using his tunes as a basic reference point and disappearing into obscure reaches of the fret board to play codas, cadenzas, improvisations whatever...
Shadow on the Wall: Pepsi is such a brilliant addition to this tour - really getting the (initially reserved) Point audience warmed up. Prowling and bobbing around the stage, really playing up the fun side of the concert. I went with someone whose entire Oldfield knowledge consisted of having seen the Exorcist and having heard (and hated) Moonlight Shadow (tsk!), but they really got into the show, found a lot that they genuinely liked (still not MS though. They are SO dumped!) and whose final opinion was "Bizarre, but good", which is reasonable enough I guess.
He greeted us as: "Hallo all you Amadáns out there! We're now going to play something 25 years old...like me... " at which point there was a fake start and then the real thing began.
Not going to give a blow by blow account, just to agree that 'Guitars' does sound much better live - especially Summit Day, really gives the impression of achieving something. We got Cochise, Embers, Summit day and Muse (!) after which Mike said "Thanks, I really enjoyed that, actually" and I think that was the last thing he said to the us!
The sound was excellent thoughout the show and I reckon the length was right - there was a good overall 'shape' to the show - just the right amount of variations in speed style and volume - trying to add more from things like 'Incantations' 'HR' etc. would've only highlighted the limitations of a six piece team (IMO); many people who only had a vague idea of Mike's stuff would have come away from the Point with a really strong impression of what they've been missing out on. I thought though, this being Ireland, he could have dusted off something from Voyager though, for cute points. Maybe taste intervened.
The crowd were all on their feet and singing from Family Man onwards, really appreciative, making loads of noise for the big finish. Mike toasted us in Guinness (bless 'im). We were probably not as wild as some of the Spanish gigs by the sound of it, but doing their best! I was amazed that there were so many people there - I've never met another Oldfield fan in Dublin, where did they all come from? Where did they all go to? (back home to tuck the kids in ?).
Highlight: FATC
Surprise highlight: Summit day
Low point: Late arrivals and people coming and going in the aisle next to me, grrrr!
Madrid, 8 July, Valentin Albillo
Yesterday (July, 8th), I went to Mike's concert in Madrid.
I've been at every concert Mike has given in Spain (a lot !) and much to my surprise, this has been by far the very best !!! Everything was perfect: the guest group (Luar Na Lubre), the setting Leganes bullring), the sound, the lights, the songs, the audience, everything ! Now for the details:
1) The setting: Leganes bullring, a brand-new, medium sized bullring, very cute and quite comfortable. It has a moving dome which turns around if necessary to cover the ceiling in case of bad weather. Yesterday the weather was excellent, sunny, some 30 C. degrees (87 F.deg) so now need to cover, and the dome was essential, because it acted as a reflector, focusing the sound towards the public. That gave us some of the deepest, strongest bass I've felt in my whole life ! Also, the open dome allowed us to see the equally wonderful sunset, with a blue-green sky streaked by red, then the stars. This was most appropriate, because the stage was mostly covered in aquamarine ligths most of the time.
2) The audience: I counted some 20k persons at the beginning (Luar Na Lubre), that raised to 25k when Mike began. It was absolutely full and the arena was also crowded. yet everyone was comfortable and extremely sympathetic with all performers applauding, cheering, singing along. Mike was very happy with us, and it showed. Many people brought their children with them, too.
3) The performance: Luar Na Lubre began at 21:00, still plenty of sun at that hour. They played beautifully, their usual celtic/irish/traditional stuff, lasting nearly 50 min. Very good, their performance. By then the sun was setting, all main lights were shut down, and only a circle of deep blue, very thin lights surrounded the arena, like a ceremonial ring. In the ensuing darkess, the stage was drowned in aquamarine light, then Mike entered, with the audience applauding frantically ! He seemed very happy, bleached hair but fairly good aspect.
Then, he proceeded to play pieces from TSODE, "Let there be light", "Supernova", "Crystal Clear". Excellent sound, the deepest bass you can imagine, believe me ! I've never experienced anything even close, specially with Supernova ! You could really feel something was about to explode, or at least the whole bullring, audience and all, would be shattered to pieces by that bass ! And no distortion, the sound was amazing ! And the lights, blue, deep blue, aquamarine, suited the music (and the sky!) amazingly well. Mike began to do what I only dreamed of: he never, ever, played a single theme as recorded !! He would improvise, he would play variations, he would innovate, he would extend all themes !! This concert is a gem ! The audience roared and applauded endlessly after he was finished with TSDODE.
