24 June 2007

Parkpop- Kim Wilde!


It was drizzling, and the sky was drearily gray. I wrapped myself in a warm sweater and jacket, and even wondered whether I should take my scarf with me. It's June.

Was already wet from cycling all the way across town to Zuiderpark, where Parkpop ( supposedly the biggest free pop-music concert in Europe) took place. I could already hear the booming music as I parked my bike, and it got louder as I got closer to the muddy field where it all took place. It had been raining the whole day, and the terrain was almost deserted, it seemed. Just here and there, people sheltering under trees, wearing make-shift garbage bags as rain coats, and wielding all sorts of colourful umbrellas in the air.


The stage was deserted, and I disappointed.
I was there, alone, having once again been abandoned by certain people who said they would come... Was it all finished? I kicked the empty plastic cups that lay everywhere in the over-trampled and muddy grass...

And suddenly, the stage lit up, and behind a wall of fake fog came the band and the star I had braved the cold and rain to see. There she was, with her recognisable crazy blonde curls, dressed in black. A slight, half-hearted applause from the sleepy crowd below, as the rain continued to fall.

Kim Wilde had a series of hits in the eighties, and recently, like many artists who seemed to have disappeared, made a come-back. Watching her sing and jump up and down, it's hard to believe she's already 47 years old! Still bursting with energy, her voice moved as well as excited the crowd in no time, as she sang her old hits in between the more recent hits that you still occassionally hear on the radio. The crowd jumped up and down, and at times clapped along. What really attracts me is that many of the songs and music are written by herself, and have lyrics that have meaning-- which is quite rare nowdays.

But in almost no time at all, the field started to fill with people from nowhere, as the night passed with songs likeKids in America”, “Together we belong”, “Cambodia”, “Perfect girl”, “You keep me hanging on”, “Never trust a stranger”, “View from a bridge”, “You came” (the video clip of which is apparently censored in certain countries because it’s too ‘provocative’...), as well as the remake hit originally by German female popstar Nena “Anyplace, anywhere, anytime”:

Im Sturz durch Raum und Zeit, richtung Unentlichkeit
Fliegen Motten in das Licht, genau wie du und ich'
Wrap your fingers 'round my neck.
You don't speak my dialect,
But our images reflect.
Drawn together by the flame,
We are just the same:
Embrace the wind and fall into another time & space.

Gib mir die Hand - ich bau dir ein Schloss aus Sand
Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann'
If we belong to each other,
We belong anyplace, anywhere, anytime.

Im Sturtz durch Zeit und Raum, er wacht aus einem Traum'
Nur ein kurzer Augenblick, dann kehrt die Nacht zurueck.
Bits and pieces from your storm
Rain upon me as they fall;
Melt into my skin and I feel warm.
Sweep upon me like a wave.
We are young and brave:
Embrace the wind and float into another time & space.

Gib mir die Hand - ich bau dir ein Schloss aus Sand
Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann'
If we belong to each other,
We belong anyplace, anywhere, anytime.

Drawn together by the flame,
We are just the same:
Embrace the wind and fall into another time & space.

If we belong to each other,
We belong anyplace, anywhere, anytime.
I'm going to any world you're coming from.
Anyplace, anywhere, anytime.
Gib mir die Hand - ich bau dir ein Schloss aus Sand
Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann'
I'm going to any world you're coming from.
Anyplace, anywhere, anytime

And she did a great rendition of Depeche Mode’s great classic “Enjoy the silence”:

“Words like violence
Break the silence
Come crashing in
Into my little world
Painful to me
Pierce right through me
Cant you understand
Oh my little girl

All I ever wanted
All I ever needed
Is here in my arms
Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm

Vows are spoken
To be broken
Feelings are intense
Words are trivial
Pleasures remain
So does the pain
Words are meaningless
And forgettable

All I ever wanted
All I ever needed
Is here in my arms
Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm”

Beautiful!



No comments: