Mike Oldfield took up the guitar at age ten and left school in his teens to embark on a music career. From 1967 to 1970, he and his sister, Sally Oldfield, performed as folk duo The Sallyangie, after which he played with Kevin Ayers. In 1971, Oldfield started work on Tubular Bells. The album went on to sell over 3 million copies. Oldfield’s subsequent releases veered from further longform instrumental pieces, to more commercially angled, song-based music, which delivered Mike a top 10 UK single in 1984 with ‘Moonlight Shadow’.
Mike Oldfield has continued to experiment with a range of genres and to date has released 26 studio albums, the most recent of which is Return to Ommadawn in 2017.This triple CD set celebrates Mike’s enticing music and his ongoing creativity.
Featuring live performances of some of Oldfield’s most ground-breaking compositions and unique musical creations, DISC ONE here contains his 1973 show at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, of Tubular Bells in its entirety, for which he was joined by a host of famous names including David Bedford, Steve Hillage, Fred Frith and, as MC, Viv Stanshall. Disc one is augmented too by 1974’s orchestral performance of his follow-up album Hergest Ridge, again featuring Bedford and Hillage, and with the London Philharmonic Orchestra as well.
DISC TWO brings things forward to 1982, when Oldfield performed in Cologne, Germany, on March 19th that year, as part of his ‘European Adventure Tour’. Playing lengthy renditions from Ommadawn and Platinum to begin the show, the second half consisted of cuts from his then recently released Five Miles Out, and its predecessor, QE2.
The set culminates with DISC THREE, which features Mike’s stunning show at Edinburgh Castle in 1992, which featured the unveiling of his Tubular Bells II, just a few days after the studio album’s UK release.
1. Tubular Bells, Part 1
2. Tubular Bells, Part 2
3. The Sailor's Hornpipe
4. The Orchestral Hergest Ridge Pt 1
1. Platinum
2. Ommadawn, Part One
3. Sheba
4. Mirage
5. Family Man
6. Taurus II
7. Mount Teidi
8. Five Miles Out
1. Sentinel 1
2. Sentinel 2
3. Sentinel 3
4. Dark Star
5. Clear Light
6. Blue Saloon
7. Red Dawn/The Bell
8. Weightless
9. The Great Plain 1
10. The Great Plain 2
11. Sunset Door/Tattoo
12. Altered State
13. Maya Gold
14. Moonshine