Then he announced and played a short version (beginning and end, no middle section ) of Ommadawn part 1. People got very emotional, you could see lots of ligthers' flames being held above everyone's head, in the dark arena. Good version, Mike sitted in a semi-ring of guitars, and would play one, then change to another, as it suited the piece. Pepsi did the Ommadawn vocals, and the end was enthralling, everyone was deeply emotioned !
Mike thanked the heavy applause ("Gracias, muchas gracias"), in fact he spoke most of the time in Spanish, and announced he would play themes from "Guitars", namely "Cochise", "Embers", and "Summit Day". Well, I've never liked "Guitars" very much, but believe me, the "Guitars" he played has nothing to do with the CD version. It was WONDERFUL beyond belief ! I just can't describe it.
He altered all themes, played new sections, played new variations, new arrangements ... ! And the real bass and drums !!! I liked them so much I just couldn't believe it. I won't ever know why he did record the CD version when he could have recorded these live version instead, it's better by an order of magnitude ! A real classic !!
And to topple the cake, he then announced he would play MUSE !!!! The little flames once again over everyone's head. While Embers was playing, the stage was balmed in amber light, that went some shade of purple for Muse. Absolutely touching.
Now, after this beautiful, calm piece, he wouldn't let people get calm and moody and played "Shadow on the wall". Well, everyone got awake at once ! What energy ! I had never seen live Pepsi before, but that woman is incredible !! She's got everything: good looks ;-) , amazing, all-powerful voice, rythm, a tornado of a Woman, she never remained quiet for a moment, always dancing, hopping, teasing the audience.
I wouldn't believe people who said she did a worthy SOTW in past concerts but they were right: the best SOFT I've ever heard, at least vocally, because Mike didn´t play the extended version, the one including the wonderful guitar solo at the end.
With SOTW the ligths began to do wonders. They were synchronized in such a way that, while Pepsi was singing the intro, they were focused on her, lots and lots of swirling, rotating multi-colored spots. But when she shouted "Shadow on the wall", throwing her arms at the audience, the light were thrown too !!! All the spots left the stage at full speed towards the audience, in perfect synchronization with her movement, and everyone get drowned in a multi-colored blaze !! Has to be seen to be believed !!!
After SOTW, Mike announced (in Spanish, like always) he would play "Campanas Tubulares 3" (good accent, BTW), and it followd all of TBIII but TOTM. All of it was nearly perfectly played, people were delighted with it as it was the best known piece for most of them. Extremely good bass, incredibly sharp acutes. Pepsi did the Amar vocals, very convincingly, and also a marvelous "Inner child", full of emotion, which brought the flames again !
Mike improvised on most of the pieces, intermingled some new variations of TBI/II/III in "Secrets", and was applauded to the point of hand-breaking. "Outcast " was also beyond belief, with that powerful bass, and a trick with the lights I've never seen: the lights were stroboscopically synchronized to the ryhtm, so that with every stroke from the battery of bass, they would change abruptly, illuminating different part of the stage instantly ! It seemed like veryone instantly cahnging positions, as if by magic !! Mike himself was alternately illuminated (white ligth) front the back and from the top, and so seemed to instantly teleport a couple of meters to and fro ! That, synchronized with the music, would let your jaw hanging in awe !
Then a carefully played "Serpent Dream", in which Mike displayed incredible guitar technique in the country of flamenco guitars. He delivered, indeed, fantastic performance. Lights were dark reed, to suit the mood of the piece, including some SFX which parts of the stage seem afire (undulating, intermingled red and yellow lights created by a rotating system of small focus).
