British guitarist analyses Mike Oldfield live in 1981! 

Mike is one of the most original and overlooked of guitarists.

The most amazing thing about Mike Oldfield is that he has NEVER had a music lesson in his life. He can play the guitar like that and many many more instruments at the same level and it’s all self taught. He is a true musical genius.

When Mike Oldfield did the studio version of Tubular Bells, he played almost all of the instruments and at the age of 19. His music combined both classical and rock genres along with something that sounded futuristic. To me it was absolute genius.

Mike wrote Punkadiddle in defiance to Virgin becoming known as the 'Punk' label and not promoting his albums to their fullest extent. Playing shirtless was because Virgin signed the Sex Pistols and Sid Vicious regularly played bare-chested.

He's a genius, nothing more to say

Just small but inportant remark: Oldfield did Not compose Tubular Bells as a score for the Excorcist. The movie only used the composition once it had already been released as a standalone album.

The father of trance music. No other guitarist can get more from 2 or 3 notes. His style is so unique you can recognise his playing so easily. The only guitarist instrumentalist who gets away with it for me and keeps it interesting. All respect to guitar virtuosos like Vai, Satriani, Malmsteen but they could learn a few things from Mike about creating interesting instrumentals that are more than noodling.

I NEVER HEARD A GUITAR SOUND LIKE THAT BEFORE COOL😍😍😍

Mike was a major talent. Haters just don't get it. Artisty is often hard for the masses to understand.There are people who hear music and those who really LISTEN to music. The artisty. Thanks Fil! U being a musician get it. You are a listener. Great analysis! 😎🎼🎶🎵🇨🇦

My very favorite musician of all time, Mike Oldfield!

What makes Mike so unique: He´s a first class composer who also happens to be a great guitarist.

Other people: I love Tubular Bells! Me: ...but have you heard Crises?

Mike had an incredible tone from 1973 to 1985, a crying distortion, obviously using Mesa Boogie amps and Gibson guitars. Along with his finger style playing and vibrato. I also read that in the 70s he used an amp, but used the preamp of an old tape recorder to overload the amp and this gave him a very thick distortion with a long sustain that sounds like his guitar is going to burst under the strain of a turbo driven engine!!! The sound changed after in the mid to late 80s and by TB2 it is a warmer, less aggressive tone. His clean Strat tone on Crises and Discovery is class too. The distorted tone on Ommadawn, Incantation, Platinum, QE2, Five Miles Out, Crises and Discovery is nothing short of awesome, totally original and instantly identifiable. Check out the B-sides, In The Pool, Afghan too for great burning lead tone. The final part of Ommadawn Part 2 is incredible. Funny how Mike and Mark Knopfler are two of the greatest guitarists to come out of Britain and neither use picks. Mike is one of the most underrated guitarists I must add. Similar to Prince, who is more famous for the music rather than the actual guitar playing and technique. Finally I ditched picks in 2010 and discovered a whole new world of playing. Hate the sight of the damn things! Nice analysis there young man and thanks for highlighting Mike Oldfield's amazing guitar style and tone. Regards, A

Sad days back then...when poor musicians could not even afford a shirt 😂 Seriously nice drum kit though! Mike Oldfield is, without doubt, one gifted human.

The guitar playing unbelievable I want to congratulate you 100,000 you deserve it Fil Thank you 😊

Such a phenomenally underrated guitarist and writer. Also a fascinating, enigmatic person. No one else sounds like Mike Oldfield. I bought a Gibson SG Jr after watching a DVD of this performance (and I can’t play it even slightly as well as he can).

I love Mike's great tease of the audience where just a very few but very recognisable notes of Ommadawn are struck. That's why they are cheering back at him.

His latest album - Return to Ommadawn is his best in years. Really very good.

Still gets goosebumps over his playing here in 2022. Also a brilliant and informative analyse. Cheers from Denmark 🇩🇰

I've always been mesmerised by this man's music. There is simply nobody like him. You can say two things for certain about Mike Oldfield's music. One - he has worked successfully in many musical styles - rock, classical, blues, ambient, folk, gospel, and many others - and yet - Two - he is always identifiable. That's an incredible pairing of attributes. I doubt anybody can claim the same.Secondly, thank you for the analysis. It was extremely interesting. And as somebody else says on this thread - maybe you can take a look at his work on acoustic guitars. He plays a mean Spanish too.

