After another gut-bash in the dining hall, our heroes changed into kit and made their
way to the venue of our second major public performance: Der Roland Center. In twos
and threes they jingled their way, waving and smiling to the locals who thought they
were Swiss, and instantly broke into loud yodelling.
At one point, John and Mick got completely lost so approaching a likely looking lad
Mick asked the carefully prepared question ‘Wo ist der Roland Center BitteR?’. He
was promptly reminded of his poor grasp of German by the incomprehensible torrent
of directions, so they hopefully followed the direction of the pointing finger.
By now the hot lights of the Roland Centre were taking their toll (COR! Like being
on stage, innit?) so a short break was called for. Len led the invasion of the cafe
in search of more cream cakes, while John and Mick stayed behind to guard the beer
and chat with the new fans. Then on with more dancing, concluding with “Bonny Green
off”, and so, at about 5.00, they finished, gear was packed up, the beer was polished
off, and the crate returned to its rightful owners.
The relative peace of a well-organised German afternoon's shopping was suddenly shattered
by the strains of Len's juke-box, six pairs of dancing feet and John's raucous ‘Ladies
& Gentlemen, we are the Earls of Essex etcetera’. The area was soon crammed with
goggle-eyed Germans whose anxieties were swiftly allayed by the propaganda leaflets
which were hurriedly dished out with “Wir sind ein englisch Tanzgruppe”... “Ach So”
was the usual response, when they realised that we were not football supporters.
The large crowd apparently enjoyed the spectacle, but they must have heard about
Sunday's antics, for at the end of ‘shooting’, John failed to persuade any girl to
perform the revival, so Len stayed on the floor, playing for the next dance, until
he was brought round with a bottle of beer - not so much because of its life-giving
properties, as because he nearly choked trying to drink from a horizontal position.
Our heroes gathered just inside the doorway, and when all were present and correct
Phase 1 of the operation began: going to the supermarket for the first bottle of
the now-celebrated Beck's bier. Then Phase 2 - they found a nice big space to dance
upstairs.