By now the sky was totally dark, lots of stars, and the lights were having their day. The audience would be traversed by many rotating effects. Then Mike began playing FATC, and the round spots were replaced by perfectly sharp, rotating, metallic-bluish tubular bells, which both createad an all-tubular-bells floor in the stage (what a a photograph !!) and also an all-tubular-bells audience ! Mike lterally stepping on scores of perfectly sharp, almost real tubular bells of all sizes was ... :-)
The audience was absolutely enthusiastic when Mike played the Hell Bell, which I thought I wouldn't survive, so powerful was the bass, and the final was everything you could expect and then some. People just couldn't believe, everyone was cheering, shouting, clapping, dancing, trembling, whatever. All people, all ages, all genders, universal.
Of course, people asked for encores, and we got three: MS, FM, and the FATC finale. Pepsi did her best, keeping everyone active, moving with an unthinkable energy, teasing the audience in perfect spanish "Otra vez, otra vez" ("again, again"). Many people were about to weep, such was the emotion. After the FATC encore, Mike and his group went to the front, and very formally saluted, inclining heads and all that. People reaction was indescriptible, shouts of "OeOeOeOeeeeee !!!" and "TORERO, TORERO !!!!" [Don Alfonso !? :-) ], minutes and minutes of applause.
4) The comment: Beyond belief. Before the concert, my expectations were quite low, I didn't specially like TB III or Guitars, I thought Mike's technique and inspiration were seriously challenged. I just went to the concert because I've been at all his concerts before.
Well. I'm a new Mike fan. What he did was beyond belief. Everything, every little detail, including setting, comfort, audience, everything was perfect, unbelievably perfect. His technique was amazing, he played far better than on his latest recordings, comparable or superior to his top moments on the past.
And his inspiration ! he played everything new, differently, new variations, new solos, new arrangements, new extensions for most of the songs. If this man is finished, I'm "The mummy" himself !!!! He's at his prime again.
And the rest was equally impressive. Pepsi was also beyond belief, she's the most energetic, strong voiced babe I've seen on a stage, and perfectly complements Mike's more shy, reserved attitude. When she was moaning the "Far above the clouds" lyrics, people actually whistled to her in admiration !
Absolutely Amazing. Mike Is More Alive Than Ever, His Technique And Inspiration Are Superb, His Group Is A Real Wonder. And FOUR Guitar Themes (Cochise, Embers, Summit, Muse). What else?
After all what I've written, I still lack words to describe it. If you lose it, you really don't know what you're losing.
Thats all. Best regards from Valentin Albillo. :-)
Valencia, 2 July, JORDI
After a fast and comfortable 3-hour trip from Barcelona by train I arrived at Valencia at 19:30, then I looked for the hotel and after leaving my bag I rushed to the venue. It was located inside a nice park, surrounded by trees and different kind of flowers. When I arrived, there were many people waiting for the gates to be opened, this happened at 21:15 and once inside I realized how small that place really was. More or less I think that there were no more than 4.000 people but, due to its extremely small size, it seemed that there were about 10.000 souls anxiously waiting for the show to begin.
At 21:45 Luar Na Lubre appeared on the stage, they gave us a great supporting act, their music sounds sweet, warm and has a distinguished celtic flavour. Among other great themes they played "O son do ar", the song that Mike included in Voyager under "The song of the sun" tittle.
They finished at 10:30 and after half an hour Mike and his band finally appeared, he was wearing white trousers, sport shoes and a black, white and red T-shirt, he was barely 5 meters away from me, it was my 5th Oldfield concert but he had never been so close, he played the known cuts with Cochise, Embers and Summit Day from Guitars. He looked very motivated and kind, just as in every concert of this tour, a funny anecdote is that while performing one of the themes he broke a fingernail, after finishing that theme he asked for a manicure file and started filing the damaged nail, then all of us started laughing and applauding, Mike himself smiled and after a minute or so he was ready again.
A dissapointing fact occurred when Mike said: "Y ahora una pequena Ommadawn" or "And now a short Ommadawn", someone behind me said "And now what!!!???" this makes me think that if he played that old stuff many people wouldn't have known what the hell he was playing, a truly sad thing.
The highlights were Shadow On The Wall (Pepsi was great), Ommadawn, Cochise, Summit Day, Outcast, Far Above The Clouds, Moonlight Shadow and the FATC reprise, with a very different Secrets section, perhaps we were listening to a Mastermind riff without knowing it?
