Written by Jane Armstrong with
interjections by Libby Graham

We had a wonderful time in Germany on both a personal and Dels level.  Libby collected me and we drove up to Heathrow with Dels music on the stereo - both really excited.  We searched the airport in vain for Scottish flags and football shirts, so had to make do with the Union Jack I'd got with me. The flight was superb, and when we arrived in Hamburg we met up with Graham, a former boyfriend of mine whom I'd not seen for 18 years.  It was late, so we made our way to the hotel, had one or two quick drinks and went back. The "ladies of negotiable virtue" standing around the streets around the hotel were a bit of a surprise! But the hotel was lovely - Libby and I had forgotten the wonders of German beds and showers!  Graham and I had a lot of catching up to do and we ended up talking all night long.  I thought I'd be wrecked for the Festival - but the adrenaline was pumping so I didn't really feel tired at all.

We caught the train from Hamburg to Schleessel, and when we arrived at the station and all poured off the train we couldn't believe our eyes!  The main station building was all boarded up, the platforms and between the tracks were just a bed of weeds and there were no signs anywhere to tell us how to get off the platform or even that there was a Festival going on!  We were astounded, and if it weren't for the fact that there were a couple of hundred of us there we would have thought we'd come to the wrong place - it looked like those railway sidings you see in documentaries about the Holocaust and I was half expecting to be herded off to the gas chamber.  People were clambering over the tracks, but we found our way to an underpass, where there were STILL no signs for the festival, and just followed everyone else.

It was supposed to be 900m to the site - and sure enough we found the camp site 900m away - but it was VAST.  There was field after field full of tents, with no sign of a stage or even posters to tell us that the festival was on at all. We must have been walking for over half an hour before we finally found a small box office and were able to buy our tickets.

After being rigorously body searched and having to remove my flag from its small wooden pole (bureaucracy gone mad!), we were finally allowed in and got our first sight of the stage.  The huge signs announcing that cameras, audio equipment etc were not permitted caused a little trepidation as Libby and I both had cameras and cassette recorders in our bags. But when we were searched (!!!) the security person said that as they were small cameras it was OK to take them in! Lucky for us as we ended up getting a very good view of the Band.

The continental Europeans are always much more civilised at Festivals than we Brits.  We all tend to push our way to the front and stay there - causing a great crush.  The Germans and other Europeans come forward when a band come on and then totally disperse when they've finished.  So we did the British thing and went up to the barrier and staked our claim in front of the stage - just between where Iain and Justin were to be.  We didn't budge from there all day.  Sad aren't we?!?

We had to sit through a lot of dross before the Dels - some dreadful German teenybop bands for example - and a couple of good acts, one of which was the Oyster Band - a sort of folk rock band from England who I've seen a couple of times before and love.

The excitement really mounted when we saw Quinner come on.  He noticed our flag straight away and waved and posed for a photo.  Andy and Iain actually came on to make sure the equipment was set up to their satisfaction and finally the smarmy poseur of a compare brushed down his dyed, heavily hairsprayed wig, shook his gold jewellery,  checked his fake tan and announced the band we had come all this way to see.  The weather had been very hot but overcast, however as the equipment was being put out the clouds started to disappear and when the Dels came on stage the sun came out.  Just before they came on we met Dirk from Bremen, who I've been writing to for the past year - so that was really great!

Justin was wearing the leather trousers and a purple satin/silk shirt.  Iain had a short sleeved blue striped shirt and was wearing his hair tied back in a sort of bun and had sunglasses on - and they both looked gorgeous. Justin did sing most of the time screwing up his eyes as the sun was blazing straight at him! And Iain was perspiring rather a lot! Then again it was incredibly hot.

The setlist was as follows: Not Where It's At Last To Know Just Like a Man Some Other Sucker's Parade High Times  (whilst this was on I tried to phone Kevin on my           mobile - but he was engaged!  Missed out there Kevin!) Here and Now What I Think She Sees Stone Cold Sober Crashing Down The Ones That You Love Lead You Nowhere

Justin was quite quiet - didn't say much - but he seemed to be enjoying himself, and the crowd certainly was. Iain saw us there at the front and smiled. There were a lot of Delfans there who seemed to know all the words, but who did get a little annoying at times as they were constantly shouting for Stone Cold Sober - and there was one girl who kept trying to push Libby and I down or out of the way - but we stood our ground.  The reception was tremendous and I am sure a lot of new fans were won over that day.

One thing which REALLY impressed me was how well Iain and Kris play together now.  They seem to have a great chemistry - playing off each other and complimenting eachother perfectly. The ending of Crashing Down was especially effective, when they each played a sustained note which sent shivers down my spine.  High Times was great too - the vocals and guitars were just perfect.  Justin was is such good voice - handling the lower and higher notes with ease.  They worked very hard and it was so incredibly hot - well into the 90's apparently.

Iain, Justin and Kris

Afterwards Graham, who had never seen the band before, said how much he enjoyed it and how everything fits so well together - how they have a perfect set up there.  But then we already knew that didn't we!  One thing that really upset me though was that the £350 digital camera I'd bought last week especially for the gig didn't work!  There was obviously a loose connection somewhere so I missed out on some really wonderful shots. :-((  I did have a little film in a box camera and these photos were taken with that, and Libby took loads too. We also both had our cassette recorders with us so we've got good recordings - we were right in front of a set of speakers set at ground level so the quality was great considering they were made on Walkmans!

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