Kim Wilde at The Sage, Gateshead

On Monday night I went to see Kim Wilde at her gig at The Sage in Gateshead. I've been to two of Kim's Christmas Party gigs in London so I know both she and band give good gig but I wanted to see her on tour with her new album, Here Come The Aliens' and I'm so pleased I did. And, luckily, the Aliens didn't choose that night to invade.

You could almost feel the excitement level rising as people took their seats and then the lights went down and on strode the band, taking their places and then there was Kim in her body-hugging PVC outfit with silver jacket with tassles - yes, tassles! All designed to ward off the Aliens, obviously. And what a fabulous sound came off that stage, high volume guitar and synth music with a pounding beat provided by two drummers and bass, synth/keytar, two guitars (including little brother Ricky, of course), niece Scarlett on vocals and Kim out front.

The set opened with 'Stereo Shot' from the new record before heading straight back to the early '80s with 'Water on Glass' and that set the pattern for the evening, new and old songs melding together into a great setlist, old favourites and new favourites working well together.

Early on we had 'Kandy Krush', the current single from the album and great raucous pop song with wailing guitars and relentless drums and Kim's vocals and trademarked woh-oh-ohs. It's one of my favourites from the new record so I was happy! Other favourites were the head-banger 'Birthday' - dance like it's your birthday! - and 'Rosetta' (sung with Scarlett).

There were plenty of Kim's classics to keep everybody happy and I particularly liked 'View From A Bridge' segueing into 'Chequered Love', 'Cambodia', 'If I Can't Have You' and 'You Keep Me Hangin' On'.  It was a great selection of songs, old and new but I don't think there were any from her last two albums - I'm not sure those records were even released in this country which probably explains why.  Songs like 'Perfect Girl' and 'Hey You!' would've fit right in to this set.

All too soon Kim and the band were waving goodbye and leaving the stage - what? but there are still a dozen songs I want to hear and then I realised that, of course, she hasn't sung *that* song yet so she's bound to come back for an encore. That's part of the problem of such a huge iconic hit and it's a nice problem to have. Back they came, this time with Kim wearing a sparkly cape and the synth led off on the introduction to 'Pop Don't Stop' the first single from the new record. Then the band gathered round one of the drum kits and started a blistering version of 'Kids In America' - of course! And the whole audience joined in. That song is 37 years old - older than some people in the audience - and still sounds fabulous live. And then that really was it, 1:40 hours of happy memories.

The band's been on the road for a couple of weeks already and they sounded in fine form and everyone seemed to be having the time of their lives on that stage and everyone had a moment to shine. Kim was on top form despite mentioning that her voice was suffering - sounded fine to me Kim! - wreathed in smiles and giving her all, occasionally clowning with her baby brother Ricky. Please don't leave it another 30 years until the next tour - thanks for a fab evening Kim!

 PS: and thanks for protecting us from the Aliens with your multi-coloured ray gun!

Kim Wilde's Christmas Party 2015 at the Coronet

My last gig before Christmas was Kim Wilde's Christmas Party which was moved from Shepherd's Bush to the Coronet at Elephant & Castle at the last minute due to roof problems at the Bush. I'd been looking forward to this for a long time so a mere change in venue wasn't going to put me off, even if it was to the less salubrious Coronet. The huge queue to get in suggested it didn't put off anyone at all, and neither did the significant security checks - the Coronet is obviously used to the need for security and the security staff were very professional about it all.

Just as we got in and made it to the bar at the back of the hall, the lovely Clare Grogan came on stage to give us those classic Altered Images songs from the early 80s. Bounding round the stage and exhorting us all to join in, she was great fun! Then, after a short break, on came Heaven 17 to keep us firmly in the 80s with some memorable songs. They started with 'Fascist Groove Thang' and 'Come Live With Me' and moved on to do what they called 'their version of the Human League's version' of 'You've Lost That Loving Feeling'. After a few more we got the inevitable 'Temptation' and then they spoiled it all by doing a silly version of Bing and Bowie's 'Little Drummer Boy'. Epic fail.