The surprise was the impressive fireworks (we were in Valencia!) that were ignited just when Mike hit the bells for the first time during the
FATC reprise, just like Edimburgh back in 1992, the guitar solo was terrific and at the end he was sweat soaked, both for the extreme hot and for his great playing effort. Right after the concert he took a huge Mercedes and dissapeared, the rest of the band were carrying their suitcases and headed for a bus parked near the backstage, by then all was over, by now I'm looking forward to 6 July, when he will play in my hometown, Barcelona.
That's all for now, looking forward to Barcelona & Wembley...
JORDI-
PS- My best regards are going to Ana from Madrid and Colin Wilson
from Hoddesdon, UK.
Valencia, 2 July, Nacho Marin
It was the first concert Mike ever has performed in Valencia. The Viveros Garden square was full of people (I can calculate 5.000/6.000 people - there was no room for more people) in spite of the high prices of the tickets (4.500 ptas/ 18 pounds). The support act began at 21:45 with a splendid Luar Na Lubre part. They played The Song Of The Sun (without Mike), and I can say that they the perfect teaser for what was coming later. They played 45 minutes of some excellent Galician folk songs.
At 23:00, the band came into the stage, and after them, Mike himself,
turning his head, from side to side, as almost always. A magnificent rendition of the beginning of TSODE was played, and the lights gave a perfect ambient to the night - a very hot night!, by the way. The sound of Mike's guitar was very pretty and the audience came to an incredible silence to enjoy the pieces.
A very fine rendition of Shadow On the Wall (Pepsi was wildly moving along the stage - wow, what a woman!!), made way to Ommadawn, (I never thought I will sing the Ommadawn chants in a concert, and this was the perfect occasion), Cochise, Embers and Summit Day. I must say that these tracks live were one of the best moments of the concert for me. Summit Day was one of the greatest ovations of the night.
After this TBIII emerged with all of its force. In Serpent Dream the audience were clapping and dancing, but when Secrets / FATC came in, we all explode in such a great emotion. Oh, it was a little disappointing not to see Rosa singing The Inner Child. This was counterbalanced by a great job of Mike with the acustic guitar.
The encore was magical. Everyone went mad with Moonlight Shadow and Family Man. The second FATC was very special, with remarkable changes from the previous version.
Fireworks came to the conclusion - a party without fireworks in Valencia, is not a party :-), and we all applaude Mike and the band, which seemed very pleased. People waving arms, crying oe,oe,oe, were the sensation that it has been a perfect night.
Thans Mike, for this particular moment in my life. Greetings to Alberto, and Marco (who came from Gijon). We had the opportunity to meet each other at the end of the concert.
San Sebastian, 1 July, Rume
My concert day started very early when I woke up, because I had to drive for 1 hour and a half to get to Donosti (San Sebastian in Spanish). I went there with some friends and spent the day enjoying the beauty of this town.
Well, enough :)
I met my Oldfield friends from Bilbao and Yago Olaizola (hola !) and had some drinks at a pub before entering. After that, we enter and prepared to enjoy the concert.
The concert started at 21:15 with the support act, Luar Na Lubre. It was very nice, Celtic music, very dance-able at times. Mike started at 22:30. It all started with In The Beginning , Mike entered and all the crows started clapping. Then LBTL with a wonderful guitar playing. Supernova was very nice also, much nicer than in the album, with very loud sound. Crystal Clear had Mike on keyboards, and a very good guitar solo. Then came SOTW with Pepsi on vocals. I liked this one very much, one of the highlights of the concert. Then Mike introduced the band members, and said "And now, we're gonna play a short version of Ommadawn, como dicen ustedes, pequeña version de Ommdawn" which was absolutely amazing with Mike playing a glockenspiel like thingie that sounded like a marimba. Then Mike picked up the micro again "And now, we're going to play 3 tracks from Guitars, Cochise, Embers and Summit Day". They were very good tracks, much better than the studio version. Then "como dicen ustedes, campanas tubulares 3".
Tubular Bells 3 was fantastic, having The Source Of Secrets and Outcast as highlights. Then came Secrets and FATC. Well, not Secrets it was the TB tune with the Secrets arragments. Mike re-entered again to encore Moonlight Shadow, with all the crowd with hands up and singing along, and Family Man. Then re-entered again to play Secrets and FATC again.
