Here & Now 2003 Tour Diary

Friday 12 December 2003
On December 12th, the Here & Now Tour started in Sheffield. I wasn't going myself, starting in Brighton on that day and generally settling in before getting in on the action a day later. It's always quite interesting what happens during a first concert, but thankfully I had my lovely assistant Yvonne going to that first gig.
Myself, I just travelled to Gatwick airport and waited there for Katrien, who was going to join me in Brighton for an exclusive photoshoot in Brighton (more about that later). We travelled to Brighton, taking in the nice English weather (rain, of course, what else). Then we had a lovely dinner at the China Garden Restaurant at Preston Street, which I recommend to every fan who is coming on a concert in Brighton ever again.
Later in the night I received the long-awaited news about the setlist in Sheffield: Chequered love, Never trust a stranger, If I can't have you, You came, Rockin' around the Xmas tree (without Mel Smith, of course...), You keep me hangin' on and Kids in America. Kim was dressed in white and generally having a good time! No news about the other acts at that point, but of course, it wasn't very long until December 13th and the second gig.....

Saturday 13 December 2003
Day 2: Brighton. The day of the concert! Time to take in some more nice English weather (more rain) and to find out about the English music industry (2 tracks on a cd-single, what's that all about?). Generally waiting around in the afternoon for a meetup at the venue for a short photo session. Katrien and Kim did some great shots which will appear on KimWilde.com when this tour has ended. During the shoot we found out that half of the stage clothes from yesterday were missing! That was an unexpected surprise... Luckily, the belongings were recovered in Sheffield and will be returned to their rightful owner later in the week.
When we were ready, the concert was almost ready to start, but we took a rest for a moment, missing the first few acts who were doing a lot of songs I remembered from my childhood. It wasn't so bad, because I've still got four more to go.....
We did see the shows of Howard Jones, Five Star and ABC, and they were rocking. Interesting to feel the bassline from Howard Jones attacking our midriffs at some point. During Kim's set Katrien had permission to shoot more photographs, and I was basically watching the set from the side. It was interesting to see the audience react to the songs: it wwas as if someone sprayed fire into the hall and people started jumping around to avoid it. Kim played all the songs from yesterday except Never trust a stranger, and moving Rockin' around the Xmas tree to after You keep me hangin' on. Because of the lost property incident, she was wearing the brown version of her stage clothes.
Two Dutch fans were at this particular concert as well, doing their usual jumping and screaming, and throwing a nice little bouquet of roses onto the stage, which Kim gracefully accepted.
After this performance Katrien & I left the hall to sort out all the equipment and preparing for the shots of the after-show proceedings: fans waiting around for the artists to leave.
During this break we discovered that Katrien had lost her scarf at some point. We wondered where it had gone to, but figured it was lost during the concert somewhere. Oh well....
The group of fans that was waiting outside was pretty large, some familiar faces as well, and most of them intent on seeing either Kim Wilde or Paul Young. Paul Young got some attention when he left, but it was about 10 minutes later, when Kim left, that most of the people there went nuts. No small amount of signatures was handed out, and quite a few people had their photographs taken with either Kim or Ricki. Meanwhile, Kim's manager returned Katriens scarf: another piece of clothing that had been lost and recovered!
One guy had a friend on the phone who wanted to talk to Kim, but at the moment that phone went to Kim, the guy had hung up! Most of the people there laughed aloud, while the redial button was pressed frantically.... a bizzarre conversation followed. Some more pictures were taken and then the Wilde team left the scene. Midnight! Time to go back to the hotel. Tomorrow would be another long day....

Sunday 14 December 2003
Day 3: Brighton - Cardiff. Having to leave Brighton was a bit hard for me, because as you can remember I didn't exactly have a good time in Cardiff last year. Those of you who read last year's diary can remember the vast amounts of alcohol other people drank that led them to climb on my back and shout abusive language at my frail posture. The nice Bed & Breakfast that we stayed in, hosted by a man who looked like a butcher who'd buried his wife in the back garden, just added to the joyous glee that was the Welsh capital. But since I am always one to give second chances (plus the fact that I was pressured into going by my lovely assistant) I went anyway.
I said goodbye to my travelling partner until this morning, Katrien, and went to the station where I met Yvonne with whom I would spend the rest of this tour most of the time! We travelled to London Bridge station, and had to use the Underground to get to London Paddington, where a train would take us to Cardiff. Upon arrival in London I was in good spirits. The Underground was a familiar experience, right up to the point when we'd reached the first station in our travel and I realised I didn't have my bag with me. Panic!
We quickly returned to London Bridge station and to the train that was due to leave for Brighton in 2 minutes..... I was just in time to collect my bag from the very place I left it. The Here & Now Tour? The Where and How Tour, more like. (Where did we leave our stuff and How can we get it back?) It seems to be the recurring theme of this tour.
Off to Cardiff we went, and the large stacks of clouds seemed to disappear. I remembered the grey, rainy Cardiff from last year and was pleasantly surprised by the sun actually shining shyly from the sky.
In contrast to last year, we had a great accommodation this time, with a view to the stage door. We spotted the hotel when we were at the Arena last year and thought it would be better than the aforementioned accommodation with the stains on the wall and the dead people in the garden. It was interesting to hear parts of the soundcheck from the hotel, but in the end we preferred to go away and eat a little before the long night ahead of us.
The doors opened at 6.30 pm, and in order to catch front row seats, er, standing places, we had to get there in time. It was rather worth it. This time, I got to see the full show for the first time, whereas Yvonne was getting a little bored already.

