LIVE AT MONTREUX 1981

In the mere 8 years between Tubular Bells and this concert, Oldfield had gone from kitchen sink 50 minute opuses in studio solitude to a tight rock band, passing on the way thru various prog folk derivations ("Hergest Ridge", "Ommadawn"), modern neo classical ("Incantations"). massive stage extravaganzas rivalling some of Rick Wakeman's earlier ambitions ("Exposed"), minimalism ("Platinum"), and finally his own influential take on Celtic rock ("QE2" ). One could argue he grew more during this time than many artists do in their lifetime, and that his audience grew in lock step with him, attaining an appreciation and love of more complex music that very few artists could have cultivated. I have heard bobblehead critics refer to Oldfield's work as childish, but I believe they may be conflating the artist's gift with childlike wonder that permeates many of his electric guitar solos with immaturity. In fact his restraint at resisting the guitar hero profile in favor of a clean shaven if slightly long haired boy wonder is to be commended. At least at this point, he seemed so genuinely happy with having finally engineered a tete a tete with the audience that this joy is discerned right through the gritted teeth holding his pick collection in place as his guitar plays him.

The concert begins with a medley from QE2, the album that was current at the time, and the first of his 2 predominantly Celtic albums. Although the successor "Five Miles Out" was still a year away, in "Taurus 1" we can perceive some of the motifs later used in that album's opus "Taurus 2". While the vividly red-haired Maggie Reilly adds a vocal dimension even to tracks that didn't have a singer on the original release, at this point her contributions are wordless and all the more vivid for it, being utilized craftily in place of both voice and accompanying instrumentation as the need is intuited. That this same singer became the voice of a string of chart hits shortly thereafter is tribute to her versatility and Oldfield's creativity.

The peak, though, is the underrated "Platinum" suite in 4 very different yet harmonious parts, each building on the previous, even the roaring twenties honky tonk of the "Charleston" part during which the band members are served wine, leading effortlessly into the "North Star" finale which Oldfield's riffs trade off with sweet acoustic guitar by Rick Fenn who otherwise plays mostly bass in the concert. Maggie returns to coax it to an appropriate crescendo. Throughout this opus and others, the keyboard work of Tim Cross is top notch and his stage presence is not bad at all. The two percussionists center the naturally rhythmic nature of Oldfield's music. The liner notes indicate that he set up the touring band as a profit sharing enterprise rather than simply paying them a gig fee. Based on their performance, Oldfield's genius is not limited to musical realms.

Oldfield later returns to QE2 with the wonderful "Conflict" that morphs from synth storm to a hot blooded Irish jig with nary a trace of self possession or artifice. This segues into Ommadawn Part One which covers many high points of that masterpiece. The abbreviated Tubular Bells 2 (highlight being the guitar played like a bagpipe!) and the full Tubular Bells 1 seem like the right proportions given the time constraints. The concert balances reflective, almost campfire intimacy when Oldfield is playing mandolin or acoustic guitar to rousing melodic solos to full on prog rock. To say that Punkadiddle is supremely anticlimactic is an understatement, but it's nice seeing these lads shed their doubtlessly drenched shirts before returning to the stage for this encore.

Given the breadth of what is presented here, the manner in which it is performed, the justice that it does to this man's legacy, and the enthusiasm of the audience that surely counted primarily jazz fans amongst their number, I can only conclude that this DVD represents an essential encapsulation of an eventful first 4/5 decade in a remarkable career.