Monsters of Rock was an annual (hard rock / heavy metal) music festival held in England, that branched into other locations like The Netherlands, France, Italy, Germany, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Chile.
In 1980, promoter Paul Loasby planned a day-long summer festival dedicated specifically to bands from within the heavy rock and metal genre. As he had been promoting the recent Rainbow UK tour, he asked the bands to headline, to which they agreed. The venue chosen for the event was the Donington Park motor racing circuit at Castle Donington, Leicestershire.
The first Monsters of Rock line-up consisted of a mix of British and international hard rockers and heavy metal bands and was a success with 35,000 people attending. It was the first edition of what would become a regular festival for the next 15 years.[1] Over the years, the attendance continued to grow, reaching 107,000 in 1988.
From 1990 until 1996, Monsters of Rock continued on as the premier hard rock event in Great Britain. In 1997 however, just as the event organisers were planning to add a second day, it was canceled due to a lack of quality headliner. In 2006, another festival by the name of Monsters of Rock was held at Milton Keynes Bowl, England headlined by Deep Purple and with Alice Cooper as a special guest. The festival has been held in parallel in West Germany from 1983 to 1991. In 1988, the festival occurred for the first time in France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands and USA. It was held as a one time shot in 1991 in Soviet Union, Poland, Belgium, Hungary. In 1994, the festival was exported overseas to Chile, Argentina, Brazil.
Contents |
August 16, 1980
August 22, 1981
August 21, 1982
August 20, 1983
August 18, 1984
August 17, 1985
August 16, 1986
August 22, 1987
August 20, 1988
Two people were accidentally crushed to death during Guns N' Roses performance of "It's So Easy." The tragedy was initially blamed on crowd disturbances: in reality it was a combination of people at the front of the 107,000 strong audience moshing and slipping in the mud in conjunction with a sudden surge to see the band. This caused organizers to not hold a festival in 1989.
No event took place this year.
August 18, 1990
The entire 1990 festival was simultaneously broadcast live on BBC Radio 1
August 17, 1991
August 22, 1992
No event took place this year.
June 4, 1994 The festival featured two stages in 1994 Main stage:
Second Stage:
August 26, 1995 1995 was not officially billed as 'Monsters Of Rock' but as 'Escape from the Studio' due to Metallica's decision to headline while recording the Load album.
August 17, 1996 1996 saw Ozzy Osbourne and Kiss co-headline, with Kiss being the final band onstage.
Main stage:
Kerrang! Stage:
Monsters of Rock returns as a touring indoor festival.
Monsters of Rock's spiritual successor Download Festival takes place for the first time at Donington Park and has occurred every year since then.
Buenos Aires, River Plate Stadium - September 3 and 4, 1994
Buenos Aires, Ferro Carril Oeste Stadium - September 9 and 10, 1995
Buenos Aires, Ferro Carril Oeste Stadium - December 13, 1997
Buenos Aires, Vélez Sársfield Stadium - December 12, 1998
Buenos Aires, River Plate Stadium - May 14, 1999
Buenos Aires, Ferro Carril Oeste Stadium - September 11, 2005
Hasselt, Belgium, Domein Kiewit - August 30, 1991
Santiago, Estación Mapocho - September 1, 1994
Santiago, Teatro Caupolican - September 8, 1995
Santiago, Teatro Caupolican - September 9, 1995
Santiago, Velódromo Estadio Nacional - December 10, 1998
Santiago, Pista Atlética Estadio Nacional - September 13, 2005
Santiago, Pista Atlética Estadio Nacional - April 1, 2008
São Paulo, Estádio do Pacaembu - August 27, 1994
São Paulo, Estádio do Pacaembu - September 2 and 3, 1995
São Paulo, Estádio do Pacaembu - August 24, 1996
São Paulo, Ibirapuera - September 26, 1998
Note: Face to Face was a French band related to Trust. Faith No More was not on the ticket list but was present to the show.[2]
The bands Danzig and Gun both canceled their appearances at the festival. They are featured on the poster for the event.
Largest crowd ever in a Monsters of Rock Festival, with estimates of 1.5 million people, considered as one of the most attended rock concerts in history. Metallica's performances of "Harvester of Sorrow" and "Creeping Death" from this show were used as B-sides for the Sad but True single in different regional editions.
Saxon wrote the song 'And the Bands Played On' about their appearance at the 1980 festival.
The 1986 appearance by Bad News was featured in the TV mockumentary 'More Bad News'.
In the 1994 Beavis and Butt-head episode Take A Number, Beavis and Butt-head attempt to get tickets to Creatures of Rock which is a parody of Monsters of Rock.
In 2000, radio host Harlan launched the radio show called "Monsters of Rock" which is produced by Earl Blackheart and is now distributed on the United Stations Network to radio stations across North America.
In the 2005 Half Man Half Biscuit song Mate of the Bloke, the protagonist sings of legal action taken against him by More O'Ferrall for spraying the legend "in church hall if wet" onto a billboard for Monsters of Rock.
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