At some point in the concert, Mike told us "ssssssshhhhhhhhhh", because we were making so much noise that we can't hear him :)
A very very very good concert, I am very happy with it. The audience was fantastic, and I hope everybody will enjoy the following concerts as much as I did yesterday.
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Paris ,12 July, Alex Willem
Just back from live in Paris, here are some of my impressions. Well it was, heu, hmmm..... I can't find the words!
Seriously, It was very wonderfull. A very great live for a such small audience. Indeed, I was very surprised of the small size of the room. It is just about 2700 people audience room. I remember the live in Bruxelles in '93. There the room can contains about 7500 and if I remember well it was at that time considered as a small audience for Mike!
The show started at 8:30 exactly with a solo guitarist and singer named Paul Breslin. Althought his musical style is good, I didn't think that it was the same as the mike's one. Anyway, the guy was sympathic and the audience wanted an encore.
After that, we had to wait a while before the band come. The audience began to shout and sing to call them. Around 9:30, they finally came and started to play the four tracks from TSODE. When they started, everybody stood up to applause them and immediately we can see that Mike was really cool and happy to play live.
The TSODE tracks where very good with some extra guitar parts that are not on the CD. Mike made some vocals part. Immediately after these 4 tracks, the played SOTW. Pepsi is really, really,
really wonderfull! Now I think that this song sung by Pepsi is far better than the original version. What a power! What a beautiful voice!
Then Mike took a micro and said "Bonsoir à vous, Nous sommes tres heureux de jouer a Paris". It reminds me that Paris live album of Supertramp where Halliwell said exactly the same thing! He introduced ommadawn then as "a song that is 25 years old (in french). Hey, he seems to speak french! Ommadawn was really a highlights of this evening, even if they started playing it a little bit too speedy. The particular decoration of the room (a kind of rococo style with some roman like statues and balconies) gives to the tracks a particular dramatic atmosphere. It was very great.
Then Mike introduced Cochise, Embers, Summit days and Muse. Live Cochise is far, far better than studio version, with some extra guitar solo from Mike. It was really powerful and at that time we can see that he was really enjoying to be there. Just a personal remark, I missed enigmatismwhich for me is probably the best track of this album.
Finally, he introduced TB3 and they played the whole first part and finished as usual by Secrets and FATC. The audience began to be excited when they played outcast. It was very sensationnal. For this tracks he goes near Claire Nicolson and showed how much fun he had to play. Audience get completely excited on FATC. When he started the play the bells, everybody stood up claping in their hands with the rythmn. Noboby seated then till the end of the concert.
On the first encore, they played MS and FM. By the way once again, Pepsi was wonderful.
Finally, on a second encore, they played secrets, FATC sligthly different compare to the first time they played it. Some sounds were added and secrets was shorter than the first time. That was the end of the concert.
Comparing to the live in Bruxelles, I can say that I have seen two different Mike Oldfield. In '93, it was a nearly shy Mike. He doesn't say a word except "thank you very much" and during the concert he stayed quiet and very serious. At one time he was showing the rythm to the other musicians with a very serious face. This time showed us a very relax and cool Mike laughing and joking with his partners. The mood was better this time even if the quality of the music was better in '93. There were quasi no mistakes at that time. This time there were a lot but music was more spontaneous.
My best wishes to other people going to an Oldfield concert and also to the other that couldn't have this chance.
Paris ,12 July, Eric Plouvin
Just a few impressions after that wonderful night... Usual disclaimers apply (IMHO, IMFO, AFAK, etc :-)
Venue : The grand Rex is not a big venue compared to the Spanish sites. It accomodates 2700 people, but since MO is not very well-known in France, it made for a crowded house instead of a half deserted stadium !
The crowd was nice, cheering along ang getting quite mad at the end! Ommadawn got a standing ovation, muse was really appreciated.
First part : guy named Paul Breslin (sp?) Solo performance with an accoustic guitar, voice à la Chris de Burgh, very friendly and a good musician.
Sound : ok, not too loud. I was afraid of the 'barrage of sound' during outcast of Cochise, but it was alright.
Playlist : the usual, with Cochise, Embers, Summit day AND Muse (hi Carole !)
