Kim Wilde (62) was actually supposed to visit Oslo on her The Greatest Hits Tour in 2020 on the occasion of her 60th birthday. But corona got in the way. On the eve of 2022, she sang every single one of her Top 20 hits to a half-full, enthusiastic Rockefeller. We also got some newer tunes, but they really paled in comparison to the 80s tunes.
With her on stage, she had seven people, including two on drums (which unfortunately were mixed too loudly) and her niece on choir. She is the daughter of Ricky Wilde (61), who himself played guitar and has been behind most of her success. The brother is her regular producer and songwriter, and wrote all the first hits with her father Marty Wilde. The father was one of England’s first rock stars in the 50s, but amazingly was not mentioned during the concert.
It started with a very short Rage To Love and a longer Never Trust A Stranger from the 80s and two anonymous songs from the 90s. Then Kim took the floor and asked us to sing along to the Saturday Night Fever song If I Can’t Have You, which she had a big hit with in 1993. It slipped into The Touch and The Second Time. The latter was a highlight, with a portable keyboard, dancing and an interlude in which Ricky Wilde sang Pop Muzik (a big hit with M in 1980).
Also excellent were Water On Glass and Cambodia, both of which were synthpop in their original recording. But it worked well with another arrangement and Ricky’s guitar solo on the latter. We noticed that everyone in the band loved being on stage. And Kim was exuberant, charming, buttery and enthusiastic all the time. And the voice has not been lost since the golden years.
I also dug the disco bass on the older songs, such as View from a Bridge, Checkered Love and You Keep Me Hangin’ On. The encores were also top notch: the 2018 single Pop Don’t Stop, the 1988 hit You Came and the 1981 debut single, Kids in America, where the band had added a part of clapping à la Queen’s We Will Rock You.
All in all, a brilliant and moody concert where Kim Wilde promised to come back to Norway. I don’t think she has had her own concerts here before, but I remember that she warmed up for David Bowie (!) at Jordal Stadium in 1990.
