Overview: Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Tubular Bells, the best-selling instrumental album of all-time, with this packed, Live Tour Double Disc release.

Experience the iconic music of Tubular Bells like never before, performed in a new cinematic style alongside live musicians and world-class performers, featuring BAFTA nominated, Samuel West, as MC.

Also featured is a fascinating 90 minute behind-the-scenes documentary, narrated by BAFTA winner, Bill Nighy.

Blu-ray Verdict: I am sure that the 50th Anniversary Live Concert Experience of Tubular Bells will be spectacular, theatrical, fantastical and thrilling. I’m so excited it is premiering in 2021, marking 50 years from when I started writing the music and will be touring the world through to 2023, the 50th anniversary of the original album release - Mike Oldfield.

DISC 1 - FULL LIVE SHOW - Filmed over three nights at the world-famous Royal Festival Hall, this contemporary masterpiece incorporates the beauty of the original music with dance and acrobatic feats by the Circa Contemporary Circus.

Including stunning performances of Moonlight Shadow, Mike Oldfield’s biggest single hit, along with Summit Day, from his Guitars album, and The Gem, a new work by Musical Director Robin Smith, the live show is, simply put, spectacular, trust me!

Now, it should be known that Oldfield himself, who famously played every instrument on the album, now plays none! For his only involvement with this wondrous live show is being listed along with the musical director Robin A. Smith as having ‘reimagined’ the music; and yet he doesn’t even appear for a curtain call either, sadly.

But what we do get is a rather polished nine-piece band with the only familiar name being that of actor Samuel West, replacing the late Vivian Stanshall as the (prerecorded) master of ceremonies. And, to my mind, where Oldfield ought to be, centerstage you now find a troupe of acrobats, but it is what it is, especially given that Covid-19 was operational, of course.

Regardless, they are truly gifted, one and all, but also a wee bit incongruous, if I dare to add, for drawing applause whenever one of them stands on top of another, they keep treading on the toes of the music!

Anyhoo, Oldfield’s masterpiece is still just that, albeit showcased here in a different running format. A long-running instrumental that, if not observed correctly, could well become (to the naked ear) just the one, oh-so long work of musical art, it still stands up to the tests of time, me thinks.

Furthermore, the opening theme retains its chiming charm, the less celebrated sections add drama, and the reimagining overall deftly reduces the hippie longueurs.

Artistic Director Yaron Lifschitz’s floor work choreography, full of rolls and tumbling, is pleasing and empathizes with the flow of the music. The more acrobatic elements, the towers of bodies and tissue was antagonistic, however.

While daring and skilled, it started to feel repetitive and was also not always a smooth as one would expect. Two of the women struggled visibly in places and the nerves seemed to spread through the others.

That aside, there are lovely solos for guitar and cello, and the bells do the business. The experience is like rereading a good book, albeit with acrobatics attached! OK, sure, yes, I shut my eyes to enjoy one of my favorite pieces of music and decided not to watch the performers, however the crowd applauding at every in opportune moment quickly broke my concentration!

In closing, at just under an hour, Tubular Bells does not sustain an entire evening, so the performance opens with three other works: The Gem composed by Smith, and Oldfield’s Summit Day and his hit pop song ‘Moonlight Shadow’.

Of these, the elegiac Summit Day is by far the best offering. It’s accompanied by the visual distraction of Jens Beyrich’s constantly changing sphere, which while pleasant enough, did conjure up the impression of a sophisticated screen saver.

It did pave the way for the stunning composite time lapse images of the sun taken over the period of a year which played in the background for the second half, however.

DISC 2 - TOUR DOCUMENTARY - The feature-length documentary explores the history and legacy of Tubular Bells, and closely follows the dramatic story behind the spectacular new production.

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