Performance : really ok. Not a letter perfect rendition of the album, which means small mistakes scattered throughout but variations on the well known tunes, and that *was* great! The only real trouble came at one point when Claire started playing totally out of tune, Mike missed his cue (I think) but Pepsi kept singing in tune and everybody got back on track !
OK, now my impressions (fingers closing on the delete buttons ?)
Mike was relaxed, but didn't crack the now famous jokes that were told during the previous gigs. He did speak a few words in French though, and looked friendly. Had a mock fight with Adrian and Pepsi while saluting the crowd :-)
Ommadawn live kicked as...bottom ! I used to *like* Ommadawn in a remote kind of way, but now I've heard it live, I'm hooked on it. The tunes are wonderful, and the arrangement was soooo powerful !
GUITARS should have been GUITARS and DRUMS ! What a difference between the studio version and this one. Please, Mike, get a drummer for the coming Millenium thing !
I wonder why people keep bashing Pepsi ? She's got presence (vocally I mean), did her best to get the crowd going, never sang out of tune even when the music wandered a bit... OK, she could profit from dance lessons, but on the whole she was great!
Too bad Carrie was standing at the back, we didn't see much of her and the Stick. She came to play at the front with Claire during the FATC encore, but that was all.
In summary, a WONDERFUL night (my first MO concert)
FATC live : wow !
Ommadawn live : *WOW !* (repeat ad lib)
Paris, 12 July, Angel Ezquerra
I am still recovering from this wonderful concert, so bear with me if I am a bit bage in the details :-)
I went to the concert without much hope. After all tickets were sold out
months ago and I did not have one! However I had to try, so I went to the 'Grand Rex' and tried to get a ticket, which I did quite easily to my amazement and happiness.
The queue was huge by then, and as my ticket was one of the cheapest, I
thought I wouldn't even see Mike. But luckily I was way wrong. The Grand Rex can hold 2750 persons, so it's huge for a cinema but small for a concert hall. So even in the top I was not really far from the stage.
I will skip the first part of the concert, where a group called Celtus should have plaid but we got a lonely guy with its guitar instead. He was nice.
Then we waited for a long time, untill around 9h30pm the band entered the stage, followed by a blue shirted, white panted, golden haired Mike Oldfield.
The public screamed into madness as the first chords of TSODE where played, and then I knew the concert was going to be great.
What can I say? That TSODE is great live? That you must know already after the previous concert reviews. That Mike's guitar playing was simply astounding? Oh yes, mamma, ooh yess! Indeed, that man can play effortessly what others could not even dream to! That he seemed happy and the public loved him? That Pepsy has an amazing resemblance to Lara Croft?! That you must also know!
But what you surely did not know, is that Mike can actually talk French!!! Well, not very well really, but he spent the whole concert talking (or
mumbling) in French. It was not like Moliere but enough so that people understood (most of) what he said, and appreciated a lot his effort.
Anyway, I am soooo happy I got that ticket. I even bought 2 T-shirts at the end (I am slightly pissed at the girl that sold them to me, because
she gave me one XL, which is too large for me). But they are very nice. Nicer than those in the Horse Guards Parade Concert.
All in all a very, very good concert. Much better than the HGP last year. He seems to have perfected his guitar playing during this tour, and that many of the tunes have matured in him, in a similar way to what happened during the Exposed tour.
I would not finish without making a special remark. Ommadawn. Fantastic, fast, I loved it.
I just can't wait to get a CD with one of these concerts on it!
Cheers!!!
Angel - The happy, happy.
Salamanca, 9 July, Manuel Moran Vaquero
The concert was on Helmántico Stadium. Tickets were sold out weeks ago, and there were some warning papers on walls all over the city warning the people not to go by car and saying that there would be no ticket selling at the concert.
It was a really hot day (35ºC in the shade I guess) and it added to crowded entrances. But soon we were all inside. I entered one of the firsts and it was stunning to see the void place and the huge stage. Of course I ran to the front as lots of others were doing and we sat down there (I was on 2nd row). Lots of young people there in the front and
everybody with really a very good mood. I liked the ambience.
Luar na Lubre came. They were ABSOLUTELY STUNNING. Those guys are really good. When they came to stage people started crying loud "Roooosa Roooosa" and Rosa Cedrón smiled :). They started with two slow themes and then they went faster and everybody was clapping and dancing, at least there in the front as I couldn't see further. The whole arena was FULL.
