by Ian Carroll
Before the gig Dave and the band discussed the set list, which included songs like ‘California Girls’, ‘Just A Gigolo’ and ‘Just Like Paradise’ that were more in a pop vain. Some of the band thought we should leave out those songs and do a set that featured the harder material rather than the commercial songs because it was of course Donington. Kiss was headlining that day and there were a lot of harder bands like Guns n’ Roses and others on the bill.
Well, we did our regular set without change and the crowd responded great and we left with a sense that we had left an impression on the audience regardless of the suits or the set list selection. But there was no question that the Vai era was coming to a close and I was bummed to see that happening.
I also remember being pretty impressed with Paul Stanley’s voice. Donington was the first time I’d ever heard Kiss live. They really did rock and the crowd loved them. I’ve always respected their impact on music and especially their contribution to the theatrical part of rock and roll. Hats off to them….”
Brett Tuggle (David Lee Roth – Keyboards)
“I have played bigger in my dreams.”
Dave Mustaine (Megadeth – Vocals/Guitar)
“Donington 1988 was the first big festival I had played and it had a significant place in my world because I used to listen to the Castle Donington album when I was about 17 years old. That record featured Rainbow (with Graham Bonnet), April Wine, Scorpions and a bunch of other cool up and coming bands of that time. This was when I was at home in Minnesota, before I moved to California and met Dave Mustaine. I remember going ‘wow this is friggin’ great’ because I was getting into all those bands at that time.
I played in ’88 on the ‘So Far, So Good, So What?’ album and Maiden headlined; they were on their ‘Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son’ album and we played 7 dates with them on that tour, in America just before.
So Castle Donington just sounded awesome, coming from America there was always this affinity and infatuation with Europe and all bands starting out wanted to get to Europe.
So coming over here was huge and to play Castle Donington was the moment that ‘you had arrived’.
Donington is an event for everyone and everyone who's anyone is always there, either as a performer or spectator. The day I played there I recall pulling up in the tour bus and there were 107,000 people in attendance. Literally farther than the eye could see.
You can always tell Download because of the barricade split down the middle. So, every time you see a photo you know that it was Download or even AC/DC live at Donington, because you can see that gap and it’s a tell tale sign of any ‘live’ photo.
I remember flying in and meeting the Guns N’ Roses guys at the airport. I think that they had been touring America with Aerosmith and they flew the Concorde over, bastards!
So the part of the video footage in the ‘Paradise City’ music video, where you see the Concorde, that’s them, flying to Donington.
So we met at a truck stop and got something to eat with Steven Adler along the way, as our bands were friends in LA.
When they played they were kicking ass, they were just great. I remember seeing them open for the Cult when they were this little ‘Hollywood bar band’ on these big stages. The record was taking off and I remember thinking ‘wow’ these guys had really spent some time on big stages.
Guns n' Roses played before us and unfortunately 2 people were killed in the audience and I think that after that they stopped having it for a while then reorganised it and eventually it became Download.
David Lee Roth was after us, with Kiss and Iron Maiden to follow. We left when Kiss were playing, so we didn’t see Maiden.
The stand out memory in 1988 was that the fans would throw 2 liter bottles of urine at the stage, presumably because they were smashed in so tight in the crowd that they couldn't 'relieve' themselves from their beer consumption any other way than to pee on the ground or in the bottle they just drank from. Having no where to put it they simply threw it at the band!
They were also throwing huge clumps of mud which made for good sport while trying to thrash. In fact, using my bass guitar as a defensive shield against the trash being at the stage was as much fun as the actual show itself On a personal note, that was the kind of the last show for me. I was at the end of a very old life for me; I did a lot of drugs and I was really ‘strung out’. To be honest, it was kind of bitter sweet for me because I remember showing up there and thinking I had worked my whole life for this and it was a dream, I was standing on the stage at Donington, sick as a dog, feeling like shit and I remember that after that I went home and started the re-hab circuit.”
