Kim Wilde, who became a star with hits like “Kids in America”, “Keep me Hanging on” or “Cambodia”, gathered her fans in the Tempodrom on Monday. However, she did not succeed in a 1980s revival with her “The Greatest Hits Tour”.
Two years ago, Kim Wild wanted to celebrate her sixtieth birthday with this The Greatest Hits Tour, but the corona pandemic ruined her punctual double anniversary performance and her second attempt a year ago. It finally worked on the third try.
Despite the tickets sold both in 2020/21 and this year, the concert was not really well attended and the completely seated and therefore even more old-fashioned arena of the Tempodrom was only a little more than half full.
Slight rocking and shallow clapping
The mood, which could be described as rather reserved, felt similar. Apart from a few moments, when the recognition value of the songs knocked the crowd out of their seats, light rocking and clapping along was more the order of the day than real rocking along. And this despite the fact that Kim Wilde promises on stage to offer a nice musical trip to the 1980s – the decade in which she began her career and celebrated her greatest successes.
The greatest hits and a little bit around
Not that you didn’t get exactly what the title promises – the greatest hits and bits and pieces with covers from Saturday Night Live to Nena – not that you expected much more than a big medley show. Trouble was, even that undisguised Kim Wilde nostalgia didn’t really work. Neither the fan that let her blond hair blow like in a 1980s music video, nor the stage choreography and the costumes, which involuntarily reminded of a circus performance in the Tempodrom, were enough.
Roughly speaking: everything sounded the same and became one big pop-rock sauce, from which some of the greatest hits stood out because you could at least recognize them to some extent. This was due to the medley dramaturgy of the set and the mixed instrumentalization, but above all the shockingly miserable acoustics of this performance. Not really loud, still overdriven, dull and still with reverb. Exactly this lack of boxes and sound technology simply and poignantly ensured that real Kim Wilde nostalgia could not arise at all. It’s not enough just to write “Greatest Hits” on it if you want more than a Kaffeefahrt performance.
Some of the comments under the article:
“I was in Berlin with Kim Wild on Monday. Everything the rbb 24 critic wrote about the concert is wrong or he wasn’t there. With a slight start it was a great concert with a great atmosphere.”
“There were two of us. The mood was great. The Tempodrom was well filled and almost sold out. Kim has been very personal, open about her age and tours with her niece and brother. That created a personal atmosphere. We wonder if the journalist actually followed the concert live at all. And if so, whether he was personally able to understand the charm of the evening.”
“Perhaps Mr. Soyez should turn his attention to other matters. Concert criticism doesn’t seem to be his hobby. I was there myself and it was a great concert, apart from the bad sound. As is so often the case with concerts, it started cautiously. But as the show progressed, the atmosphere became so great and the whole hall stood and danced and celebrated and cheered for the great Kim Wilde. I also doubt the statement that the room was only half full. That borders on defamation!!!”
“So this concert review is completely wrong. At which concert was Mr. RBB employee? He typed the concert review in advance at 5 p.m. shortly before closing time without even having been there. One could actually say that Mr. Soyezze’s statements are not even subjective but flatly wrong!!! It goes further down with the rbb… *shakes head*”
““…she has never had a good voice.” Anyone who judges like that should simply not go to the concert. I only go to concerts by people I really like and Kim Wilde is definitely one of them. Thank you for this super nice evening!”
“Was Mr. Soyez perhaps not present at all?! The concert was really great! It was really fun to dive into the past and review the school discos! I thought the atmosphere was great, everyone sang along and celebrated Kim Wilde – and that’s the way it has to be! She gave it her all and you could tell she had fun and was happy to finally be able to interact with the audience again! The floor danced and flocked to the stage… No bobbing along, that was a party! :-))”
“I don’t know which concert Alexander was at!? At my concert yesterday in the Tempodrom there was pure enthusiasm and the people were flashed, danced and were so happy! Of course it’s always difficult to let out this enthusiasm while sitting down at the beginning, but at some point you dare to jump up and then there’s a party, like yesterday. Great concert with lots of girl power!!”