Another break to re-set the stage and then on came Ricky Wilde and the band, getting ready for Kim and then there she was, wreathed in smiles and waving and launching straight into the songs. It was mainly a greatest hits set and that was very acceptable to the crowd! We had 'View From A Bridge', 'Chequered Love', 'Water On Glass' and 'You Came' as well as some songs from the Christmas record and the covers album. She was joined by the Spandau's Steve Norman on sax on 'Love Blonde' and by Clare Grogan in a white party dress for 'Let It Snow'.  There were lovely versions of 'Hey Mr Snowman' and 'Last Christmas' and the discotastic versions of 'If I Can't Have You' and 'You Keep Me Hangin' On' were both fab, with the latter closing the set. Might I say wow?

But it didn't stop there. O no. The next section was pure Christmas songs with 'Winter Wonderland', Kim's own Christmas hit 'Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree' sung with Glen Gregory, 'Merry Xmas Everybody' and 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday' with snow dropping into the audience. More clapping and then encore two with 'It's My Life' and then a magnificent version of 'Kids In America' - she's *got* to play that one, after all!

What a fab show and a great Christmas present from Kim. She's still got the voice and still got the moves, covering the stage, never still, giving her all to us ragbag of people who've been buying her records for over 30 years. Brother Ricky looking after the band and niece Scarlet on backing vocals, it's still a family business for the Wildes and long may it continue! Kim pleased a lot of people that night, including me. And I treasure my Christmas present from Kim - a Santa hat on the back of my chair left especially for me (well, I think so, anyway).

Well done Kim, come back soon!

Kim Wilde's Christmas Party at Shepherd's Bush Empire

The Saturday before Christmas was Kim Wilde night - it was, at last, time for her Christmas Party at Shepherd's Bush and I delighted at the illuminated sign outside announcing the event. This was the first time that Kim had played a full show in London in something like 20 years so I was definitely going to be there. She's played on the '80s revival tours but I don't want to see Kim doing 4-5 hits before being ushered off stage, I want a full gig and that's what she gave us, with nearly two hours on stage and lots of fun!

This was obviously not just much anticipated by me but anticipated by everyone - I got onto the first balcony around 7:30pm and all the seats were already taken.  I've been to Shepherd's Bush loads of times and have never seen that before. That's pulling power! So I decided to find a good spot at the back of the balcony with a good view and stay there.

Kim occupies a powerful spot in pop history - after Debbie Harry and before Madonna. She toured with Michael Jackson on one of his world tours so is no slouch when it comes to working an audience and the pop star life but she gave it all up in the '90s to raise her family and become an award-winning garden designer. Lucky for us she was lured back into pop stardom and she's released some great albums since then, including her latest, 'Wilde Winter Songbook'.

I found a good place to stand at the back with an excellent view of the stage and waited for the show to start. Up first was Nik Kershaw, someone I never really paid much attention to back in the '80s but he gave good show and played some songs I knew, including 'The One and Only' that I didn't know he'd written. He strutted round the front of the stage giving us good rock star and enjoying himself. He fronted Kim's band and played a crowd-pleasing set that got everyone into the right mood.

Only fifteen minutes after Nik left the stage the lights lowered and we were treated to a series of photos on the video screens at the back of the stage of Kim through the years, from being a baby onwards. Then her band came on and then there she was, Kim Wilde at last in her first full gig in London in forever. It was great seeing her centre-stage, leading her band and in full control. The band were very tight and played off each other nicely and included Kim's brother, Ricky on guitar, and niece, Scarlett singing backing vocals (and in the smallest mini-mini skirt). She had a great light show supported by five video screens at the back that kept the visuals alive throughout the show.