David Ellefson (Megadeth – Bass)
“I was here for Rainbow in 1980 - I had waited all my life for this moment.”
Chuck Behler (Megadeth – Drums)
“I was really excited, to see Guns n’ Roses and David Lee Roth, who was brilliant, really brilliant, ‘cept this big bloke in front who kept shouting ‘DAVE’ at Dave Lee Roth and trying to give him a cigar.
GNR were like giants, they were fantastic, they were brilliant.”
Tony Wright (Terrorvision – Vocals)
“I went in 1988 as a paying customer with my girlfriend at the time and we’d got the bus down from Glasgow. We were drunk out of our minds.
There were around 107,000 people there that year and it was the year that unfortunately those two young lads lost their lives during Guns n’ Roses; obviously the hype regarding G’N’R was huge and the crowd was just out of control. I remember being stuck in the crowd and we were in a situation where you couldn’t even get your arms above your head.
We had just started the Almighty and we were about six or seven months into the bands career and I remember standing there thinking ‘this is amazing; I want to be on the stage and I want to play there’.
Ricky Warwick (The Almighty – Vocals/Guitar)
“The1988 MOR was one of the Bailey Brothers most memorable and successful performances in our history. Not only were we back on the MOR bill, we were writers and presenters of MTV’s number one rated programme. This time the cameras would follow us back stage as we interviewed every band on the mega bill. They also filmed us on stage in front of over 100,000 thousands fans many chanting our catch phrase ‘Rock Not Pop’.
Kiss sent us a bottle of Champagne round to our dressing room which was a real nice touch.
Jonathan King thought he could do what the Bailey’s did and just walk out on stage. I don’t think anyone in the history of the MOR has had more shit thrown at them. He was covered from head to toe in mud and piss. He came up to us after the show asking for a copy of the film footage. We didn’t oblige.
It was almost non stop for about fourteen hours at the 88 MOR for the Bailey Brothers.
We felt we deserved a drink after the festival and hung out with our manager at the time John Doukas. Ex Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson joined us and nearly got us kicked out of the hotel .We kept this old guy called Bert serving us until 5 AM in the morning but Robbo still wanted more and had a secret stash of lager bottles hidden behind a plant by the entrance door. We all went up to his room and as he was going to take a drink a slug appeared from the bottle and Brian was screaming at the top of his voice,” look a Fookin’ wee little beastie”. He still drank from the bottle as the hotel manager came to try and remove us. We had put the slug in the bath and told the manager we would report him to the environmental health if he didn’t leave us alone and he apologized and left us to it.
When Guns N’ Roses were booked to play the MOR they were a band on their way up. It was during their set that two fans died although none of us knew at the time. By the time they hit the stage they were the band everybody wanted to see. In all the years of MOR it had never been this full.
Sadly one of the greatest rock and Metal concerts in British history will always be tinged with sadness”.
RIP Alan Dick and Landon Siggers”
The Bailey Brothers
(Mick & Dez Bailey Donington Comperes)
“But the fans themselves were always the best, always polite and always there just for the music (with the bonus of beer and bottle throwing of course...). Apart from the tragic year the two boys died there was very little trouble, very few arrests, maybe six or seven. Donington was immensely hard work, we took it seriously but we loved it. It played a major part in my life for more than a decade and I rather enjoyed being queen of the rock chicks for a day. I even received a ‘Music Week’ Top PR Award for my work on it so we must have been doing something right!” Judy Totton (Monsters Of Rock PR)
“Iron Maiden and their soundman Doug Hall, for years they challenged any band to blow them off the stage and would provide all the watts they needed to try. As a matter of fact, the 1988 Donington featured Iron Maiden and Doug assembled a huge sound system. Doug gave everybody everything and our Big Mick attested to this. He was once again in attendance (in what capacity I don't recall). I saw him later at another festival and he gave the sound system his highest accolade: “Raging.” The 100,000 plus music fans got their money's worth that day.