Mike is a musical genius, I have all his albums. When I was 12 years old, the first album I bought with my own money was Platinum. I didn't know anything about Mike at the time I bought the album casue I thought it had a cool cover. After that I couldn't help myself, as soon as I had enough money I went back to the store and bought Tubular Bells. I love Mike as a composer and musician, he is absolutely unique.

To my mind, Ommadawn is Mike's greatest composition - and example of his huge musical talents.

"Tubular Bells" is a really interesting piece. When I watched the movie, the music was ominous and eery, but when I listened to the album at home, it was quite the opposite...

It's funny watching Mike onstage watching all the musicians playing the instruments he played on his albums

The fast triplets section in Ommadawn, and Incantations Part 3 solos are amazing.

He actually makes his guitar sound like bagpipes there for a bit and then moves on to sounding like a violin. I really like Mike's playing. He has a great piece he plays with a German electronic artist Schiller that I love. Also want to check out the song with Max Bacon, who I like when he was with GTR. Great analysis of this!

Love this guy..TUBULAR BELLS IS MY RINGTONE!!

He is so much more than just Tubular Bells or this piece which is a fight back against punk. He has over 25 studio albums and although the first four are the most fondly remembered, he has created a vast range of musical styles and is the most talented multi instrumentalist and music engineer.

I hit the thumbs up button so hard I broke my phone screen

Fantastic analysis, Fil. This is only the second of your videos I've watched, but the way you really dig into the performance, giving it proper critical and informative analysis, and clearly enjoy yourself at the same time has won me over (it doesn't hurt that I'm a mad Mike Oldfield fan either). Subbed!

Mike Oldfield is a master of melodies.

Mike is the best guitarist and composer in the world way underrated

100k subscribers ! Concratulations Fil. Always looking forward to these analyses video's.

Great to see this. It's pretty amazing, given MO's fantastic output over the decades, that there are so few "reaction videos" on RU-vid. Always loved his style and mood changes, from melancholy to manic.

Variety is certainly the spice of this channel. From Marty Robbins directly to Mike Oldfield. The shear volume of education you provide is astounding. And...Leon Redbone.

Great analysis of Mike Oldfield's playing. I've been a fan of his for so many years and I'm constantly amazed at his incredible talent.

I have been an admirer of Mike Oldfield since I first heard Tubular Bells in 1973. It's strange that although the intro of T.Bs. was used for a movie that scared the life out of us,but the rest of this expansive track is absolutely gorgeous. Omadawn was another beautiful more folk oriented album, but still as amazing and haunting as Tubular Bells. On another note. I would love to see an analysis of anything by Gentle Giant. There is "alot going on" in their music both instrumentally and vocally. The way the individual members switch instruments (violins cellos tin whistles brass instruments etc. from traditional electric rock instruments in the context of the compositions is wonderful. But this might be a bit much for most of your viewers. Anyway, thank you again Fil for your fun insightful analysis. Cheers.

Exploring the boundaries, even the very limits of musical expression, is always greatly enhanced with the aid of copious amounts of chemical stimuli. These guys were really, really good at soaring to ever higher realms and thankfully taking us along for the ride. Another excellent video Fil, thanks so much for this brilliant look at another awesome entertainer.

Some interesting facts: Tubular Bells wasn't made for The Exorcist, and all variations Mike introduced to the piece in live performances during the late 70's and 80's were to distance the composition from the film. Also, it was composed at a time where Mike was just not well psychologically, and you can hear that in the sound of his albums up to the second half of *"Incantations"* which was made after he went through a form of therapy called Exegesis in 1978, which helped him mend a lot of his emotional wounds, but his music lost a bit of that anxious edge that his earlier stuff has. Punkadiddle is a post Exegesis composition.

I stumbled upon your channel somehow but I’m glad I did! I don’t know the ins and outs of music and vocals and octaves but I am in love with your channel! I do love good music and also you have the cutest smile 😍

Thanks for reacting to my recommendation Fil, I wanted to choose a track that focused on his guitar playing, and something a lot of people won't have heard of. There are lots of great performances of Mike out there, so I hope people check out more of his work, he is a great acoustic player too. He has great tone on the Strat and PRS too.

I never knew Mike Oldfield embarrassingly but his Tubular Bell video showed up on the Recommended list yesterday so I clicked on it and I got so fascinated ! Immediately I came to your channel to see if you have done any analysis on him, and of course you have ! Fil, you are like rock music encyclopedia ! If I want to find out more about a musician, I can always turn to you.