The full setlist:
CHINA CRISIS: Christian, Black man Ray, Wishful thinking.
T'PAU: Heart & Soul, Sex Talk, China in your hands
CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT: Name & Number, Misfit, Hang on in there baby
NICK HEYWARD: Boy meets girl, Blue hat for a blue day, [one song I don't know!], Fantastic day.
HEAVEN 17: Penthouse & pavement, Come live with me, Temptation
HOWARD JONES: Things can only get better, Like to get to know you well, New song, What is love?
[Break for 15 minutes]
FIVE STAR: Can't wait another minute, The slightest touch, Rain or shine, System addict
ABC: Poison arrow, Tears are not enough, When Smokey sings, The look of love
KIM WILDE: Chequered love, Never trust a stranger, You came, You keep me hangin' on, Rockin' around the Xmas tree, Kids in America
PAUL YOUNG: Wherever I lay my hat, Love of the common people, Come back and stay, Everytime you go away.

The sound during this concert wasn't as good as yesterday, but this is different every night. The audience reaction was great. I was very surprised that I wasn't attacked this time, but it was a happy surprise of course.
After the concert a small group of Kim Wilde fans appeared at the exit. It was surprising to see that no other fans appeared like in previous nights. One of the fans there had to celebrate the good night in a stylish way: he'd brought a bottle of champagne for the occasion. When Kim's car passed by, she briefly joined in on the celebration and took a few sips with us before leaving Cardiff. After finishing our drinks we went back to our respective hotels and looked back on the best concert yet.

Monday 15 December 2003
Day 4: Cardiff - London. Forgot to mention the great exploration in Cardiff yesterday, looking for an Internet cafe. There's only one in the whole of the city, and it was closed on Sunday! Can you believe that? We travelled to London today to spend two days in a great city, and having access to the internet for a change...
On Wednesday Yvonne is heading to Newcastle, whereas I will go to Manchester to see a different concert. The next update will follow after the Newcastle concert, if all goes well........

Thursday 18 December 2003
Yesterday's concert in Newcastle was one I missed, because of spending an extra day in Manchester, where tonight's concert will happen. Yesterday the brilliant band All about Eve performed live at the Manchester Academy, an event I didn't want to miss out on having not seen the band for almost 4 years. It's a tough choice between them and Kim, but with the knowledge of seeing Kim three more times this week I quickly made up my mind all those months ago.
The concert was worth checking out, and I am now sure this band deserves more recognition. So check out allabouteve.net for more information.
As for Newcastle, Yvonne was there to see the concert, which was great as ever.
The sound was not as good as previous nights, like for example in Brighton. Kim played the same setlist as in Cardiff, and looked amazing in the white version of her stage clothes, that had obviously returned to their rightful owner! Other acts were received very well during this night, with a very good reception for ABC, who always perform right before Kim. Kim's performance topped this however, with the crowd bouncing around during the final song, Kids in America.
Having heard the reports from fans who were there I'm sorry to have missed it, but fortunately I'll get my chance tonight again!

My second day in Manchester started with a reunion with Yvonne, who travelled from Newcastle to there. The evening would bring us another Here & Now concert, this time at the MEN Arena, a great venue for concerts like these.
I was pleased to have good seats this time (front row, almost in the center) and even more pleased to find that the sound during this concert was better than all previous nights. A strange phenomenon was the temperature, which was almost as low as it was outside. Cold hands and cold feet all around. The audience was very receptive, perhaps because of this cold: there was a lot of enthusiasm to move around, and so even during the first act the first dozens of people moved toward the front. Having seen the concert a couple of times now, I would say that the show started off for real with Heaven 17's set this night. I started becoming interested in their music during the first Here & Now tour in 2001, but this "reprise" of their 2001 set has caused me to unashamedly admire Glenn and the girls. It's not easy to set up a show like this with just three songs and still manage to get almost everyone up on their feet.
Personally, I think Howard Jones benefited from the great atmosphere at that point, as his set was more energetic than previous nights. He clearly enjoyed the night, taking his keyboard forward just to get closer to the fire, so to speak.
Five Star and ABC were professional as ever, after which of course it was time for Kim to appear. Tonights setlist was slightly different: Kids in America and Rockin ' around the Xmas trfee were swapped. It made for a weird change of pace. I've often said that it's impossible to follow up a song like Kids in America, and tonight that showed. Not that Rockin' around the Xmas tree was a bad performance, just that it didn't raise the temperature in the hall like Kids had done a few moments earlier on.
It was very obvious, anyway, that Kim was enjoying herself immensely. She'd traded in the white stage clothing for the brown once again, causing me to believe that she will only wear it when I'm not present in the audience (she only wore it at the two concerts I didn't go to until now). Paul Young closed off the show with an inspired performance tonight, some say his singing was better than on other nights. The man sure has a stage presence, a fact that is often overlooked. 23.00 saw the end of another concert. Did we enjoy it? Hell yes.

