Monsters of Rock
Monsters of Rock was a hard rock and heavy metal music festival. It was originally held annually in Castle Donington, England, from 1980 to 1996, taking place every year except 1989 and 1993. It later branched into other locations such as the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Sweden, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the United States, and Russia.
History
In 1980, promoter Paul Loasby, along with Maurice Jones, planned a one-day festival dedicated specifically for bands within the hard rock and heavy metal genre. Loasby was an established and successful promoter working that year on the Rainbow UK tour and penned the festival as the final show of the tour for the band to headline. Jones knew the owner of the Donington Park race track, Tom Wheatcroft, located next to the village of Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England, and the site was chosen to host the event.Donington Park was unknown as a major location but its location in the East Midlands next to the M1 and A42 allowed for better transportation to the site from around the country. Additionally, the site ground level sloped which allowed for a better viewing for the audience throughout the site.
The first Monsters of Rock line-up consisted of a mix of British and international bands. The event was a success with 35,000 heavy metal fans attending. Although only conceived as a one-off event, it was mentioned on the day the idea that the festival will return the following year and the first edition birthed what would become a regular festival for the next 15 years, becoming synonymous as a Mecca for fans of the genre and further establishing the Midlands as the home of heavy metal.
Over the years, the attendance continued to grow, reaching 107,000 in 1988–where two fans died during the Guns N' Roses set. The blame was initially accounted to the large size of the crowd and a rush forward during the band's set. But it was officially declared that the cause was laid on the weather, causing muddy and wet conditions on the sloping ground. As a result, the festival did not take place in 1989, and it was replaced that year by a two-day festival similar to Monsters of Rock, the Moscow Music Peace Festival in Soviet Union, which included performances by several Monsters of Rock veterans Bon Jovi, Ozzy Osbourne, Mötley Crüe and Scorpions. Monsters of Rock returned the year after with a limitation to the crowd of 75,000.
The festival had been held in parallel in West Germany from 1983 to 1991. In 1984 and 1986 the festival branched into Sweden. In 1988, the festival occurred for the first time in France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. It was held as a one-time event in 1991 in Russia, Poland, Belgium, Hungary. In 1994, the festival was exported overseas to Chile, Argentina and Brazil.
In 1993 the Monsters of Rock radio show debuted in the United States with host Harlan Hendrickson. Guests on the show include everyone from AC/DC, Kiss, Van Halen, Judas Priest, Motörhead, Cinderella, Ozzy Osbourne, Bon Jovi, Cheap Trick, Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Dio, Y&T, Guns N' Roses, Slayer and Poison.
The Monsters of Rock festival continued on as the premier hard rock and heavy metal event in Great Britain in the 1990s but started to fall upon hard times as heavy metal became less popular, with another cancellation in 1993 due to being unable to find a strong enough headliner. In 1995 the festival found itself in a similar situation until Metallica agreed to play with the condition of the band having control over the event and naming it "Escape from the Studio". In 1996 Ozzy Osbourne and Kiss co-headlined the festival and although there were plans to extend the festival into a two-day event in 1997, the promoters once again found themselves in a struggle for headliners and the event was cancelled and discontinued.
Donington Park remained event-less until 2001 when the Rock and Blues Festival and Stereophonics held events at the site. In 2002 the Ozzfest tour returned to the UK using Donington Park as their only British event and the following year Live Nation picked up the reins as Monsters of Rock's successor in the name of Download Festival. An outstanding success from the offset, the festival continues to this day having increased to a three-day event with five stages, though as of 2008 the event has been relegated outside of the track.
On the 16th of November, 2002, Monsters of Rock was held in Wembley Arena as a one-day 'festival' and featured The Quireboys, The Dogs D'Amour, Alice Cooper, and Thunder.
In 2006, the Monsters of Rock name was revived and held at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes, England, for a one-off event headlined by Deep Purple and with Alice Cooper as a special guest.
In 2012 Harlan Hendrickson & Monsters of Rock Worldwide partnered with Larry Morand and Mike London to launch the inaugural Monsters Of Rock Cruise.
Line-ups
1980
16 August 1980- Rainbow
- Judas Priest
- Scorpions
- April Wine
- Saxon
- Riot
- Touch
- Neal Kay
1981
- AC/DC
- Whitesnake
- Blue Öyster Cult
- Slade
- Blackfoot
- More
- Tommy Vance
1982
- Status Quo
- Gillan
- Saxon
- Hawkwind
- Uriah Heep
- Anvil
- Tommy Vance
1983
- Whitesnake
- Meat Loaf
- ZZ Top
- Twisted Sister
- Dio
- Diamond Head
- Tommy Vance
1984
- AC/DC
- Van Halen
- Ozzy Osbourne
- Gary Moore
- Y&T
- Accept
- Mötley Crüe
- Tommy Vance
1985
- ZZ Top
- Marillion
- Bon Jovi
- Metallica
- Ratt
- Magnum
- Tommy Vance
1986
- Ozzy Osbourne
- Scorpions
- Def Leppard
- Motörhead
- Bad News
- Warlock
1987
- Bon Jovi
- Dio
- Metallica
- Anthrax
- W.A.S.P.