Mike Oldfield is the best musician of the twentieth century. Incredible genius and multi-instrumentalist. For me the best guitarist ever. Great melodies, sonorous instruments combined with such beautiful Celtic music. Mike Oldfield's music is not primitive rock n roll music to drink beer and sing along to in any bar. His music is very intelligent and considered music creation on a completely different level. Like Franz Schubert, Johann Sebastian Bach or Bethoven. I'm a musician myself and a big fan of Mike Oldfield.

Congratulations on 100,000 subs!!

Thank you very much for this video!

Great summary of one of my favourite artists... Thanks for this.. Loved it..

Close your eyes and you would think a violin is playing. Mike has quite a unique style. You can tell he has a classical music background. Thanks for sharing Fil. Cheers!!!

What can I say? Mike is an artist, pure and simple. Great breakdown Fil!!

fantastic Revue ! , still catching up on all your vids Fil

Interesting composition made way more interesting by your analysis, Fil. Thank you!

Mike certainly has my respect as a musician and composer and deserved of Fil's analysis - don't know about this piece though. Rock! :-)

Really glad you reviewed this track, just an amazing rendition

Wow, what a nice performance. Lovely! Ty for featuring Fil.

Looking at him with no shirt and his Gibson, he's like the anti-Angus Young with his performance. 😖 Fil...you keep us auditioning. 👍

I'm just learning how to play guitar, so that was very interesting and I learned some things from you! Thank you! While I was a fan of Oldfield's music in the 70s - early 90s, I lost track of him. Until two months ago the most recent album of his that I owned was Voyager and while listening to it during this very stressful lockdown period about a month ago I found it so comforting and inspiring, I wanted to catch up and also see if he recorded anything recently. To my surprise and delight I found Return to Ommadawn and I LOVE it! It's the most recent album, released in 2017. Have you listened to it yet? He seems to have retired from performing so you won't find any videos of him performing parts of it. It's a shame that he's retired as a performer. I saw him on my birthday in 1982 in NYC and in 1993 in Los Angeles and he's a wonderful performer. I love how he interacted with his audience in this video. Thanks!

Amazing... thanks so much for your videos

I have this show on DVD. INCREDIBLE! Ommadawn is my favorite of the show. My favorite Oldfield offering that I've heard. Hergest Ridge, not performed at this performance, is my second favorite Oldfield offering then Tubular Bells.. I first heard at 11 or 12 years old before being it was used as a soundtrack to The Exorcist. Ommadawn is so beautiful. It should be covered

He plays the guitar kind of like a violin.

The problem with guitar is the better you get is the more you realize your deficiencies. Interesting player and what a great tone.

My band played the opening of the Exorcist, Bach-Joy, and Peanuts and Pink Panther Theme...we usually hit the pink panther when we’d go to break...love Mike and his SG...I played one in my touring days...I had 4 Les Pauls...to heavy...but I also love my Ibanez Joe Satriani 1999...talented musician man...thank u for the memories...I had the album! I never owned a Chravel but I did want a 1975 guitar just like Dime Bag...except couldn’t afford ...it was beautiful sunburst! And man it played like a dream...I own 6 Taylor acoustics and 2 martins and 2 classical guitars and that still doesn’t add up all my guitars...I gave up my dbl stack marshal and went to Mesa...I wanted to try a 5150, but didn’t have the money...I use a midi rack mount now and a Boss all inclusive Pedal board.

So glad you liked this look into Mike Oldfield. He is such a superb and criminally underrated guitarist and musician. I've been a fan of his for many years, Punkadiddle and the Platinum album along with Tubular Bells were my first introduction. This performance is from one of his best live DVDs and is at a point in his career where he became more rock style. Please do another Mike Oldfield video. l suggest the first half of 'Crises' from the 'Crises At Wembley 83' video which you can find on RU-vid. Looking forward to watching you analyse other great guitarists too.

just a thought that this man did instrumental rock/prog/jazz/classical all mixed together.. this style is one of my fave`s.. analysis is about the best!! love the guitar work..

What a very cool piece to check out! I'm very familiar with Tubular Bells, but I never heard this one. Thank you!!

I'm quite impressed with your research on Mike Oldfield. Thank you so much for your insights.

