Blogs

We arrived in Stuttgart and I went for a stroll down the main shopping area. Good to get some fresh air, and indulge in a bit of retail therapy. Back at the hotel, Daniela from Semmel, our tour promoter, generously offered to treat all crew and band to dinner. It was good to chat to everyone including Sascha about the t-shirts, and Dani, one of the lighting technicians, to get their take on the tour, which they're really enjoying. We all sat talking late into the night, drinking red wine and enjoying our night off.

We learned on the journey to Munich that the stage was a bit too small for our production, so the production guys had to make some adjustments to squeeze it into the available space. My trusty stage manager, Daz, along with the lovely Leander from the German production team, approached the task with their customary creativity and rose magnificently to the challenge, led cheerfully by my wonderful Tour Production Manager, Roger - again from the German 'team'.

Sunday night in Cologne in advance of the first German show on Monday. We were recommended to visit a fantastic Sushi Restaurant (Sweet Sushi), and we all agreed it was the best Sushi we'd ever eaten…

Monday morning I took an hour long walk along the banks of the Rhine - which took me past our venue for that evening. It was good to get some fresh air after a couple of days on the bus. We arrived at the gig early afternoon to find our stage set, sitting there waiting to be 'explored'. An impressive sight.

Art on Ice in St Moritz was a dream. Watching the skaters perform to our songs was truly breathtaking. The event was staged on the ice lake, with giant, snow covered mountains overlooking us. The full moon shone down that night - all in all a magical experience.

Learning to read music,
Learning to drive,
Learning to sing,
For these things we strive

Learning to cook, to sew and to play
Learning to fish, or a chess game to play

But learning to live is an art quite apart
Requiring the human to delve deep in the heart
Learning to live is the learning to love
A god given gift that is sent from above

So who is this God, and where is above?
Just look at the people around that you love
And know that in this life we learn every day

In April 1988 our office received a phone call from Barry Clayman Concerts asking if I would like to join Michael as opening act on his BAD Tour, due to start that May.

This was incredible news and I could hardly believe that I would be appearing on the same stage for 5 months with the greatest pop performer of my generation.

It was a beautiful warm and sunny day April 30th 1994, Queens Day in Holland, when Clare, Patrick and I got on our bikes and cycled through the idyllic village of Linschoten to a beautiful spot for a picnic. We ate strawberries, opened a bottle of champagne, and I watched as my oldest and dearest friend fell in love with Patrick, and he with her. Somehow I didn't manage to feel like a gooseberry at all - but that's how it always was with Trix and Clare; more than enough love to share with all their family and friends.

Arrive in Munich, wake up to a snowy day. Great start to the tour, really warm and vibey crowd. Love my new in ear monitors, had doubts they would allow enough interaction with the crowd. Everyone agrees that this is the strongest set we have done, and includes Erasure's A Little Respect, Depeche Mode's Enjoy the Silence and Plastic Bertrand's Ça Plane Pour Moi! I had to spend a lot of time at home getting my mouth around the French lyrics, but finally they seem to have sunk in, and the crowd love singing along to that mad little song!

Recorded in Cologne on November 29, 2008, here's Kim Wilde's Christmas message. Click on the thumbnail on the right.

Aleksey invited us to a classical concert at the Laeiszhalle, a beautiful concert hall near the centre of Hamburg. I'll admit I have been a notoriously late riser on this tour, making the most of all the lying-in potential (not much of that at home!), but today some of us were up and out of the hotel by 10am to see Janine Jansen, a virtuoso violinist and a good friend of Aleksey's, perform Tchaikowsky. I have never been to a classical concert before and to be perfectly honest both Nick and I had a few doubts about how enjoyable a breakfast concert might be.