Kim launched into a great set of her '80s classics and, as she reminded us, she loved the '80s! We had the big hits of 'View From A Bridge', 'Chequered Love' and 'Water On Glass' before she went disco-tastic on us with 'If I Can't Have you'. Then 'Love In A Natural Way' and a moody 'Cambodia' before we had a short acoustic set with just Kim, Ricky and Scarlett. Something went wrong with Ricky's guitar so he borrowed Nik Kershaw's guitar and we had 'Four Lettered Word', 'Love Blonde' and 'Wonderful Life'. On came the guitarist to play along to the delightful ' Hey Mr Snowman' and then the full band joined again for 'New Life' and 'Hope', all from the new album.

Then Kim introduced her dad, Marty Wilde, to join them on stage to sing the lovely 'White Winter Hymnal'. That meant we had three generations of Wilde's on stage at the same time and all singing. Kim was clearly proud of her dad and introduced him as one of the original pop stars.

Kim introduced the next song by saying that 'they' also had a new Christmas album out before launching into a great version of Erasure's 'A Little Respect' (that she covered on her own 'Snapshots' album). She dedicated the next song to us, the audience, for making ' an old girl very happy' and gave us 'You Came' followed by a stomping 'You Keep Me Hangin' On'. At the end of that she strode off stage while the band kept playing and Scarlett kept singing only to re-appear wearing bunny ears and with hands full of antlers to hand out to the audience. Then she introduced Rick Astley to join her singing 'Winter Wonderland' from the new album.

We then had the biggest surprise of the evening when Kim introduced two songs by saying they weren't hers but that we've all grown up listening to them - 'Merry Christmas Everybody' by SLADE and 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday' by Wizzard. They were amazing versions and Kim clearly was having the time of her life singing them. By that time Nik Kershaw was back on stage playing guitar and dancing Santas appeared on the video screens at the back of the stage. During 'I Wish' the snow started flying from the roof over the audience and, with the spotlights swirling, they made it look like it was storming around the place. The show closed with her new version of 'Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree' with Nik Kershaw.

But that wasn't all. After a minute of darkness the stage lit again and the band came back with the introduction to 'Kids In America', with Kim in tight leather jacket giving us an extended and heavy version of her first hit single written by Marty and Ricky and wow, what a version! By now everyone was standing so I didn't get a great view of the stage but the sound was fantastic. Wow! After 'merry christmas's and 'thank yous' Kim hinted that she might see us next year. I certainly hope so!

And that was it for Kim's party. Kim was on stage for nearly two hours, running round, striding across the stage, exhorting us to sing along (and we did) and giving us everything we could want and more. It was quite possibly the best and most satisfying gig of the year - I loved it!

Come back soon Kim Wilde, my Pop Star of choice!

Kim Wilde - 'Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree'

Kim Wilde has posted the third video from her new album, 'Wilde Winter Songbook', and this time it's a re-make of her Comic Relief hit from 1987 with Mel Smith, 'Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree'. This time it's with her mate Nik Kershaw.

It's a great piss-take of the video of Kim and brother Ricky that surfaced on YouTube last Christmas of the pair of them a bit worse for wear singing 'Kids In America' and 'Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree' on the train home after a Christmas party. The next day when the video had gone viral the pair of them treated it like a great big joke and good on 'em! I think it's great that they return to the scene of their crime and I love that the new version of it on the record begins with the announcement that 'The next station is Potters Bar' like in their escapade last year.

A nice touch, if you watch to the end, is to see that the video is dedicated to the memory of Mel Smith who died earlier this year.



And if you'd like to see the original Comic Relief video then look no further and click below! When was the last time you pulled a cracker?

Kim Wilde - 'White Winter Hymnal'

This is the first video to promote Kim's new record, 'Wilde Winter Songbook'. It's a lovely family affair with Kim singing with her dad, Marty Wilde, brother Ricky and his daughter Scarlett. It's quite touching to see Kim and Ricky together over 30 years after they started making music together.

Take a listen and then buy the album - you won't regret it!