ommadawn.dk - Concert

Hamburg, 1993

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0200

Tags: Concert, Events, Hamburg, Me, Mike Oldfield, Pictures, Vacation

This text covers March 25-27, 1993, when I traveled with Obi to Hamburg, Germany, to an Oldfield concert.

After the trip I wrote to my diary, and to Obi, twice. And when I put the final touches on this page, I also added a small outro.

Dear diary!

27/3-'93

Dear diary!
    I came home today, after being out of town for a few days. Thursday morning I went by (3) trains from Odense to Hamburg, and Obi joined me in Fredericia. All right, in Hamburg we found the 4-starred hotel, ran around some of the nearer city, and then relaxed in the hotel room for a couple of hours. Then off to Sporthalle, and Oldfield concert, TB II tour.
    Friday we ran around in town some more, changed plans a little, and after dinner both went to Vejle to hear some CDs. And today, Saturday morning, I went home to Odense, so I could find myself this evening sitting, watching video (Oldfield live Edinburgh 1992), looking at my poster (unofficial, 5 DM), and my necklace (keyring, official, 15 DM) and reading Shoes & Strings (Oldfield fanmagazine). Yummy!
    Friday morning I wrote down these expressions, coming to mind.
    Painfully beautiful suddenly made sense.
    Abstract music. (And me, who hates abstract art!)
    Can one talk about interpreting the composition? (Traditionally I would by this understand saying what feeling is aroused by what is being interpreted - then my answer would have to be no.)
    Psychedelic lights? (Lights with many colors and shapes anyway.)
    Hyperventilation.
    The light was almost the i under the dot, men just barely. (50% of the experience.)
    The beat of the drums, but also of the guitar. (It affected me more than ever before, and it was natural to clap my hands.)

It's been some good days, it was a good thing to do, and it was done good. Just nice!

Lise

4-starred hotel

Poster

Necklace

Dear Obi! (March)

31/3-'93

Dear Obi!
    <snip>
    I don't think there's any MO left (in this house), I haven't heard. Even "Heaven's Open"'s been on.
    <snip>
    I found a dusty tape with "The Lake" on, and heard it this morning. Compared to a lot of other stuff, it sounds like any fool could have made it!
    <snip>

Have fun
Lise

Dear Obi! (April)

1/4 1993

Dear Obi!

    The first night my new necklace was by my bed. (It's not easy to sleep with, so now I've put it with the rest of my jewellery.) I've seen my videotape a couple of times, read the 2 fanmagazines, I have, heard a lot of music, in the start just TB II, I by now know rather well, and I've been wondering. I like a tune, that's easy to sing with lyrics with good rhymes, rhythms, words and meanings, so what on Earth do I see in Oldfield? And when will I fall from this high, I'm on at the moment? Never? Seen out of context, it's a bit funny that the same guy presents TB to me and invites me to TB II concert, but seen in context, I guess it isn't that weird.
    <snip>
    I'm desperat to get some input in this subject. Recently I had a string of thoughts, something like this:

I think Oldfields music is good.
I want to know more about it, joy of recognition, learn more, themes, instruments, wish I had the notes.
But can you really disect the music like that, analyze it that way?
Why do I really like this kind of music? Did I miss something? Is it really because you like it?
Is music really important? In the big picture with war, hunger, disease etc. it disappears - or?

At this time my thoughts has completely lost their footing, and for a second there I thought I was going mad, and stopped thinking about it!
<snip>

Lise

Outro

There's no question this concert influenced me a lot. I got a lot more music than I had before, and I listened to everything I had a lot more. BTW, I also still have the ticket. And for some reason the only thing I took a picture of in Hamburg was this car ...

Ticket

Car

Berlin, 1999

Tue, 20 May 2008 00:00:00 +0200

Tags: Berlin, Concert, Events, Me, Mike Oldfield, Pictures, Vacation

(This was originally an email to Amarok, the Mike Oldfield mailing list. Sent 2 days after June 23, 1999, and the Mike Oldfield concert in Berlin.)

Hejsa!