- Cinderella
- The Bailey Brothers
1988
- Iron Maiden
- Kiss
- David Lee Roth
- Megadeth
- Guns N' Roses
- Helloween
1990
The entire 1990 festival was simultaneously broadcast live on BBC Radio 1, which had previously recorded festivals for later broadcast.
- Whitesnake
- Aerosmith
- Poison
- Quireboys
- Thunder
1991
- AC/DC
- Metallica
- Mötley Crüe
- Queensrÿche
- The Black Crowes
1992
22 August 1992- Iron Maiden
- Skid Row
- Thunder
- Slayer
- W.A.S.P.
- The Almighty
1994
This was the first year that two stages were used. Readers of Kerrang! magazine were invited to vote on bands to appear at the festival. Extreme easily won their place on the bill but were bottled for much of their set.
Main stage:
- Aerosmith
- Extreme
- Pantera
- Sepultura
- Therapy?
- Pride & Glory
- The Wildhearts
- Terrorvision
- Skin
- Biohazard
- Cry of Love
- Headswim
1995
1995 was not billed as 'Monsters of Rock' but as 'Escape from the Studio', owing to Metallica headlining on a break from recording the Load album – making them the first band to play the festival four times. Prior to the show, reverend Brian Whitehead held a special service at the Castle Donington village's St Edward church, to combat the "occult forces" that he feared would be unleashed by the event, especially White Zombie.
- Metallica
- Therapy?
- Skid Row
- Slayer
- Slash's Snakepit
- White Zombie
- Machine Head
- Warrior Soul
- Corrosion of Conformity
1996
Main stage:
- Kiss and Ozzy Osbourne
- Sepultura performed as a three-piece; frontman Max Cavalera was absent owing to the death of his stepson.
- Biohazard
- Dog Eat Dog
- Paradise Lost
- Fear Factory
- Korn
- Type O Negative
- Everclear
- 3 Colours Red
- Honeycrack
- Cecil
2006
- Deep Purple
- Alice Cooper
- Thunder
- Queensrÿche
- Journey
- Ted Nugent
- Roadstar
International events
1983 West Germany Tour
West Germany: Dortmund, Westfalenhallen – 2 September 1983 Kaiserslautern, Waldstadion am Erbsenberg – 3 September 1983Nürnberg, Zeppelinfeld – 4 September 1983
- Whitesnake
- Blue Öyster Cult
- Thin Lizzy
- Saxon
- Meat Loaf
- Motörhead
- Twisted Sister
1984 North European Tour
- AC/DC
- Van Halen
- Mötley Crüe
West Germany: Nuremberg, Zeppelinfeld – 2 September 1984
- AC/DC
- Van Halen
- Ozzy Osbourne
- Dio
- Gary Moore
- Accept
- Mötley Crüe
1986 North European Tour
- Scorpions
- Ozzy Osbourne
- Def Leppard
- Zero Nine
West Germany: Mannheim, Maimarktgelände – 31 August 1986
- Scorpions
- Ozzy Osbourne
- M.S.G.
- Def Leppard
- Bon Jovi
- Warlock
1987 European Tour
- Dio
- Helloween
- Skanners
- Black Swan
- Gow
West Germany: Pforzheim, Stadion im Brötzinger Tal – 30 August 1987
- Deep Purple
- Dio
- Metallica
- Ratt
- Cinderella
- Helloween
- Pretty Maids
1988 USA & Europe Tour
- Van Halen
- Scorpions
- Dokken
- Metallica
- Kingdom Come
West Germany: Bochum, Ruhrland Stadion – 28 August 1988
- Iron Maiden
- Kiss
- David Lee Roth
- Anthrax
- Testament
- Great White
- Treat
- Iron Maiden
- David Lee Roth
- Kiss
- Anthrax
- Helloween
- Great White
- Iron Maiden
- Kiss
- Anthrax
- Helloween
- Kings of the Sun
- R.A.F.
Spain: Madrid, Casa de Campo – 18 September 1988
Spain: Barcelona, Plaza de Toros – 22 September 1988
- Iron Maiden
- Metallica
- Anthrax
- Helloween
- Manzano
- Iron Maiden
- Trust – The live album Paris by night was recorded on 25 September
- Anthrax
- Helloween