Mike Oldfield - The Millennium Bell - Live In Berlin

Starring: Mike Oldfield Original UK Premiere: 1999 Dvd Release: 6th August, 2001 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: PAL, Region 2 Encoding Subtitled In: English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish

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Michael Gordon Oldfield is a multi-instrumentalist musician & composer, working a style that blends rock, ethnic & classical music. Oldfields parents were Maureen & Raymond Oldfield. His sister Sally & brother Terry are successful musicians in their own right & have appeared on several of his albums. Oldfields most famous work is Tubular Bells, an instrumental composition recorded in 1972 & launched on May 25, 1973 as the inaugural album of Richard Branson s Virgin Records label. The album was groundbreaking, as Oldfield played more than twenty different instruments in the multi-layered recording & its style progressed continuously, covering many diverse musical genres. The album quickly reached the top 10 in UK album sales & stayed on the chart for 247 weeks. In the US, it got attention chiefly by appearing on the soundtrack to The Exorcist. In autumn 1974, the follow-up LP, Hergest Ridge, was No 1 in the UK for three weeks & was then dethroned by Tubular Bells.

As music DVDs go this has got to be a worthwhile addition to anybodies collection. Two live shows by one of the countrys greatest musical influences over the past 25 years.

The DVD is double sided so you get 1 show on each side. The first TB2 was recoeded at Edingburg Castle on the night of the first performance of the piece. I remember sitting at home watching the original show on a Old Grey Whistle Test special, this DVD captures the whole thing brilliantly. Mike is at his best & the backing musicains are faultless, my only complaint is that there are no extras, not even an encore.

Side two has the premiere performance of TB3 recorded at the Horse Gaurds Parade. The show was superb & anyone who was there will remember the rain & the tremendous sound produced by Mike & his supporting musicians. Again a brilliant show & well captured on this DVD.

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