Back from a 4 day vacation in Berlin - ending with a concert on Wednesday night. The concert was the best part!

Bits and pieces, in no particular order.

They had no program. Sold out? I bought a necklace. It's stamped silver directly on the bell. If anybody figures out, whether is's silver or not, I'd sure like to know.

20.00-20.30 Luca playing. Reminds me of Tracy Chapman - a little. "Julias ordinary day", "Magic jacket", "Homeless", "Strong enough" (cover version), "Alright now" (no, not that one!)... Applause when she ended! She was good, and I might buy the CD, if there ever is one.

20.30-21.00 Boring! Backstage people walking across the stage. Some people in the audience tried to start a wave - not much success... (BTW I was sitting in a very active group of Danes, on the so called 4th row (it really was the 12th!!!), on the right side. People on all sides of us kept looking at us strangely because we sang along, applauded, shouted and so on.)

21.00-22.45 (?) Music!

He was sitting center stage, not on the left as he's done a lot lately. Once he walked over the left part of the stage.

Supernova really rocked me....

Ommadawn synth-choir and guitar-harp? Ah well... And during the non-active bits picking his ear?!?

The heart-beat drums of Ommadawn really got to me - I think this is one of the first times Ommadawn has really touched me.

Muse was a nice surprise. Very simple - also very touching. I almost cried... But it made Embers and Summit Day seem boring in comparison. (BTW some times I really felt a lot of emotions. So much so, that I had to "rest" and ignore some music for a while, just to get ready for the next wave... Can't say I've tried that before...)

While introducing the other musicians, he misspoke - and promptly slapped himself on the cheek, before he started over.

I loved that TB became a part of TB3 - although I had a hard time placing all the references, and sometimes was just confused what is this he's playing now? I hope a bootleg will emerge, so I can listen to this again.

The music was loud, but not too loud.

Best concert in 15 years? Best concert for me so far! More varied selection of music than TB2 and HGP. Errors, yes, but also life, feeling and joy!

Really looking forward to seeing him in a month, in Denmark! I get the feeling, that this tour will get better and better.

Lise

I'm afraid I don't have a lot of relevant pictures. But. The ticket.

London, 1998

Tue, 20 May 2008 00:00:00 +0200

Tags: Concert, Events, London, Me, Mike Oldfield, Pictures, Vacation

(This was originally an email to Amarok, the Mike Oldfield mailing list. Sent 4 days after September 4, 1998, and the world premiere of Tubular Bells 3, at Horse Guards Parade.)

Hejsa!

Yes, I know, you've already heard all you need to know about the concert... But I have a few scattered thoughts...

One thing I haven't heard much talk about. I thought it was quite fascinating to watch Robin Smith (conductor of TB2, and now TB3, also playing keyboards). He conducted in a quite casual way: a bit here and there, but most of the time just playing things I couldn't really hear on the keyboard (maybe complementing chords of the others?), rocking along and looking quite relaxed and happy. And if it comes to that: I think he's quite cute, but Obi doesn't agree?

Am I the only one who thinks the bass player was not only tough looking, but a bit arrogant looking?

It was great being at the concert with friends from all sorts of places. We were 9 Danes, who went to London together. I also met lots of other people, I mostly know by mail or email. It was quite good. And it's fun seeing my own name mentioned by other people who were there. I have witnesses: I've been to the MO concert! So with that in mind: Chris K., Sunjammer with friends, Paul Ha., Chris D., David P., Simon L., Ralf, Stefan N., Jens L. and probably others, I can't remember right now - good seeing you there! (If you have the picture taken at the DS convention: I'm the one on the right with the ponytail, at that moment getting a signature from Tom Newman!)

Lise

And yes, I can prove I was there. Apart from the picture mentioned above, there was also a picture (384 KB) taken from the stage. This smaller version of it shows me, Ian and Obi. I'm the one on the left, in white, pink and blue.

If you were there, you remember getting wet. That the rain started less than an hour before the concert was to start, and continued - actually kept going for 24 hours. It was rather wet and cold to sit there. But the concert ended with some wonderful extras - and by that time I was dancing and jumping up and down, and had forgotten all about being cold.

