A little over 50 years ago, on May 25th, 1973, English songwriter Mike Oldfield released his debut album, “Tubular Bells.” While many people my age most likely have never heard of this extraordinary piece of music – except for the title track, which was used in the 1973 film The Exorcist – I have always enjoyed this composition where Oldfield played more than twenty different instruments in the multi-layered recording, and its style traversed diverse musical genres. Oldfield may be retired from performing music, but our appreciation for the piece remains strong. That’s why when Live Nation announced a playthrough of “Tubular Bells,” arranged by Mike Oldfield’s long-term collaborator Robin A Smith, on March 14th, 2024, at Kulttuuritalo in Helsinki, we knew we had to be present.
The seated event was split into two sets. The first half featured some of Mike Oldfield‘s hits, including “To France,” “Summit Day,” and “Moonlight Shadow.” If the audience was already excited to hear these songs performed live, they were beyond ecstatic for the second part of the evening, where “Tubular Bells” was performed in its entirety. After the first part of “Tubular Bells,” the audience stood up, applauded, and cheered loudly, but more was to come in “Tubular Bells, Part Two.”
The complexity of the music didn’t allow for many gimmicks on stage, but it was fascinating to watch the performers, particularly the percussionist on the right, who was extremely entertaining as he excitedly played the triangle during part of the set. Watching the other percussionist play the tubular bells was nothing short of enthralling. After this segment, the audience was thrilled, but the band had one more song to play. The traditional “Sailor’s Hornpipe” served as a fun way to end a show filled with complex and intense music.
Despite Mike Oldfield‘s retirement from performing, it’s commendable that someone else took the initiative, as fans have clearly been wanting to hear this album played live for a while now – the venue was almost sold out. I wouldn’t say no to more performances of these epic classic albums! Check out our photo gallery of the evening here…
Photos by Laureline Tilkin
