Date: 10 December 2019
Originally published in: Jungfrau Zeitung (Switzerland)
Written by:
Kim Wilde will be performing on the Seaside Festival stage in August 2020. Seaside co-founder Philippe Cornu reveled in the 1980s at her appearance at the Berner Bierhübeli last Sunday.
“It must have been thirty years since I organized the first concert with Kim Wilde,” recalls Philippe Cornu. At that time he brought the British pop singer on behalf of the Bern concert agency Music Service to the National Theater in Bern. “We were just one year apart, age-wise. We were young and wild, “says the music lover. “I wrote the coat rack by hand with many flourishes, adorned with flower stickers and red hearts.” Like many young men of that time, Philippe Cornu was also immortaly in love with Kim.
Barefoot in Bern
Unlike most admirers, Philippe Cornu was fortunate to meet Kim Wilde in person, in the dressing room before the concert. “She asked me to teach her how to greet the public in Swiss-German,” continues Philippe Cornu. “Schou säme, wi gets?” – “No, Kim, so: Tschou zäme, wie geits!” During the improvised German lesson his eyes kept falling on their feet – in spite of the cold season and the sparse heated rooms Kim Wilde walked barefoot , “I asked her to put on socks so she would not catch cold, she was a singer after all, and a cold would be the last thing she needed,” the concert organizer said. “You’re not my dad, I like to be barefoot!”, she replied mischievously.
Angelic voice
When he insisted, the singer jumped up and told him to catch her. “She ran out to the cloakroom through the whole auditorium in front of the astonished eyes of the helpers and the stairs up to the gallery,” Philippe Cornu continues the story. “I dived after the shrieking Kim as she kept telling me to catch her – ‘Catch me if you can!'” He had succeeded in doing that, but she still did not wear socks, but later sang like an angel. She also sang like an angel at her concert at the Bierhübeli in Berne, co-founder of the Seaside Festival. There he experienced how Kim Wilde presented the acclaimed album “Wild Winter Songbook” in an unplugged set.
All right for the Seaside Festival
“She pampered the audience with introspective songs inspired by winter and Christmas, but also with acoustic versions of her big hits,” concludes Philippe Cornu from last Sunday’s concert. With this appearance, the blond girl from West London spreads anticipation for the next year. Then Kim Wilde returns to the continent with a great greatest hits tour – with her whole band, a lot of energy and her unmistakable sense of humor. And of course with all the hits like “Kids in America”, “Cambodia” or “You keep me hanging on”. Numerous friends of the Seaside Festival in Spiez Bay, where Kim Wilde will perform on Saturday, August 29, as one of the main acts, are looking forward to this.
Memorable Seaside Festival
Meanwhile, part of the line-up for the fourth Seaside Festival is known. Besides Kim Wilde there are other big names from the seventies and eighties – especially Jethro Tull, UB40 or The Electric Light Orchestra. “It’s going to be a big celebration, not only for Kim Wilde celebrating her 60th birthday and 40th anniversary in 2020,” says Philippe Cornu. Not only memories of earlier hits and concerts come to mind with these artists, but certainly with numerous Seaside friends. If you do not want to miss the memories live, you can order tickets on Tuesday. By the way, a good intention for the new year, because last year the Classic Rock Saturday sold out quite early in the year.
