by Ian Carroll
Despite the rain that that had just started, I was really looking forward to the next band, Def Leppard, I was a huge fan of ‘Pyromania’ which I had played to death for at least a year, this was my first change to see them after their lengthy hiatus caused by the never ending recording of ‘Hysteria’ and also because of Rick Allen’s terrible car accident. I was not disappointed, a huge crowd of us sang and bounced along to every track, we particularly went mental during ‘Photograph’. During this track our colleague Teapot decided to try his hand at crowd surfing; we were about half way back and just stood and gazed in amazement as he was thrown into the air getting nearer and nearer the front until he disappeared into the security pit at the front of stage. We did not see him again until the very end of the gig.
Def Leppard came and conquered, and I did not think it could get any better until that is the Scorpions hit the stage. At that point in time Scorpions were another of my favourite bands and I expected them to put in a tight performance, but Christ, they were absolutely fantastic.
They stormed the stage with so much energy and enthusiasm it was impossible not to get won over, highlights for me were 'Blackout', 'Big City Nights', 'The Zoo', 'Bad Boys Running Wild' and closing track 'Cant Get Enough' which of course included their patented human pyramid routine. That was easily one of the best and tightest sets I have ever witnessed at any festival and makes me smile just thinking about it - Rudy and the boys done good.
After Scorps we finally found the other half of our group that had wondered off for a piss three hour ago and of course spent a few minutes reminiscing about the Scorps and Leps sets. One of the biggest problems with festivals in those days was finding people when they got lost, no matter how hard you tried to use a flag or the legendary pizza bus as a point of reference, it was virtually impossible finding people in the mass of denim and leather, we all looked so similar. This of course is not a problem nowadays, the invention of the mobile phone has ensured that no matter where you get lost or how stupid you are, and you can always find your friends again (unless they don't want to be found).
Another staple at Donington (and other fests) is the dusk tradition of the good old bonfire! In good weather many people turn up in just a T-Shirt forgetting the fact that by sundown they will start to feel the chill no matter how much alcohol they have consumed. This of course requires action and this is when people’s minds turn to nice toasty camp fires. They say that there are three elements to fire: fuel, oxygen and ignition, all of these are readily available at any outdoor show. Oxygen is obviously everywhere, fuel has been thrown about all day and is readily available in bottle or cardboard form covering every inch of ground and last but not least we have ignition, which is in abundance via lighters which of course have been used throughout the day to light cigarettes and other slightly less legal variants and will also be used later to hold aloft during a headliner ballad.”
Roger Moore (Glinton, Peterborough)
“It was 1986 and off me and my friends went to Donington after going to the M.O.R .party at the Derby Rockhouse the night before with the Bailey Bros as the house dj’s I was a little worse for wear, but being cheered up by winning a Phonogram promo cap I was looking forward to the day ahead.
Having watched Warlock, Bad News and the return of the mighty Leps, I decided to go and meet up with my friends Nick and rich.
They came down waving two backstage passes I could not believe it, just been backstage but there’s not really any one there they said, how did you get them I asked. Seen these lads with 2 passes and we said give us your passes mate and true enough they did.
I was gob smacked Rich said if you want them you and Ribs go in while we watch Motorhead so off we went in; could not believe it backstage at Donington! I was like a kid in a sweet shop in we walked not many people about so we decided to sample the backstage beer, after one or two I was rubbing my eyes and in strolls Doro and Niko from Warlock, I thought I’d had one to many.
So I made haste and got her to sign my tour book, awesome, had a chat with them and they made there way to the bar , then I turned round and I could not believe my eyes return of the thunder god Mr Rick Allen after wetting myself I calmed myself down and made an approach ,
‘Rick can you sign my program’ I said and give him the book
He said ‘you will have to hold it for me’, I felt about two inches tall ,giving a one armed man a program and a pen at the same time how does he hold it ..