They did an encore and then came Mike. There was an applause from the beginning of "In The Beginning" till the start of Let there be Light. I didn't expect mike to continue from Supernova till Magellan but I'd have liked it.
Short comments:
- TSODE: Not so much different. But he improvised a bit. HE IS DAMNED GOOD! :) It seemed that he really "meant the notes", as he says.
- Summit day: IT WAS REALLY GOOD LIVE!!! There was no big difference of course from the CD version but it is amazingly strong to be played on a concert. The whole Arena was illuminated from the stage and it was beautiful.
- Ommadawn: Really good version. I couldn't imagine such a good Ommadawn live. I don't know if Pepsi did the "hooo aaaahs" chant at first but I'm quite convinced that she _DID_ sing the "ommadawn eg cheoil" part.
- Carrie Melbourne was quite hidden behind. The girl on the keyboard (can't remember her name) was really funny. Not to mention Pepsi. SHE'S GOT THE POWER!! :-D
- TB|||: Wonderful. I didn't like Secrets very much. Too complicated for my cloth ears. :) Strange scale and stuff. But FATC was wonderful. So many many people dancing to the same notes was really stunning.
- Mike got a fingernail broken!!! :) But he mend it with care and smiled veeeeeeery quietly. He seemed to be comfortable :)
- While the most loud part of outcast was played, there was a technical problem and no instruments but just a keyboard were heard. But they talked for a few seconds, and started playing outcast again, from the middle!! :))
- BUT THE VERY BEST AND ORIGINAL OF THIS CONCERT happened when the people started crying "oooooeeeeee oe oe oeeeeee" (this is a common football soccer song in Spain and I think all over the world) while Mike was on the stage to ask him for another encore and suddenly, Mike started playing along the "oeeeeeee" with the guitar, the percussion also joined and it was REALLY FUNNY!!! :DD I think this is _REALLY_ a rarity :))) I hope someone can upload it, as it's not longer than 30 seconds.
Oh yes! I almost forgot! -> He played MUSE! :)
Ahoy Rotterdam, 29 June, Michiel Cleijne
The last time Mike played in the Netherlands (The Hague) was in 1992 the TB II tour. The last time he played in Ahoy Rotterdam was in 1984 the Discovery tour. So I was glad that he came this tour to the Netherlands because he isn't that popular over here. There is no radio station or tv sender where you can here or see his music. He doesn't get any promotion here. So I was really glad that the Ahoy was sold out (10.000 seats). Although on the tickets the concert should start at 8 o'clock he started at 9. There was no support act. In 1992 in The Hague there was Loreena McKennit.
He started with parts from Distant Earth. In the Beginning, Let there be light Crystal Clear.These pieces did well live especially the great guitar parts by Mike where well done.
Than he played Shadow on the Wall sung by Pepsi . She did really a great performance of this song quite different than the R. Chapman act but it worked also Carrie Melbourne showed some great bass work it really rocks. Mike continued with Cochise. This piece was live well done and sounded live very nice.
Than he played my favourite track Ommadawn. The harp part where done by a midi connected guitar. This was the best Ommadawn performance I've ever heard live and again the guitar work of Mike was brilliant. Carrie did ven some great bass work in this piece. You could also see Mike playing some percussion connected to midi you could here the sound of a Marimba. The guitar solo at the end of Ommadawn was spectacular.
In Dutch he thanked for the applause than he introduced the band and
announced Muse, Embers and Summit Day. Live they sounded really
nice. Muse he played solo. There was a great atmosphere in the in the hall everybody was listening nearly silently. Guitars was not promoted in the Netherlands so I think a lot of audience heard these songs for the first
time.
Than theTBIII parts where announced by Mike. The source of Secret's, The Watchful Eye, Jewel in the Crown, Outcast, Serpent Dream, The inner child, Secrets and Far Above the Clouds. Highlights where Serpent Dream he started with a view Flamenco chords and some people in the audience yelled OLE. Than he started the tune. Although a simple piece it works really great and is a niece tune to play (I play it some times on my guitar it's not that difficult but it keeps going on in your mind). Inner Child was for me an other high light. Pepsi showed here great voice in this song. Mike accompanied her with acoustic guitar. This made this song great, far better that the CD and the HGP performance. Secrets was TB 1 with Drum and Bass. The audience liked it and screamed. It ended with Far Above the Clouds exactly the CD version. The audience was great, clapping, screaming and whistling.