I hope this little missive informed and enlightened those of you who are interested in these sorts of sordid details. Alas, my many years as a soundman were full of moments like these. But, like, golf, the one great shot keeps you going. The shows where the band and the sound system came together and built a powerful musical experience were some of the finest moments of my working life.”
George Geranios (Sound Engineer)
“Over the next couple of years I'd started listening to heavier stuff - Faith No More had exploded onto the scene and that really expanded my musical horizons. Guns ‘n’ Roses were quite the buzz band and their inclusion on the bill prompted me to get a ticket. I was driving and had my own car by now, so no coach ticket was required.
One of my best mates at the time was a chap called Dave Shackleton (known to all as Shack). He's now married to Nikki Chapman (from Pop Idol) and a bigwig at Sony BMG (I haven't seen him in years) but I'd known him when he was stacking shelves at Grandways.
He was a big Rush, Saga & Sabbath fan and his ambition in the Grandways days was to be a music journalist. In 1988 he was freelancing for Kerrang! and about to become managing editor of "Metal Forces" magazine.
Shack didn't drive and needed a ride to Donington. I had an underpowered 1.3L Capri MkIII and I gained my first guest pass to any event in exchange for a lift. I agreed, and managed to sell my ticket for just below ‘face value’ to a friend in Halifax.
Queuing up to get in, my fan belt went. Not a huge problem as I was there - I'd think about getting home later! Looking for the car parks, Shack said to go to the guest area. We drove up to the paddock entrance, but we didn't have a car pass! Who'd have known that your guest pass wouldn't get your vehicle in! I pulled over as the ever resourceful Shack went into the site on foot, found Malcolm Dome and borrowed his car pass for my car! Sorted. I drove my overheating car into the guest car park. I had AA Membership, but figured they wouldn't manage to get in so left it for the end of the day.
Walking into the little backstage village, there was the EMI pavilion and smaller marquees owned by the likes of Warners & Kerrang!. Girlschool were sat outside the Kerrang! tent, Vixen & Maiden were lounging around in the EMI one. Everyone had free food & drink so I was rather annoyed with my chauffeur role for the day. Kerrang! were just about to launch their 100th issue (they were bi-weekly at the time) and I had the first piece of their guitar shaped cake. At one point queuing up for the toilet Slash stumbled over me, bottle of Jack in hand.
It was a pleasant walk from there to the arena, along a line of trees behind the stage which seem to be long gone. There were people all around the entrance, offering to buy my pass off me but I ignored them and went on in. My attempts to find somewhere to get a Guns n’ Roses shirt were in vain - sold out, so I had to make do with a Dave Lee Roth one. We were late in and had missed the openers Helloween, so had to watch Guns n’ Roses from the top of the hill. A good job really, considering the events that it later transpired had happened - the crush during G n’R's set. We weren't really aware that anything had happened at the time, we were so far back.
Megadeth were ok, never really been my thing. Dave Lee Roth entertained as expected. Kiss were without makeup, and I found them quite dull and we returned to the backstage area to watch on the big screen in the EMI tent while Shack interviewed Vixen on the next table. Of course when Iron Maiden came on, everybody was booted out of the guest area to go and watch from the arena. It was the first time I'd seen Maiden, and they put on a great show. The latest album was ‘Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son’ and they had a huge set and backdrop. I think this was also the only time Kiss ever broke their promise that they would never play support to anyone who had supported them in the past...
Trudging back to the car, I remembered the fan belt. This was, of course, before mobile phones so I drove out of the gates, and there was a phone box near the Park Farm Hotel that I called the AA from. Due to the traffic it was three hours before he reached me. One new fan belt later and we were on our way home - I remember dropping Shack off just as it was getting light.”
Phil Hull (Download Forum Administrator)
“1988 was the one and only time of my visiting the ‘Monsters of Rock’ at Donington, but it was a real eye opener.