He saw the funny side and signed my book and we had a good chat. I then returned to watch Scorpions and told the lads of my experience not to say I had the piss taken out of me all night,
But what the hell I had an amazing day long live the Leps.....”
Jamie Taylor (Belper, Derbyshire)
“In comparison, 1986 was overcast and very cold. This contributed to the fact that our gang was depleted this year, with only half a dozen or so attending.
Ozzy put on a great show, being lowered to the stage on a giant throne. Even though the weather wasn’t great, the sound was very good. I think he was introduced on stage by Tommy Vance (but it could have been Jonathon King).
Once again I decided to venture to the front of the stage, this time to watch Scorpions who very rarely disappoint. I was rewarded by capturing one of Hermann Rarebell’s (used) drumsticks at the end of the set. This is still in my possession.
The highlight of Motorhead’s set was the fly over by a bomber aircraft. The low point being Lemmy’s bad mood and predicting (wrongly) how Motorhead would headline the following year’s festival.
Def Leppard’s set was predictably emotional, as it was the return of Rick Allen following his car crash. But alas they have never been my cup of tea, so beyond the curiosity factor I didn’t pay them too much attention.
Why was Bad News (a TV spoof band) put on the bill above Warlock (a bona fide rock group)? Fair enough, Warlock weren’t the greatest band in the world but they had their moments and of course……they had Doro. Probably the best photo in any of the Donington programmes was the one of Doro in leather trousers with a red crotch.
A day of mixed performances, fortunately Ozzy was on tiptop form.”
Paul Hartshorn (Chesterfield)
1987
Bon Jovi,
Dio, Metallica, Anthrax, WASP, Cinderella, The Bailey Brothers
Monsters Of Rock ’87 was unlike any other year; all of the line-up was made up of bands from the USA.
Glam metal and thrash were the flavours of the day with classic sets from most bands concerned.
Opening band, in the torrential rain, was Cinderella from Philadelphia. Already popular thanks to the constant video play for the single ‘Shake Me’ and the fact that their album ‘Night Songs’ was released almost a year to the day before they played at the festival and so was well known amongst the rock fraternity.
W.A.S.P. were also making their debut, but they would return in five years, but nothing would compare to their ‘shock rock’ show in 1987. With a large wooden wardrobe on stage as the main prop and a topless woman inside as the other prop, Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. proceeded to torture her and cut her throat with a large machete; Alice Cooper style theatrics gone mad!!!
The music was excellent, culling tracks from the ‘W.A.S.P.’ and ‘The Last Command’ albums, plus the anthem ‘Animal (Fuck Like A Beast), which had made them so popular, in a bad way, with the PMRC led by Tipper Gore in the States.
Next was a double dose of thrash; Anthrax making their first appearance and Metallica making their all conquering return.
Anthrax’s Joey Belladonna sang ‘Indians’ in full Native American headdress and the rest of the band wandered the stage, looking like a gathering of ‘surf bums’ in their Hawaiian shorts and t-shirts.
Metallica played their first Donington with Jason Newsted now on Bass as the replacement for the sadly departed Cliff Burton. Five tracks were played from ‘Master Of Puppets’, three tracks from ‘Ride The Lightning’, two tracks from ‘Kil
l ‘Em All’ and a few covers. Metallica played mid afternoon, but it would still be another 19 years before they would come back to Donington to play all of ‘Master Of Puppets’ track by track, including the very rarely played ‘Orion’ for the anniversary tour of the albums release.
Dio was back after a four year gap, having now scaled the bill to the special guest slot. With a band that now featured the astonishing guitar skills of Craig Goldy (who is still in the band today), the audience was treated to the best of Black Sabbath (‘Heaven And Hell’ and ‘Neon Knights’), Rainbow (‘Man On A Silver Mountain’ and ‘Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll’) and the best of Dio (including ‘Holy Diver’, ‘Stand Up And Shout’, ‘Last In Line’ and ‘Rainbow In The Dark’); an awesome appetizer for the Bon Jovi headline slot.
