The thousand faces of Kim Wilde

During her concert Kim is accompanied by a fie part band and two backing vocalists. Her hits like “Kids in America” and “Chequered love” sound almost better than on record.

The tension in the City Hall of Sheffield is mounting to boiling point: the five part band and the both backing singers are already playing the first bars of “Chequered love” on stage, but everyone stares towards the left side of the stage, where a spotlight announces her coming.
Kim Wilde, the 21 year old girl, who has shook up the music industry and whose face people have only known from photographs and television screens, has to fulfill high expectations during her first live performances. But it doesn’t seem to matter to her. In walking tempo she gets on the stage – in black jeans, white t-shirt, black leather jacket -, sends an unarming laugh into the audience, goes through her hair with her left hand and then gets to it. She sings the first song visibly concentrated, with closed eyes – but “Chequered love” does already make it clear: Kim Wilde is not an artifically enhanced studio voice, but a fullblooded musician with a very clear rock roar, which you will hear in February in our country.
And she has a radiance, a charisma, that one can’t learn – one has it or not. Kim Wilde avoids the view, whether she stands cool before the microphone and shakes her hips almost without it being seen, or when she goes down on her knees and comes up again or ends a song with an aggressive kick towards the audience.
After the lesser known titles from her two albums Kim Wilde shoots her hit fireworks in the last third of her concert: “Kids in America”, “Cambodia”, “Water on glass”, “View from the bridge” and “Take me tonight” sound almost more aggressive and exciting than on record – Kim Wilde can shout out her songs so well, without her voice losing clarity. When the singer says goodbye with a few hand kisses, the whole hall raves. Kim is called back for two encores. First she sings the new single “Child come away”, then another time the great “Chequered love”. No question about it: the 19 year old English tour will be a triumph for Kim Wilde.
“Because I didn’t perform live for such a long time, people probably thought I couldn’t do it”, says Kim about her success. “Now people see me on stage and they notice, that I really look like Kim Wilde, that I sing like Kim Wilde, and that I may be a little better than they thought. To have this kind of reaction tonight is a really great feeling. For me it’s the best thing, to be standing there on stage.”