Between the cows in Twente

He’d signed the contracts, but when he started Googling the location of Saasveld on the train back home, the manager of eighties icon Kim Wilde called back in a state of supreme despair. “Rolf, what have you done? There are only cows in Saasveld.” There are only cows on the countryside in Twente…

Rolf Woolderink and his friends organise the Høkerstfeest every year around Christmas. “For this year we wanted to organise something special, with a look back to the Eighties. And then Kim Wilde caught our attention.” It was also inspired by the situation. “We did have other acts on our mind. But the talks with their managers went very slowly. We’re just a few sons of farmers from Tukker’s county. We don’t want things to be too difficult. With Kim Wilde’s manager the talks started off in a very easy and relaxed manner.”

A small reminder. Kim Wilde scored world hits in the Eighties with Kids in America and You keep me hangin’ on. Posters with her blonde appearance and almost mystical look – as part of her image she never smiled on photographs – embellished many boys’ rooms. Then she disappeared from the radar for some time, but in 2002 she made a smashing comeback with Nena, another idol from the past.

“Yeah, what did we know”, laughs Rolf. “But Kim Wilde is still hot in Germany – partly thanks to the hit with Nena.”

Bomb

And that was quickly made clear to Rolf and his mates. After Kim Wilde wrote a tweet about her appearance on December 14 in Saasveld all hell broke loose. “It seemed like a bomb exploded. We didn’t know that the concert in Twente is her only one outside of England this year. And she also releases a special Christmas CD just before the gig. Also, Nik Kershaw was part of the package when we booked this gig – another Eighties icon. When we heard all that, we knew we had really booked something very special.” With all the consequences. “We are really flooded by fans right now. From Berlin to Brussels. And everything in between. Of course not just people from Saasveld, but we aimed at the whole of the East of the Netherlands. And maybe some lost German fans. But now there are even talks about a possible second show.”

Rolf Woolderink needed all his powers to convince Kim’s anxious manager. “He asked us how we wanted to get all those people to – in a manner of speaking – the cows in Saasveld. I told him: don’t worry about that. And it appears I’m right: we can fill the Ankerhal twice with ease. Are we nervous about all going well during the evening? Well, we’ve dealt with bigger things here on the countryside in Twente.”