Bon Jovi at the time in ’87 were riding high on the success of the ‘Slippery When Wet’ album and Donington at the time was probably one of their biggest shows; eight of the ten tracks on the album were played on the day, with a selection from the previous two albums.
For the final encore of ‘We’re An American Band’ by Grand Funk Railroad, Bon Jovi were joined onstage by Paul Stanley (Kiss), Dee Snider (Twisted Sister) and Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden); Bruce let the ‘cat out of the bag’ that he would be back to headline with Iron Maiden the following year and Kiss would make their debut the following year as well.
Jon Bon Jovi was wearing a beard at Donington for this performance and looked very unlike his usual clean cut, boy next door, rock star image.
This year was also the first appearance for the Bailey Brothers, the music channel Rock & Metal poster boys and they recorded a lot of interviews and footage backstage for MTV; they would also return to host the show in 1988.
“It was our first Donington with Jason; we had played the ‘100 Club’ a couple days before as a little ‘warm up’ gig. I believe we had our first backdrop, ‘Crash Course In Brain Surgery’, a Pushead take on the Budgie song.
I remember there was a lot of expectation that day; I remember the general reception in the British media was that we were ‘luke warm’ that afternoon; I’m not sure that I remember us being radically different in our performance of luke warm?
I remember Jason having these baggy camouflage pants, on that may have been the most visual thing onstage, other than the Pushead backdrop.
It was a great week in London where we had played a brilliant gig at the legendary 100 Club a couple of days earlier, where the temperature far exceeded 100 degrees; probably the hottest gig we’d ever played. I remember Steve Harris from Iron Maiden was there watching us and we were like ‘oh my god, Steve Harris is watching us’, so I think that made us want to play better, but actually made us probably not play as good as we were nervous.”
Lars Ulrich (Metallica – Drums)
“I remember that Jon came over and said that we were all going to go up on stage and sing during there show as a finale. Paul Stanley was there and some people from other bands, so I said that I’d think about it, but I didn’t do it, it just wasn’t me. I certainly hope that Jon doesn’t hold that against me for all those years, but it was my decision and I didn’t do it.
The Donington festivals were always handled so well, Maurice Jones who did all those was a really good friend, so it was nice be around people that I had known and liked for a long time.
I just remember the show being somewhat like the show that we did in 1983. It’s a spectacular audience that are really into everything and they’ve always been extremely nice to me, as a matter of fact.
I found that both were great days, but the first one was the best, because it was the first; it was a great time and I remember them both very positively.
I’d love to play it again, with either band, Dio or Heaven And Hell.”
Ronnie James Dio (Dio – Vocals)
“I remember meeting Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley that day. They were sitting in with Bon Jovi later in their set that night. Both Gene and Paul were very nice to me that day! I especially remember Ritchie Sambora coming over to me just before we went on and said...”Go out there and kick some ass ...for me" I thought that was very cool of him to do that! Then just after that Ronnie came over to my side seconds before we went on and said..."Don't be so nervous...just remember who you are!!" That was a time in my life where there was a string of firsts....and that was one of them. Playing in front of over 80,000 people! And I knew that during my guitar solo I was going to motion to the crowd to answer me back. I would play a short memorable guitar melody and then motion to the crowd to sing it back to me! Well needless to say I was very nervous about that, but after a couple of times they all were glad to oblige me and 80,000 voices answered my guitar! That was a day to remember.....I know...I should know the year...but the plaque is in a storage unit in Colorado and I'm currently trying to get it back...it used to remember the date for me as it was a proud thing to display on my studio wall and will again!!” Craig Goldy (Dio – Guitar)
“Playing Donington 1987 was the biggest show we have ever played crowd wise up until that point in our career.