Mike and the band left the stage but came back to play Moonlight Shadow and Family Man. The Ahoy became one great dance party everybody was dancing and singing. (Normally the Dutch are a bit boring people) Again the band left the stage the audience kept on screaming and the they came back. Mike and the band started an unknown intro but after a while it ended in Far above the Clouds. Unfortunately this was the last piece he played and left the stage and the audience was still exited. at 10:45.
This was one of the best concerts Mike ever did in the Netherlands (I've seen them all) his guitar work was throughout the concert great. IMHO he still one of the finest guitar players in popular music.
Hamburg, 25 June, Amarock@t-online.de
First I must said, that the atmosphere in the north of germany was very cool. The arena was filled up with ca. 5000 people who was very cool.. It was only a small open air arena.
I came there at 6pm and so I was one of the first people who entry the arena. I take a place on a litlle wall that was breasthigh in front of the stage. I'll be only 3m away from the stage.
The Equipment on the stage was very small. Only one drums, some guitars, some keyboards, a great GONG ;-) Some midi-sequencers and the bells. It look likes to be a very small concert with a minimum of Instruments to make a lot of money. Remember the TB2 Premiere in Edinburgh !!!!!!!!!! That was an Equipment !!!!!!!
At 15 minutes past 7 LUCA came out and begin to play. She was pretty good, but her sound look like Tracy Chapman or Alanis Morissette. After she played two songs she said who she are, but first must came the question about her name from the audience. She played 30 minutes pretty good. I think she will have a big karriere. It was 15 minutes to 8 when Luka was finished.
At 8pm the band came out and at last Mike. The Audience are clapping the hands very well an my heart was beating fast. I 'll never saw Mike so near. He looks a little bit nerved. (I think every day in a different town is not good to make great concerts). He make a short welcome, smile like a Robot , take his guitar and then TSODE starts. And I´ll never heard it so good before. I close my eyes and think I am in space. Live it is absolutly great.
After CRISTAL CLEAR Mike say's "hello" and "es ist schön in Hamburg zu sein". The only talk to the audience was to introduce the band and to tell us what songs are playing now. Now jokes like the Hanau concert : -(((((
SOTW sung by Pepsi who will bring power in the audience. She was very good, but I think, Pepsi better sing Rap as powerful Rock-songs (Maggie and Roger was missing)
The Track-List are exactly the same as in Berlin. OMMADAWN was great. Thank U Mike !! Then he played alone on an acoustic-guitar MUSE. Amazing !!!!! EMBERS and SUMMIT DAY are follows.
The audience are clapping their hands very long. Mike gave us only a little tired laugh ;-((
The songs of TB3 was powerful. Mike plays sometimes a strong guitar with a powerful hand : -))))))))
Wrong was, that many pieces came from tape and as the voice from the tape say´s : "and the man in the rain picked up...." pepsi will say it too. But that was not the same time she starts and so it came bad. Sometimes seems like Mike has the wrong notes on the midi-percussions. As Mike the Bell hits, we are clapping like idiots. That was amazing !!!!!!!!!
Then Mike and the Band leave the stage. It was 15 minutes past 9.
Soon after a long applause they came back and played MS and Family Man. Pepsi sung it very good and the cool north-germans are clapping their hands.
Now the band leaves the stage again. I saw they on the backside talking together. The arena are cooking. Then they came back to play FATC again. This was finaly the last time they played.
It was 38 minutes past 9. TOOOOOOO SHORT !!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was it. No chance to get a autogramm. No words of thanks to the audience from Mike : -((((
No songs from Voyager (good) no excerpts from Amarok (bad)
And........ MITR was missing very much ;-((((((((( So I take two shirts (one with the bell and one with Guitars) and the little necklage. However very expensive. All in All it was a good concert. Great to standing so near to Mike : -))))))))
But I am a little bit desilusioned. Mike show no feelings. He looks like a music-robot, but he is genius !!!!!!
Thank U Mike for a good evening
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