OPERATION BANDSTAND.
The mission that I chose to accept was to convince a band to let me sing or play an instrument with them live on stage.
I was in Koblenz and seriously behind on endeuro2000 points so I decided to attempt both Operations Fast (go without food for a day or two) and Disco (dance like crazy roadside to get a ride) so I ate an enormous breakfast at the Hotel Jan Van Werth, donned the green endeuro2000 Safari Suit and hit the road with a sign that simply said "Sud" (South). My plan was to hug the Rhine Valley all the way to Basel, Switzerland.
The incredulous Thomas and Sabrina were the first ride of the day. They dropped me in down town Rhinesville, Liebenstein. This part of Germany is beautiful! All sloping Rhine greenery and a castle on every corner.
The next ride was taking it's time then the rain came so I started eyeing off potential Hotel Benno's amongst the castles in the hills. The rain stopped and so did the guffawing Mark.
Mark had been working on his secret motorbike all night and hadn't slept for over 24 hours. My Saf Suit and Sud sign were all the caffeine he needed. My attempt at Operation Fast went out the window when Mark called his mum on his Handy (German term for mobile phone) and ordered lunch for two. Marks mum was a hoot and lunch was tasty and conversational.
Mark had already decided that I would go with him to Darmstadt where he lived and studied.
We went to his apartment at Karlshof Student Accommodation where I met Patrick, Jens and Sandra.
We sat around chatting for a while then went to The Kroner, a Deutsche Disco Pop Pub. The vibe was instant- this was my kind of place. This is where we get to the Operation Bandstand bit.
We arrived just in time to catch the last couple of songs from a band called Scaramouche. These guys were hilarious and they rocked! Prime candidates for an endeuro2000 mission. After the show I introduced myself to Mark, Thomas, Frank, Gert and Ringo. I hit them with the Bandstand idea and they dug it. they were playing the last show of their tour the next night in a place called Laupheim in southern Germany and they'd pick me up at 2:30pm the next day- which they did.
It was a very chatty trip south. I helped Scaramouche unload and set up. They did a sound check then we decided on what I'd sing. We agreed on AC/DC's 'You Shook Me All Night Long'. There was only one problem, I didn't know the lyrics and they didn't know the chords. The venue had the song on CD so we learnt it as best we could as quick as we could. Soon the venue was full and it was showtime.
My moment in the spotlight was to be the first song of the encore so I spent the whole show trying to memorize the lyrics. Finally the time came. There I was, wearing the e2k Saf Suit, mic in hand, counting the band in. An' a 1-2, a'1-2-3-4...
Well I blew most of the lyrics but managed to make some up that sounded convincing. By the time we were into the chorus the crowd was singing along. "Yeah you! Shook me aaaaalll night long!"
Scaramouche were selling their C.D.'s at the gig and afterwards people were getting the band to autograph them. Get this, one guy insisted on getting my autograph on his C.D. under the title of "special Australian guest"
After the show Thomas invited me to Freiburg and I accepted. It was a killer drive through a wet night to a former Canadian Air Base where the band had a studio. We stashed their equipment and everyone went their separate ways to their respective homes. Freiburg kissed me goodnight around 5am.
Thangya verrmuch. Y'beena wunaful audience.
To help make sense of the endeuro2000 concept visit the official endeuro2000 site at www.go.to/endeuro2000
For more abstract travel text and images go to www.go.to/memoryjogger
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