I remember arriving for soundcheck and watching DIO come out on stage to do his soundcheck; it was my first time seeing Dio perform live and meeting him. We then went on stage after Dio to perform our soundcheck. We all left after soundcheck and then returned to the venue the next morning.
It was raining as it always is in England.
The line up if I recall correctly was Cinderella, Wasp, Anthrax, Metallica, Dio and Bon Jovi.
I was able to catch a few songs from everyone that day and enjoyed all the performances that I saw.
That day was my first time meeting Steve Harris from Iron Maiden as well. Steve was nice enough to invite me, Danny Spitz, Frank Bello and Chris Holmes back to his house that night after the show. We spent the evening there eating Indian food, playing pool and just having fun. Our show was great; it was total mayhem from start to finish.
It was a great experience and the fans did not let us down.”
Joey Belladonna (Anthrax – Vocals)
“Lets put it this way, There are some guys in this world that like to go out and Rock’N’ Roll and kick some ass, there are some other guys that want to stay home and wash dishes and wear aprons and I Ain’t one of those”
Blackie Lawless (W.A.S.P. – Vocals/Bass)
“1987 was an amazing year for the Bailey Brothers, to be on the MOR bill with some of the world’s major stars like Bon Jovi and Metallica is something we are very proud of. We were the only British act on the American dominated bill. We wanted to bring something different to the MOR in terms of a visual and audio show. Our idea was to have a huge screen that the audience could watch our videos on. We also wanted a camera filming us back stage interviewing the performers and guests thus bringing the whole event to the fans.
Unfortunately, those facilities were not provided as requested but we still managed to entertain the fans with a mix of good music and the Bailey’s banter.
MOR 1987 highlighted the great divide between Glam and Metal and you had the 80’s hairspray brigade getting bottles of piss thrown at them from the Metal fans. Somebody had to get out their and pull the fans together before trouble erupted and we rose to the challenge. The response through out the day from the fans was tremendous; to see and hear 70.000 fans singing along with you and clapping their hands is just a real adrenalin rush. Everyone always reports on the bands but with out the fans there is no show and we thank all of them for making us so welcome at the Monsters Of Rock. We also thank Maurice Jones and his team for the opportunity.
Rock Not POP!
During the day we encouraged the fans to write in to BBC Radio One and demand more rock on the radio. We called this petition Rock Not Pop and our catch phrase was born. In the weeks that followed the station was inundated with letters which resulted in them playing rock in the day time. It was good whilst it lasted but at least we made our point.
Back stage the highlight for us was bei
ng with Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of Kiss. It would turn out to be one of many close encounters with the legends.”
The Bailey Brothers (Mick & Dez Donington Comperes)
“My first time at the festival was in 1987 when I came over with Anthrax. I was working with them at the time and it was not only my first time at Donington but my first time in England.
I recall the guys in Anthrax "bombing" my room the first night, shaving cream in the bed, etc. Made it very difficult to sleep that first night!
I recall the size of the mosh pit that day and that Scott Ian made me shoot the entire performance from the side of the stage. This is when video cameras where the size of a brick! Not fun but still an incredible thing to see.”
Eddie Trunk (USA Rock Radio DJ )
“I did a second Donington in 1987, the infamous “all-American” festival. The headliner was Bon Jovi. I was there with Anthrax. Metallica played also. The sound companies were Rocksound (from Germany) and Malcolm Hill. Hill had a huge (and very good sounding) system flanking the main Rocksound speakers. I remember reading a telling article in Kerrang! the day before the show. The essence of the piece was an extremely perceptive whinge about the Donington show sound. The author had attended many a show there and wondered why, given the virtual mountain of speakers, all the opening acts sounded weak and puny whilst the headliner sounded massive. What if you didn't give a toss about the headliner? Your favorite(s) sounded lame! Shouldn't every band sound good? You paid your hard earned pounds to see and hear all the bands. The author had heard this at all the Donington Park shows and was quite fed-up.