And final proof: my ticket.

BTW, if I am infringing any copyright by hosting a copy of any of these pictures, please let me know. I don't remember the source of these pictures anymore.

The miracle on Langeland

Tue, 20 May 2008 00:00:00 +0200

Tags: Concert, Events, Me, Mike Oldfield, Pictures

Technical details. Time: July 29, 1999. Place: Langeland, at the festival, in front of the big stage, on 2nd row, center. Occasion: Mike Oldfield playing in Denmark, for the first time in 15 years. Quality: Click picture to get a higher resolution. Other details: that your humble photographer (also your humble webmaster) was surrounded by friends, everybody happy and enthusiastic.

The real miracle here isn't that these picures could be taken - or that they turned out to be rather good, IMNSHO. The miracle (to me) is that I was standing close enough to Oldfield, to take these pictures with my camera.

The Nokia night of the proms 2006

Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:00 +0200

Tags: Concert, Events, Me, Mike Oldfield, Pictures

On 2 December, I made what seemed like a very long journey. I started at home (in Denmark) at about 11.00, and at 19.30 I (complete with TB ear rings) was in my seat in Color Line Arena (in Hamburg, Germany), waiting for the show to start. My only stop along the way was to grab dinner.

It was only later that I realized some of the reason this felt so special: Mike Olfield has done almost nothing live, since I last saw him in 1999.

The Arena was much bigger than I expected. But with German efficiency, I had been guided every step of the way, until I could sit down, torn ticket in hand. At first I was dissatisfied with my seat: on the far left, looking down on the stage, seeing everything from the side, and not very close to the action either. But then I discovered, that I could do, what I always love doing: spying on the artists. I could see who was getting ready to go on, watch the techs at work, etc. Lovely stuff!

Finally the lights went down, and we were ready. Hearing the symphony orchestra (Il Novecento) brought tears to my eyes - I have a weak spot for that sound. And then hearing the ouverture include bits of Shadow on the Wall - marvelous surprise.

Then I had a couple of false starts. Is that man with the guitar... no, that's not him. And when it was announced, that the conductor (Robert Groslot) would do us the honor of playing a very special piece, I thought it would be something new. And then it was Tubular Bells!

TB with symphony orchestra isn't really something new. So when we were at the end of part 1, and I was trying to guess what would happen next, I thought: Ommadawn would be neat now. I guess they read my mind ;-)

What especially impressed me with Ommadawn were the flutes. I don't know why - I just noticed them, maybe because it's not quite the same type of flute in the studio version.

All good things must come to an end. Part 1 of the show had to go on, and with so many great artists to choose from, it was okay.

And then part 2. And again trying to guess: will he come on a second time? And if yes, when? As part 2 wound on, everybody seemed to go on again, so I grew confident MO would be back too. But when and how? As it turned out, he was practically the grand finale.

Moonlight Shadow and To France with the obvious female singer (Miriam Stockley). Shadow on the Wall with the obvious male singer (John Miles) - and 3 guitar players in a row. More work for the flute players - they must love MO! Some innovative arrangements for the symphony orchestra. A chance to dance, and sing along.

Apart from the bits, Oldfield appeared in, I really enjoyed the classically trained tenor (Tony Henry). In part 2 he turned contemporary, first singing Delilah, then Whatever you Say, Whatever you do - but in Italian-opera-versions. Fun. And I wish I could hear them again.

Oh yeah. And that guy from OMD just can't dance. It was almost painful to watch. But I guess his joy of life just has to expressed...

This was in many ways a perfect day. Though my journey to the concert was long, it was without incident. Likewise the journey back to my hotel for the night was uneventful. And I could go to sleep feeling open and connected (with musicians, music, audience, you name it), grateful - and tired. Another happy day in the life of a Mike Oldfield fan.

Concerts

Tue, 26 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0100

Tags: Concert, Me, Mike Oldfield

This site has impressions from a few Mike Oldfield concerts.