The legendary work of Mike Oldfield, the Reading-born musician behind one of the most famous horror movie tracks of the 20th century, is to be performed at Swansea Arena in March next year. The 69-year-old songwriter, producer and guitarist's iconic studio album, Tubular Bells, was originally released in 1973 and music from it was used in the soundtrack of the 70s horror classic 'The Exorcist', securing his title as the " godfather of scary movie music ".
On Friday, March 24, next year, Tubular Bells will be performed live with a full band at Swansea Arena with the performance conducted and arranged by Mike's long term collaborator Robin Smith.
The multi-talented musician played twenty instruments on the album, including the organ, harpsichord, glockenspiel and triangle. Oldfield was just seventeen when he first started composing music for Tubular Bells which later became the highest selling instrumental album of all time. You can read more stories about Swansea here.
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Oldfield's influential work not only shaped the future of prog rock and ambient electronica but was also the first album to be released by Virgin Records. Virgin later became the world's biggest independent label and Richard Branson even named one of his Virgin space missions after Oldfield's Tubular Bells, Part One.
General tickets go on sale for the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells at 10am on Friday, October 14, and there will be a pre-sale on Wednesday, October 12, for those signed up to the Swansea Arena newsletter. A spokesperson for Swansea Arena said they were excited to move into a routine of bringing an exciting programme of performers to the landmark new venue in the heart of Swansea’s £135 million Copr Bay development.
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