Moscow Music Peace Festival

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The Moscow Music Peace Festival was a one-time gathering of high-profile hard rock acts who put on a concert for the people in Moscow, Soviet Union in 1989 to promote world peace and establish international cooperation in fighting the drug war in Russia (regardless of the notorious reputations of many of the featured stars as drug users). It was part of a pinnacle turning point in the Soviet Union, in which democracy was on the march and communism was collapsing. In 1991, the Soviet Union was officially dissolved.

The concert exposed the Soviet Union to western culture, rock music, and united what was considered a very divisive world previously. The concert was also a pinnacle moment in glam metal and the peak in hard rock music's popularity.

Contents

[edit] Problems

Noted in books such as Bang Your Head: The Rise and Fall of Heavy Metal, the concert also showcased the ego clashes which eventually helped lead to the collapse of Glam metal shortly thereafter. Many of the bands argued over who went on before whom, and many were envious of Bon Jovi who not only headlined the event, but also had a much more theatrical stage spectacle and longer set times; each band was supposed to do a stripped-down show with just music and no spectacular theatrics. Jon Bon Jovi (in a move many viewed as being calculated to further enhance his 'just a normal guy from New Jersey' image) even offered his headlining spot to Ozzy Osbourne after Ozzy threatened to not go through with his set which was intitially scheduled before Mötley Crüe's set. Many felt this was an egotistical bush move on Ozzy's behalf since this was supposed to be for charity, and left many in the rock 'n roll community confused since Ozzy and Mötley Crüe toured together for Ozzy's Bark at the Moon and Mötley Crüe's Shout at the Devil albums, respectively, and became fast friends during the tour. Conflicts often erupted between the younger rebellious act Skid Row and other musicians. The members of Mötley Crüe were so incensed about preferences shown to Bon Jovi that Tommy Lee punched out manager Doc McGhee (who was also the manager for Bon Jovi) backstage at the venue (McGhee was fired shortly thereafter), opting to fly back to the US on their own. The concert was also often chided by the bands themselves as being hypocritical, as many of the musicians were drinking or using drugs at the time despite the ties with the Make a Difference Foundation.

Nevertheless, whatever happened backstage generally stayed backstage, and what went on onstage happened to turn out to be a spectacular rock festival that positively inspired people and epitomized the fall of the Soviet Union, the globalization of culture, and the glory of 1980s Glam metal.

[edit] Management

The concert was put together by the Make a Difference Foundation, rock producer Doc McGhee, and other major players in the Soviet Union and the United States.

[edit] Venue

The event was held over two days in Moscow's largest stadium, Lenin Stadium, which has a seating capacity of about 85,000. However, as the concert also included specators on the field, the number of attendees was probably around 100,000 or more. The event was the first rock concert to be held at the stadium, which was previously primarily used for sporting events.

[edit] Artists

[edit] Performances

Each band performed about a 6-song set, however the time lengths for some of the sets, particularly by Bon Jovi, are substantially longer. At the end of the concert was a collaboration of musicians equally representing the bands performing a rather sloppy rendition of "Rock and Roll" by Led Zeppelin.

The performances were shown on TV and are recapped in a video directed by Wayne Isham. Bootlegged copies of the performances are also available widespread on the Internet.

[edit] Album

Stairway to Heaven/Highway to Hell
Stairway to Heaven/Highway to Hell

The bands were all featured on the 1989 compilation album Stairway to Heaven/Highway to Hell, put out the Make a Difference Foundation. Each band recorded a song originally by some famous rock artist who had suffered a drug- or alcohol-related death. These included songs from The Who, the Sex Pistols, Jimi Hendrix, Tommy Bolin, Thin Lizzy, and Janis Joplin, along with a collaboration for Led Zeppelin's "Moby Dick" (for John Bonham), and a live collaboration where the bands perform a medley of Elvis Presley and Led Zeppelin songs.

Despite the intended anti-drug message of the album, some bands later admitted in interviews that the Moscow Music Peace Festival period ironically included much drug use.

[edit] Videos

Moscow Music Peace Festival Vol.1

Moscow Music Peace Festival Vol.2

[edit] Trivia

The event became known for inspiring the song "Wind of Change" by the Scorpions, a ballad which became a soundtrack to the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the Soviet Union, and communism in general.

Don't Blame Me: The Tales of Ozzy Osbourne states that after the event, Ozzy was given multiple bottles of Russian vodka. Ozzy drunk all of them and became "beyond drunk". It was then that Ozzy infamously attempted to kill his manager/wife Sharon Osbourne.

The Make A Difference Foundation was created by "Doc" McGee after his arrest for drug smuggling. As a condition of his parole he was to use his influence in the music world to start an anti- drug foundation.

[edit] References


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