This musician, while not so well known is one of the top progressive music composers of all time. An amazing performer and greatly respected in music circles for his unique musical abilities. There's no question he is a musical genius and I make it a point to listen to him regularly. The 1973 BBC Tubular Bells Live certainly deserves an analysis video despite it's length. It's very important. He is arguably the most emotive musician in progressive rock music of all time, and that's saying quite bit considering that he emerged at a time that just simply cannot be replicated. Bands like King Crimson, Yes, ELP, and several others, were already producing high quality music. Thus the progressive rock music genre had no scarcity of accomplished song writers and topflight performers. Sadly, these days, we just rarely see this level of musicianship and much less originality. In short; Mike Oldfield is a musical god, and it pains me, I never saw him live. Spot on analysis video of progressive music royalty. Thank you Fil.

Man! What a fantastic performance! Mike is one of those guitarists who has such a personal tone & overall sound to his guitar that it only takes a few notes before you know exactly who is playing. So recognisable! But the part that almost got me laughing out loud was that tongue-in-cheek, almost self-deprecating outro in which he “quotes” HIMSELF!! That was why the audience reacted as they did. They weren’t just wondering how the song would end, they were reacting to Mike playing a bit of “Tubular Bells” in such a hilariously teasing fashion. Absolutely brilliant!! Thank you so much for this analysis, Fil. I haven’t had this much fun in a long time!! A simply perfect episode! I’m already looking forward to your next one.… 😁🎶🎶👍🏻

You are such an intelligent analyst. So worth listening to you.

Most underrated guitarist of all time. TUBULAR BELLS II is my favourite album of all time, and the reason I've played guitar for 20 years. Shame there's no live Amarok guitar pieces, amazing.

Escuche la version original varias veces y es hipnótica. Saludos desde Chile !!

Genius, with or without a shirt! Thanks Fil

Nice mention of Maggie Riley, who I always thought should have become a star in her own right. Mike also recorded several songs with his sister Sally Oldfield. My favourite Mike Oldfield song featuring a guest vocalist is Shadow on the Wall, featuring Roger Chapman (lead singer of Family and Streetwalkers). Also on that is a second guitarist credited as 'Ant' (real name Anthony Glynne), who makes for a dramatic contrast with Oldfield's sound.

Showmanship is something that was a HUGE step for him, having admitted that he used to suffer from nearly-paralyzing stage fright. The fact that he was able to do a series of concerts between the late Seventies - late Eighties was a pretty remarkable feat. It could also explains why he did so very few performances in the U.S., sad to say.

The huge favor that THE EXORCIST did was to expose more people to Mike's work. The disservice was that people were forever creeped out by the theme because of the movie, some never realizing that the piece was selected by director William Friedkin to match the seconds-long scene in which it appears to set the ambiance, which was a perfect melding. HOWEVER - they never chose to check out the entire album, which is a brilliant composition in its own right, independent of the film. By now, though, it's received worldwide acclaim as his masterwork.

I love when he gets recognition beyond just Tubular Bells. BTW that concert is great.

Awesome!!!! First time really analyzing Mike Oldfield!!

I used to watch a Dutch game show back in the mid/late 80's that had this piece as its theme music, and I was sure it was by a Dutch artist also (possibly The Nits). It was only last year when I found out with surprise this was actually Mike Oldfield! I'm more familiar with his work from the 'Five Miles Out' album onwards. Thank you for the video, Fil! :-)

Thank you!

Great video. I had to subcribe for this brilliant analysis of one of my favorite artists, who deserves to be known for far more than Tubular Bells, Moonlight Shadow and Islands. I mean Amarok, Songs of distant earth, Music of the Spheres, Ommadawn, Family man, and Discovery is pure genius!

Oldfield has incredible technic and musicality! I watched a live video of the band doing “Tubular Bells “ , really mind blowing! Here is a suggestion for analysis ( apropos of nothing,as it were ) :Sonny Landreth . He is one of the most incredible slide players! He has that same technicality in his playing that you see in an Oldfield or Vai , he’s done several albums solo, as well as playing with John Mayall and the blues breakers, John Hiatt, Clapton, Mark Knopfler and tons more. If nothing else, just give him a listen ( I recommend the track “ Congo Square “ ).

Trip down memory lane, was there at Wembley Arena

Another nice choice. ROCK!✌❤

The moment on his album Platinum when Punkadiddle fades out ad the the first notes of the electric piano from I got Rythm sets in is just wonderful.

