Black Uhuru, Mink De Ville, The Undertones: Roackpalast, Essen, West Germany

THESE BIENNIAL all-night Rockpalast bloat-ons are comically close to the idea of a festival mentality geared to Germanic efficiency: You vill be entertained! The groups appear and play at precalculated moments, the audience greets each with greedy acclaim (apparently these bonanzas are sold out even before the line-ups are announced), spotlights strafe the crowd grovelling in the maw of the stage-facing floorspace, and arms are raised to handclap at the slightest hint of a four-in-the-bar beat.