Esbjerg

Ok.. we get onstage, and the crowd are all seated! Hahaha.. so it was pretty strange for us at first to be honest, but the moment we strike the first chord of ‘View From A Bridge’, they are all up on their feet dancing away, and by the end of the gig they’re all going mental. They were a very warm and awesome audience. We all come off stage smiling and dead chuffed. I get changed and go to call Mandy and my iPhone starts dicking about.. screen blank and just doing odd stuff which rendered it useless. I decide to restore it back to the factory settings.. and it’s taking ages. Everyone’s ready to go.. so they all leave me there as I didnt want to stop halfway thru the restore. About an hour later, having fixed it.. I pack up all my gear and walk out the dressing room to pitch black. The staff had locked up the venue not realising I was in there! Next thing.. a deafening alarm goes off.. I manage to find the back door and make a hasty exit. I check into the hotel next door.. call Stevie P and he tells me they are all in an Irish pub around the corner. I get totally lost on the way.. but bump into some very sweet locals who guide me to the pub. So around 20 minutes later (should have been literally a two minute walk!) I walk into the pub to cheers from the band and handed a huge glass of red wine.. we get down to some drinking and begin the bollox-banter. The owner (who was a star) stuck ‘Cambodia’ on loud, so we get louder and louder, singing the ‘WOOOH WOOOOH’ bit at the top of our voices. Some 60 year old local, started semi-hitting on Scarlett, which had us all in stitches. Three hours later.. (all of us twatted) we roll out the pub and stagger back to the Hotel. Stevie P, Sean, Jonny A and I decide to raid Scarlett’s fridge.. so we finish up in her room for a few more hours. Scarlett was playing loads of amazing old 80’s choons and it was a great way to round off another wicked night.
We awoke 10ish this morning, checked out the hotel and transferred over to the bus.. where I went straight to my bunk for some more kip. Woke up in Esbjerg parked outside the next hotel and check in. Phone starts dicking about again..AAGGHH!! Spend another hour or so trying to fix again.. eventually manage it.. then pop out for some lunch.. after that we all convene at the lobby where the bus finally takes us to the venue for sound check.
Just arrived at the gig, and it’s a beautiful room where we’re playing, so all of us looking forward to another great night! I have had another wireless setup for my guitar delivered by AKG bless ’em.. so back in the groove again now! YYYAAAYYYY!!! SKYPE ‘N’ ROLL!!
OK… just finished sound check, and there’s stairs either side of the stage so Neil and I are now debating whether to jump in with the audience tonight for ‘You Came’… haha.. we’ll see! 😉

Incidentally.. just found out that Neil (budding helicopter pilot) and Sean (out front sound for us and John Harrison) popped out to get some fags a while ago, and got lost.. delaying John Harrison’s set by 5 minutes! Major Twattage in my books! Let’s hope Neil never has that same moronic loss of memory 1000 feet up eh?

Kim Wilde CREW

I would just like to introduce you to our crew.
Sean Vincent.. He is my partner in crime with the Sonic Hub project and is doing the out front sound. It’s amazing, but apparently the sound is ALWAYS better each night than the last gig.. which means one of three things..1) He’s so good at his job that he reaches perfection pretty much most times. 2)The first gig he did with us was total shite and has slowly got to the stage to where it’s at now.. or 3) He’s a liar. I know what I think! Hahaha.. but seriously, he is by far the best sound engineer in the biz at the moment and we feel very lucky to have him on board. He also has never, or ever will… beat me at pool.
Mark Video.. Marky is our amazing lighting technician. He is first in when we get to the venue, working out where all the different lights should be and where they are pointed. I can honestly say I have never met such a perfectionist in his field.. taking ages to set up.. and always coming backstage after yet another blinding light show saying ‘yeah.. not too bad.. not quite this or that’ whilst all of us thinking it was bordering on genius. This multi talented guy also is an superbg video director/editor, having worked with the likes of Feeder and Yazoo. We were lucky enough to get him to direct Scarlett’s band SCARLETT FEEVA first video, which all of us are blown away with. With his quirky facial hair (a huge M shaved on each cheek) and ‘Andy Cap’ cap, he is truly a one off… but is firmly first on the call list whenever we go out on tour.
Darren Alexander.. is our Scotch stage manager. This Aberdonian chappy can on a good day come up with some (surprisingly) good ideas. It is in fact Daz that is responsible for coming up with our stage plan. He also came up with another superb idea today, hiding the guitar cabs underneath the risers.. giving us lots more room onstage, whilst making the stage look less cluttered. Daz has been with us for a few years now, and is a very much treasured part of the team, he also looks out for me and the guys onstage in case anything goes wrong (bust strings etc) along with…
Sebastian Kleber.. who’s nickname is ‘Basty’ but we have christened him ‘Cornish’. Cornish is probably one of the most relaxed, laid back, kind and chilled guys you could ever meet. He has the ability to make everyone feel the same with his calm demeanour, which is most appreciated with certain pressures sometimes. A while ago, the KW crew got delayed getting to the gig by a few hours.. when they eventually arrived a few hours late.. Cornish (who managed to get there on time) had set the whole stage up on his own, without any complaints. That’s just the kind of guy he is.. but he is a twat on the pool table! 😉
Dave Ros.. Dave is our monitor man. He has probably the most thankless jobs of all. He is the one who is responsible for what we (band) hear in our in-ears. All of us have different mixes in our ears (I would want to hear plenty of my guitar and vocals for instance) and that mix can also change from song to song.. so when there’s seven of us on stage all looking at him throughout the gig indicating what we do and dont want in our mix, it can be a highly pressurised job for him.. but Dave handles the job consistantly well in a very cool and calm manner.. and again is a much valued member of our crew.
Patty Unwin.. Patty is our Tour Manager, and she is responsible for the general smooth running of the whole tour.. also dealing with all the local promoters and Venue managers etc, double checking that everybody is where they are supposed to be at the right time. Patty is always there for us if we have any needs/problems and nothing is too much bother for her, always with a smile, it’s sorted immediately..every time! Speaking 5 languages fluently, (whilst I don’t even know one!) Patty is a treasure.. now a part of the family, and we always look forward to being with her when we come out on tour.
….and finally…
Nick Boyles.. Where do we start with Nick.. or sometimes ‘Noodles’ as he is affectionately known? He manages Kim and I, and been with us from the word go. Nick is responsible for pretty much EVERYTHING! Hahaha.. ANY questions the guys in the band (or anyone actually) have, are all answered straight away (as he has photographic memory, but ironically he’s not very photogenic). Nick books all our gigs, and makes sure we are all well looked after in every way.. from amazing gigs, to tour bus’s and hotels etc.. Nick can be prone to stress which could account for the thinning hair. He’s also a West Ham supporter but I’m not sure that technically makes him a football fan???

Posted by Rick Wilde at 6:53 AM