A great musician!!! Very diverse and unique as seen here and in "Tubular Bells". He has a live recording of "Tubular Bells" that features Mick Taylor on guitar. Thanks for posting!

Love this tune and fil your summary is equally as impressive. Lets remember mike Oldfield is a technical genius

He has been a hero of mine since QE2 came out. Only knew about Tubular bells before that , and was happily surprised to know there was another 4 albums. I have followed him , recordwise , ever since. The latest album , Return to Ommadawn , is a fantastic album aswell.

So glad you had Mike on. You nailed it about the way he composes moods. His catalougue from 73 to 83 has so many nice and special things. Some corny things as well that are inspired from his hippy New age time. His guitar style is so angry, excentric and tender at the same time. He has his own unique guitar sound.. I think he deserves attention on his guitar style. Glad you gave him some. He is way more than a great guitar player though.. Thanks! When you talk about the video's is it then the first time you see them?

Tubular bells 2 live edinburgh castle is a must its amazing 30 odd musicians🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿✌

Thanks for the video. Good to see that Mike Oldfield's music and style is still recognized nowadays. Unfortunately this version of Punkadiddle is not one of his best in opposite to the one played at Essen '81. But I know you needed a filmed version to show his picking style.

It's interesting that you chose a selection that is simultaneously a parody of a whole genre of music, and an expression of anger with his record company (and the two are related, by the way). But he always takes the actual writing, playing, and recording seriously, and does it all well.

It was 1999. I was 10 years old. A friend and I used to sneak into my mom and dad's collection of old 8 track movies they had hidden away, and we would watch them when we were left alone. One day we watched The Exorcist. Scared us both to death. Haven't been able to hear Tubular Bells without rapidly increasing my pulse rate ever since. So Fil, why not go way off the beaten path and do an analysis on the cover of AC/DC's Thunderstruck by 2 Cellos?? I laughed so hard I...well, let's just say it was very, very funny! The faces on the people (stuffed shirts) in the audience in the end.....priceless! ❤❤❤

A few years ago i went into a very well known music shop in Manchester and asked if they had any Blue ray discs of Mike Oldfield. The assistant looked at me and said " Who's Mike Oldfield, I've never heard of him".

Mike is playing a 1962 Gibson SG Junior, probably a $150 guitar off the shelf. Just goes to show you talent can overcome equipment. No telling what he had done to it though...The best performance he did at this Montreux Jazz Festival was Ommadawn but was very long. Great analysis Fil....Mike is one gifted guy. Rick Fenn of 10cc on bass and various instruments.

Fil you are absolutely spot on! No, I really mean it! Best regards!

I really enjoy Mike’s style of music! Articulate and unique! A gifted guitarist and composer! Great Fil! Cheers Mario! 😀👌🤘

Imagine what it would be like to be a musician in Mike's band . It may well be very intimidating seeing as how Mike himself is a vastly talented multi-instrumentalist !

It's amazing to note that the Gibson SG is the same guitar used to such great effect by Angus Young of AC/DC too. I tried using finger picks once, but they didn't agree with me because there was no feedback. At least with longer nails, however unsightly they may be to the casual observer, there is a connection that can be used to great effect.

Hey Phil, long time out. It is Live Punka...dileo or whatever. I bought a 45 "5 Miles Out" picture sleeve and that was on the flip side. It's somewhere among my home made tape mixes. But for the purpose of teaching and showing technique the version here does that. But damn, all in all the version off of the 45 is stellar. Here Mike, as you said, is enjoying the crowd response.

Tubular Bells, just a stunning piece of music 💖💖. This one was quite interesting as well 🤘

Enjoy your videos, Fil - great content! P.S. You have the nicest smile. :-)

Cool,unique & different...... one of the many reasons I drop in here every night ! Thank you Fil... great stuff like always ! 😆🎸 Keep Rockin mate 😎🤘 Request: My last of many for..... The Band playing The Night They Drove Ole Dixie Down from The Last Waltz concert ! I know know you are flooded with requests every day Fil ..... I just really want to hear what you think about The Band.... Especially Levon Helm ( "Mr. Cool" ) Drummer/singer/actor and a musical treasure as far as I'm concerned... I will wait & give you a chance to work through your massive request list before I hit you again 😉 Thank-you !