K A T O W I C E - S P O D E K
25 . 07 . 1999

       On July 25th 1999, in Spodek Hall in Katowice took place one of the biggest musical events of the recent years: a concert of one of the greatest musicians and composers of our times: Mike Oldfield. It was also a very exciting experience because Mike had never played in Poland before.

        The whole thing began early this spring, when we saw the notices about a forthcoming Oldfield's concert in Sopot. We followed the trace and phoned about a thousand people in miscellaneous agencies, concert halls and even the director of the Sopot Festival. We were sent from one man to another and every time heard the same story: we don't know anything about such a concert, maybe you should phone somebody else... Soon we began to lose our temper and the perspectives seemed to be hopeless. Then other rumours appeared. One claimed, that Mike will play in Warsaw, the other that he will surely play in Zakopane (Tatra Mountains) on a take-off for ski-jumping... It turned out that both were untrue and at that time there were some negotiations done between Oldfield's management and the Spodek Hall. Eventually it all ended happily and fruitfully resulting in a concert.

        It is always very hard to describe the atmosphere of that kind of meetings. Yes, you can believe it or not, but it was a meeting. A unique meeting of young people and older fans (often their parents - I saw many people coming to the concert with their whole families) with their idol. Older ones, still remembering vinyl Tubular Bells or Ommadawn smuggled from somewhere behind the Iron Curtain (e.g. West Germany or Sweden) by a relative or friend, had an opportunity to see the man who fascinated them in times of their youth. The younger audience (like we) often knowing nearly all the albums by heart had a chance to see Mike playing live for the first time without travelling to Germany or England.

        Everybody felt excited and nervous waiting for Mike to come on stage. Before the show everyone could go to the stage and see all instruments, especially guitars. Many people discussed their favourite albums and many other subjects connected with Oldfield. The concert started at 7 o'olock p.m. with a performance of Polish composer, Medusa. The music he played was absolutely boring (kind of electronic new_age_crap) , so after half-hour somebody shouted: " Stop applauding! Otherwise he'll never go away! ..."
But finally Medusa finished and at eight o'clock Oldfield appeared in the spotlight.

        The concert began with a mix of a huge applause and The Songs of Distant Earth. The whole audience sat amazed with the quality of sound and special effects. Then the first sounds of Mike's orange Paul Reed Smith...

        That's how it started. We were surprised to see Oldfield singing during TSODE; he looked very funny, anyway. After that the mood quickly changed because Pepsi ran on stage shouting: Shadow on the wall! (see track listing). The song was welcomed enthusiastically as it refers to the situation in Poland in 1983. Then Mike took the microphone, smiled and said 'dziêkujê' ('thank you' in Polish). He presented all the musicians and the show continued.

        One of the funniest moments was when Mike (during The Watchful Eye) left his band playing, took a cigarette and sat behind the tubular bells. All we could see was a red light of his cigarette and smoke coming from behind the bells... When it was time for the guitar part, he just came back, took his instrument and started playing again !!!

        The concert ended with Far Above the Clouds connected with some fireworks. Oldfield left the stage together with all his musicians. Was it the end? Of course it wasn't. The encores were, in my opinion, the best part of the concert and it was worth coming here even for only those fifteen minutes. Mike came on stage again and made an inviting gesture with his hand. Come on! - He shouted without microphone. While the older part of the audience remained on their seats applauding, we (the youth) ran to the stage. The crowd was so big, that I thought I'd never push through, but I made it at last. We stood nearly face to face with Mike. It was an unforgettable feeling... Pepsi went on jumping on stage, encouraging everyone to sing and sometimes clapping fans' hands that were stretched to her. During Family man when the lyrics are Please, just leave me alone... Pepsi started singing to Mike leave me alone! and he answered the same; they began quarrelling and laughing.

        This is how it looked like. It was great fun, really, a tremendous feeling: like on a disco with Oldfield playing live. Standing ovation and screams ended the concert. Mike with a glass of beer in one hand and waving with the other came off the stage.

        We tried to catch someone from the band to get a few autographs, but unfortunately they ran away very quickly. There are some lucky guys who have autographs though. (Damn You Martin ! ;-) ) People started to dissolve and that was the end. Over the next few hours the streets of Katowice were full of men and women dressed in Then and Now T-shirts (with programs in their bags). Even on the train, on my way home I travelled with a few guys who I had met at the concert. They had a portable radio and we listened to a retransmission of our concert with comments. People phoned from the whole Poland. Everyone enjoyed the show and shared the same emotions. One of them was: After the applause Mike was given in Poland he will come here for sure during his next tour...