Friday 19 December 2003
With only two shows to go, a sort of melancholy feelings overcomes us. It's very weird to look forward to a series of concerts for so long and then find that a week just rushes by like a Concorde. From Manchester we travelled back to London, where the hallowed ground of Wembley Arena awaited. It's always special to play in the capital, and the name Wembley always makes the Brits go misty-eyed for some reason.
This time, we were watching the concert from the left side of the front row, standing almost directly in front of the speakers blasting out a sound that was almost as good as in Manchester. China Crisis started off the show, like every night, at 19.30 with a decent but not very dynamic set. I love their songs but personally I think they are not exciting enough to start off the show with a bang. But that's just my opinion of course.
T'pau, now there's a different story. Carol Decker has a voice that digs through your ears very effectively. The woman is equipped with an impressive set of lungs. The songs were performed - I think - better than ever, I just keep wondering what former bandmate and fellow songwriter Ronnie Rogers was doing there. The pair never interacted and that's kindof a weird view.
I was personally less impressed with Curiosity and Nick Heyward, although their songs are good enough. This night, Nick added a special "acoustic" performance of the track "Love plus one" before his last song, "Fantastic day". The audience reaction to this was perhaps the only glowing moment from the part of the audience. I felt that they were very mixed during the night: part of them never rose from their seats whereas others were singing along and clapping like their very lives depended on it.
For me, like yesterday, Heaven 17 was a highlight. Howard Jones seemed less into it than yesterday, and Five Star and ABC did pretty much the same performances as previous nights.
When Kim came on, most of the audience was standing. The sound seemed to be louder than before (part of this probably caused by Rick's outstanding guitarwork) and the setlist was once again different, with "Rockin' around the Xmas tree" squeezed between "You came" and "You keep me hangin' on" tonight. One fan appropriately threw a small Christmas tree on stage, which unfortunately ended up being used as a football by Rick.
It was good to see how "Kids in America" was received: the temperature in the hall rose by at least two degrees, I felt. This track is an undisputed favourite during the tour, with people screaming for it even after one or two songs are performed by Kim.
Paul Young had his usual set disturbed by two female admirers during "Everytime you go away", the last song of the night. They came from the left and started climbing the stage. One of them was pulled down by security, but the other one successfully reached Paul and even ended up dancing with him. The other woman must feel very disappointed now, as she was virtually greeted with open arms by Paul. Standing up there in front of a nearly sold out Wembley Arena must have been quite a special moment. There were quite a few women in there feeling very envious I think!

Saturday 20th December 2003
The last show in the tour, taking place in Birmingham's NEC Arena. We travelled from London to Birmingham in the morning in the luxurous, if a bit cramped, new Virgin train to Birmingham International, dropped off our stuff at the hotel and paid a short visit to the Birmingham city centre: a real shopping heaven. Earlier this year the brand new Bull Ring Shopping centre has opened and I must say I was impressed with this.
If there was a downside to this evening, it must have been that the policy of the venue (telling everyone on the front row that they will let people from the first three rows come forward, so everyone should defend their own standing room) caused everyone to stand up during the very first song of the night. Usually I don't mind standing during a concert but - you might understand - having seen four concerts in a row I was just a bit tired. Anyway, it did help the experience of seeing the acts for the final time: standing so close to the stage I got more into China Crisis and Curiosity then previous nights. T'pau has been a favourite of mine every night until now, so no change there. And Nick Heyward... well, I've concluded that I like the man but I'm not too impressed with his songs. Trouble with his guitar meant that he started his set with an impromptu acapella version of "Love plus one", greeted enthusiastically by the audience, clapping and singing along. "Blue hat for a blue day" was scrapped, however.
No surprise to see that Heaven 17 was again a highlight of the night, with Angie Brown, the star of the evening (after Kim of course), screaming and even barking tonight. "Temptation" is as big a song as "Kids in America": a statuesque anthem.
I have to say that ABC's set was the best of the trio that followed, it even made me re-appreciate "The look of love", a song that I've literally played to death during the 80's.
Kim Wilde came on at 10.05 pm, with a rocking set comparable to previous nights. There were enough people in the audience wearing silly Christmas hats during "Rockin' around the Xmas tree" to justify Yvonne and me not doing so, like we had yesterday and the day before. Between "You keep me hangin' on" and "Kids in America", the last two songs from Kim tonight, she was showered with some unidentified stuff by the band and Ricki, which was a great surprise for Kim, who jumped around to get it off. Needless to say it didn't help: her hair kept spraying the stuff around right until the end of "Kids".
Paul Young did a rather inspired set tonight, closing off what must have been the best Here & Now tour yet.