It was the first time I’d gone to any festival, so it was a great start. Having arrived by coach early, there was a time of hanging around and waiting in anticipation. When it was time to go in, I was scared and excited all at the same time. All the hoards of people heading towards the stage area waiting for the first band – being Helloween. I was quite new to their music, but I do remember ‘Dr Stein’ being played and thoroughly enjoyed it. There were a couple of people in front of me throwing oranges at the stage and I was really annoyed, but I was too young and too nervous to say anything.
Guns n’ Roses were fantastic. I had been looking forward to seeing them and it was just before they became well known. It was a time I still had enough room to dance to their tracks on the dance floor at the local rock night, but you just knew they were going to be really big. I would say it was the best time to see them live, Axl Rose looked stunning and you were actually able to get close enough to see. They played a really good set that included ‘Mr Brownstone’ and ‘Paradise City’ to name just two.
Megadeth were disappointing to me, but only because of all the swearing. I remember the comment of ‘thanks for giving us all your f**king money’. I can remember the music being good though, but only if you could get past all the obscenities in-between.
Dave Lee Roth. What a performer! He put on a fabulous stage show and although I would have classed him as being fairly commercial, you couldn’t help but enjoy yourself. He was already a legend at that time, and so it was a real treat to see him live on stage.
Kiss were on next, but this was the one band that didn’t appeal so much to me personally, and so I took the opportunity to go and buy a t-shirt. It was a good idea at the time, but the only t-shirts that were left had several different bands listed on the back that didn’t actually play! I remember Anthrax being listed at the bottom, and felt really gutted that they weren’t actually there.
At that time, Iron Maiden was my favourite band. I worked my way up to the front and got hit on the head with a couple of two litre bottles, but did not want to think about what they contained. I was determined to stand my ground, as I’d seen them live before and had a huge crush on Bruce Dickinson. I also wanted to get a good look at Eddie on stage. If I remember correctly, it was the time of their ‘Somewhere On Tour’ and I had my ‘Somewhere In Time’ watch on (which I was very proud of). I then got hit with a small lemonade bottle and had to give up and move back, as this one really hurt. I didn’t miss too much though, as they had large screens on each side of the stage that I could watch. I was on a high as they performed an amazing show - again.
The down side was whe
n we heard about the people getting crushed at the front and later found out how serious it had been.
The day was over, but the ordeal continued with trying to find my coach. I found out that the one I should have been on was in amongst all the coaches heading for Glasgow. I didn’t know this, as they weren’t there when we had arrived and it was now dark, so I didn’t have a clue where I was. I did manage to get on another coach heading in the same direction, but I was absolutely exhausted. My friends supposedly kept asking me questions that I had been answering in my sleep, but with answers that didn’t make sense. I then woke up thinking that we’d stopped at a service station, but to find out that we had actually broken down. Looking back now though, it did add to the fond memory of a brilliant day that happened all those years ago.
Thanks for the experience Donington!”
Diane Newman (Plymouth)
“We were there with an army this time.
This year it seemed different; more excitement, much bigger, more build up than the year before and the line up was fantastic. I can honestly say it was my all time favourite line up. Helloween, Guns N’ Roses, Megadeth, Dave Lee Roth (with the legend Steve Vai on guitar) Kiss and Iron Maiden.
The weather was bad but that didn’t put anyone off, I recall one of the video screen collapsing in the wind. The crowd was this huge, massive, energy charged monster that exploded when the first band Helloween came on stage. One second I was on the right hand side of the stage midway from the front and sound stage then a second later I was on the left side of the stage and my feet never touched the floor! I was grabbing on to anyone around me and everyone else seemed to be holding onto me.
Guns N’ Roses were due to come on and the crowd was getting more packed. I could feel nothing but pain as I was squashed, but this was the band I wanted to see. Some girl got in a panic and me and a few guys got her over the crowd and carried down to the front. When they came on I have never seen or been in a crowd like that, or since. Another small girl was frantic to get out. There was no way she could escape, people were pushing people out of the way to pick her up off the floor, they got her up and managed to put on some dudes shoulder where she hung on for life, they were band of the day for me.