• Advertise
  • About us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact us
Tuesday, May 17, 2022
Australian Times News
  • News
    • Weather
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Business & Finance
      • Currency Zone
    • Lotto Results
      • The Lott
      • UK Lottery
      • UK Lotto
      • EuroMillions
  • Lifestyle
    • Horoscopes
    • Health & Wellness
    • Recipes
    • Video
  • Entertainment
  • Travel
  • Expat Life
  • Move to Australia
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Weather
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Business & Finance
      • Currency Zone
    • Lotto Results
      • The Lott
      • UK Lottery
      • UK Lotto
      • EuroMillions
  • Lifestyle
    • Horoscopes
    • Health & Wellness
    • Recipes
    • Video
  • Entertainment
  • Travel
  • Expat Life
  • Move to Australia
No Result
View All Result
Australian Times News
No Result
View All Result
Home Lifestyle

Review: Tubular Bells For Two, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 1 May 2019

KRIS GRIFFITHS attends the award-winning show where two Aussie musicians take on the role of an orchestra playing the 1970s prog-folk classic in its entirety

Kris Griffiths by Kris Griffiths
03-05-2019 14:17
in Lifestyle
tubular bells for two

MIKE OLDFIELD’S Tubular Bells is perhaps the most unlikely smash hit record ever to be released: the sprawling Celtic-folk-rock opus shot to #1 in album charts around the world in 1973-74, throwing its young composer into the international spotlight and kickstarting Richard Branson’s Virgin music empire.

Now, 45 years later, prodigious Australian multi-instrumentalists Daniel Holdsworth and Tom Bamford have arranged its entire score to be played by just the two of them in a unique theatrical performance, bringing to life the progressive masterpiece with all of its multi-layered madness and subtle charms intact. Well… almost.

That’s the flawed beauty of this ambitious enterprise, which I witnessed amongst an almost full house at the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s South Bank – a step up from the much smaller Union Chapel which the act played a few years ago in an earlier incarnation (founding member Aidan Roberts since taking an extended time out after becoming a father back home in Sydney).

New boy Bamford is equal to the task though: both he and Holdsworth dashing about the stage to play their multiple parts on a myriad of twenty instruments, including glockenspiel, flute, keyboards, drums, a selection of electric and acoustic guitars, and of course the titular tubular bells looming centre-stage behind the pair throughout the performance.

What adds a note of jeopardy to the otherwise melodious flurry is the ever-present risk of a bum note being played during a live-looped sequence of guitar (the multi-layered format popularised by Ed Sheeran) which then can’t be erased so you hear it returning with each new sequence, with the performing pair at pains to work around it.

tubular bells for two closer up


The half-time break when it arrives provides some welcome respite for all concerned, before ‘side two’ commences and plays out to a much more satisfyingly rocking conclusion.

Lovers of Mike Oldfield’s masterwork can’t fail to be enthralled by this clever, intricately-choreographed rendering, but even if you’re unacquainted with the album through relative youthfulness, you’ll definitely be inspired to give it a whirl after seeing this show.

AlsoRead...

Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly hint at having a baby

Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly hint at having a baby

16 May 2022
Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker legally tie the knot

Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker legally tie the knot 

16 May 2022


For details on the rest of the May UK tour, which calls at Watford, Wycombe and Milton Keynes among others, go to www.tubularbellsfortwo.com

Tags: Australian music in LondonMusic
DMCA.com Protection Status

SUBSCRIBE to our NEWSLETTER

[mc4wp_form id=”2384248″]

Don't Miss

Horoscopes: 17 May 2022 – Tuesday

by Adamu
17 May 2022
Free Daily Horoscope - Astrology
Horoscopes

Keep your karma positive with these daily free horoscopes!

Read more

Weather Forecast 17 May 2022

by Adamu
17 May 2022
May's Weather Forecast
Australia Weather

Be prepared for any weather with our daily weather forecast for Australia.

Read more

Fire the Liar: Australia make their feelings known about Scott Morrison

by Shannon Alexander
17 May 2022
Fire the Liar: Australia make their feelings known about Scott Morrison
News

Scott Morrison has been making the worst impression on Australia as he fights to be Prime Minister, Aussies are calling...

Read more

Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly hint at having a baby

by Shannon Alexander
16 May 2022
Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly hint at having a baby
Lifestyle

Machine Gun Kelly recently performed at the Billboard Music Awards and left Megan Fox shedding a tear for the song...

Read more

Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker legally tie the knot 

by Shannon Alexander
16 May 2022
Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker legally tie the knot
Lifestyle

Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker recently tied the knot in an intimate ceremony after practice Las Vegas wedding. This time...

Read more

Horoscopes: 16 May 2022 – Monday

by Adamu
16 May 2022
Free Daily Horoscope - Astrology
Horoscopes

Keep your karma positive with these daily free horoscopes!

Read more

Weather Forecast 16 May 2022

by Adamu
16 May 2022
May's Weather Forecast
Australia Weather

Be prepared for any weather with our daily weather forecast for Australia.

Read more
Load More

Copyright © Blue Sky Publications Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
australiantimes.co.uk is a division of Blue Sky Publications Ltd. Reproduction without permission prohibited. DMCA.com Protection Status

  • About us
  • Write for Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact us
  • T&Cs, Privacy and GDPR
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Weather
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Business & Finance
      • Currency Zone
    • Lotto Results
      • The Lott
      • UK Lottery
      • UK Lotto
      • EuroMillions
  • Lifestyle
    • Horoscopes
    • Health & Wellness
    • Recipes
    • Video
  • Entertainment
  • Travel
  • Expat Life
  • Move to Australia

Copyright © Blue Sky Publications Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
australiantimes.co.uk is a division of Blue Sky Publications Ltd. Reproduction without permission prohibited. DMCA.com Protection Status