Following sell out seasons at the Sydney Festival, New Zealand International Arts Festival and award winning seasons at the Edinburgh Fringe, Tubular Bells for Two comes to the Melbourne Recital Centre on Friday February 15th .
Tubular Bells for Two is the recreation of the original album performed as faithfully, as possible whilst accepting the challenge of undertaking such a large piece of music with only four hands and four feet. But most importantly, rather than simply mimicking Oldfield's multi-tracked arrangements, this show captures the soul and emotional journey of this remarkable folk-rock epic.
Tubular Bells for Two started as an idea conjured up over a bottle of wine and two guitars by old school friends Daniel Holdsworth and Aidan Roberts. After arranging the music of this classic best selling rock music album by ear for acoustic guitar, more and more instruments were added as the two musicians amassed them from friends, rubbish skips and designed from whatever materials available (the first set of Tubular Bells were fashioned from fence posts). Amongst the vast collection of instruments onstage are keyboards, umpteen guitars, bass, mandolin, glockenspiel and loop pedals and of course tubular bells; this little project has become a mathematical and acrobatic musical rollercoaster. It is simply a show with two blokes and too many instruments...
Composer and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Holdsworth has written music for film, theatre and dance as well as toured in many Australian bands. He is the guitarist/singer/songwriter of The Saturns, who won the 2006 BMA Award for Best Rock Band; a member of folk-psych-country outfit The Maple Trail; and plays lead guitar in the acoustic trio Ten Thumb Tom.
Aidan Roberts is a songwriter and guitarist for popular psychedelic rock band, Belles will Ring, who have released the albums Crystal Theatre (2011), Mood Patterns (2007) and Broader than Broadway(2008), and have toured Australia regularly, performing at festivals including Big Day Out. Roberts is also songwriter and multi-instrumentalist for The Maple Trail. As a solo artist, he has toured Australia and the United States and released the albums Dirty Echo Spark (2007) and Radio Twilight Lost (2008).
In 2013 Tubular Bells will celebrate it's 40th anniversary. It was the first album released by the newly formed Virgin Records in 1973. Despite many people in the music industry considering the work 'unmarketable' the album reached No.1 in charts around the world, selling in excess of 25 million copies. It received even more recognition when used as the soundtrack for The Exorcist.