GET CAPE. WEAR CAPE. FLY… KIM WILDE RAIDS RICK WAKEMAN’S DRESSING UP BOX FOR A CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH THE WEST COUNTRY

4 APRIL

Kim Wilde must be mightily heartened by the rapturous reception being afforded to her new album, Here Come The Aliens. While she’s always gone down a storm at retro festival appearances, her first collection of wholly original material in eight years has given her solo career a significant boost.

Quite rightly she’s built her current setlist around the new record. There are no apologetic half-hearted inclusions tucked away before the nailed-on crowd-pleasers, this latest touring show mines the rich seam of fresh material to the maximum.

A much tougher sounding proposition than you’d expect on paper, her live band throw in plenty of ‘rawk’ poses and could no doubt make a mean Metallica tribute act if push came to shove. They burst out of the blocks here with the all-guns blazing newie Stereo Shot and her classic new wavy single from 1981, Water On Glass. Never Trust A Stranger wins a massive cheer, an old friend, with an instantly hooky chorus, as the synths finally get a look in.

“Hope you don’t mind that I didn’t dress up tonight,” Wilde deadpans early on, resplendent in a silver tasselled jacket and studded black leather jumpsuit. Who knows, perhaps she does actually do the Waitrose weekly ‘big shop’ in it.

Her band, featuring guitartoting brother Ricky Wilde, get to rock out in style on new single Kandy Krush, one of many standouts on …Aliens and there’s a change of pace for the introspective Cambodia before the party returns with the wriggling bassline of Yours ‘Til The End, certainly the Wildes’ attempt to fashion a similar disco reboot to Daft Punk’s Get Lucky.