Tubular Bells for Two - The Stables Wavendon

 Back at The Stables again, this time armed with a large packet of peanuts from the COOP! I draw the line at paying £4.30 for a pint of Phipps IPA. No way am I paying £1.20 for a pack of crisps as an accompaniment.
I do find the venue a bit annoying at times. I don't understand why it needs half a dozen car park attendants spaced 20 yards apart to direct you to a space?

You can go to the NEC in Birmingham with it's multitude of car parks and thousands of spaces and never see anyone in a fluorescent jacket.
In fairness though tonight is a complete sell out and I suppose they are wanting to utilise every single space available.

I do firmly believe however that there is a job creation policy at The Stables.





It was nice to arrive in daylight at least for once. The Stables was founded in 1970 by John Dankworth and Cleo Laine. There is a nice statue of 'Johnny outside the entrance , but even he is giving directions!

Inside the foyer an army of glass collectors are strategically circulating. Each one armed with one of those plastic holders that the local Milkman once favoured. It is a mistake to put ones glass down even if still half full. An over zealous glass collector it on to it straight away. 'We have to look busy and there isn't much to do really' one told me in the strictest confidence. Then the raffle ticket sellers come round... I asked three times was the prize was? Each time the reply was 'a pound each or three pounds a strip'. No the prize I kept asking to no avail. I bought one for a pound to escape and heard no more of it.

Once inside the auditorium security reaches a new level. The stewards are actually former MI5Agents cunningly disguised in burgundy waistcoats and floor length skirts. Their sole aim is to ensure that there is no photographic evidence of the evening ever taking place. I risked a premature ejection ....Yes , (please make up your own jokes) by taking a quick snap of the stage from our seat situated stage left. I dare not get the phone out again even though I was sweating on Liverpool to win at Newcastle for my acca, not to mention the snooker score at The Crucible.

I do find it a strange place but the performers seem to love it because of the intimacy and the acoustics. The place has filled up nicely apart from three seats on the front row oddly enough. Looking around I'm reasonably confident that I'm the youngest person in the house.

Now all that business is out of my system lets talk about the important stuff , the music.The support act tonight is a band called ' gypsy Fingers'. That does remind me of a packet of biscuits for some reason? They are an Alternative folk, rock & pop duo founded by Victoria Coghlan & Luke Oldfield (son of Tubular Bell's Mike Oldfield). The music seems to cross a whole range of genres from dance, to folk, rock and more. I believe it all began as Victoria's solo project back in 2010, until she met Luke the following year after which they recorded their first album as a duo.They have since added a Bass player and a drummer. 

Gypsyfingers recorded their debut album, 'Circus Life'at Tilehouse Studios, a studio built for Luke’s father Mike Oldfield which specialises in vintage recording equipment.
Their new album 'Stranger Things' was released in October  2018.

Charlotte and Luke took to the stage wearing the Hare and the Hound headwear from the album cover. They never really explained the significance , just saying it was a long story.

I kept being reminded of the original 'Whicker Man' film with the pagans baying for the blood of the Policeman.
It was a gentle set , I believe the word is ethereal ? A couple of tracks stood out and one in particular 'Steel Bones' was particularly memorable.

I was just six years Old when Mike Oldfield released the epic opus 'Tubular Bells' in 1973. He was only nineteen and played most of the instruments himself. Apart from hitting top spots in the charts all over the world it had two other claims to fame. It was the theme music to the fantastic and ahead of it's time film 'The Exorcist'. Never mind the film the music itself was haunting enough.
Secondly it was to launch Richard Branson's career in the music industry with his Virgin Group. It is estimated to have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, including more than 2.6 million in the UK.


So, it's not going to be easy to replicate such a masterpiece , especially with just two musicians covering the twenty plus instruments. The unenviable task falls to  Australian multi-instrumentalists Daniel Holdsworth and new boy Tom Bamford.  

As the music starts you can feel a sense of apprehension as the show is so intricately choreographed. There are lots of knowing glasses and nods of the head. It feels like the two musicians are walking a tightrope. 'What could possibly go wrong' ? Holdsworth asks the audience.

The first half of the album is near perfect and a standing ovation is given. Things did go slightly pear shaped at the start of side 2  though.  A lot of the guitar is recorded on a live- looped sequence and basically it got stuck.  Once the rogue loop was identified and sorted we started again and there were no further issues. Side two is a lot more 'rockier' and Holdsworth demonstrates his prowess on the drums.
It's been a superb night, chaotically brilliant at times and I look forward to seeing 'Tubular Bells for Two' again soon.