Kim Wilde: Here Come The Aliens – The Lowry, Salford

Reviewer: Helen Jones

Back in 1981, the then 20-year-old Kim Wilde released her debut singleKids In America. A huge success reaching number two in the charts. Hit followed hit. Wilde became an icon of the 80s, being awarded The Brit for Best Female Vocalist in 1983. Fast forward thirty-seven years and Kim Wilde is out on tour and a new album to promote.

Her support act Laurence Hill has a good voice, is a good guitarist and makes great use of a loop pedal. But while he is pleasant enough to listen to, the lack of distinction in his delivery of his songs mean that he doesn’t really stand out as a performer.

The start of Kim Wilde’s set is a dramatic sound and light show which segues into the appearance of the band and Miss Wilde and her first track off her new album Here ComeThe Aliens. The album was inspired by an event in 2009 when Miss Wilde saw UFOs from her garden. But the song then goes straight into one of her hitsWater On Glass. Throughout the show she switches from recent tracks from the album to her songs from the eighties including;Cambodia,Chequered Loveand View From A Bridge. The new ones are still mostly written by her brother Ricky Wilde (who with her father wrote most of her early hits) and as such have a consistency with her classic songs. However back in her hey-day, Kim Wilde was a ‘pop’ singer. Now live, even her classic tracks are performed in rock style. Harking back to bands such as Hawkwind, the music is very very loud and heavy rock based. Not that it detracts from Miss Wilde’s stunning voice or the quality of the writing.

Supported by a six-piece band which includes her brother, and her niece Scarlett Wilde as her backing vocalist, Miss Wilde gives a full-on performance for the hour and a half she in on stage. Looking stunning in a futuristic black and silver outfit, she powers her way through the songs new and old alike. Saving her biggest hit as the final encore.

Due to the volume levels, some people left early, but the audience who could cope with it were rewarded with a stunning evening of music and a real rock star performance. This was the last night of the tour, which is a shame as otherwise, this reviewer would be recommending the show to the rock lovers out there, but Miss Wilde is well worth seeing live on stage. Just don’t expect to recover your hearing for a few days!

Reviewed on 1st May 2018 | Image: Contributed