by Ian Carroll
Iron Maiden later put on the best show they had ever done.
Sore wet drained we made our way home.
We never had mobile phones back then, when I got home in the early hours all the lights were on. I opened the door and my girlfriend was up and my family were there, she was upset I asked ‘what is up?’ She showed me a video of the news from that day, the news had a caption saying Guns N’ Roses, but the footage was of Helloween then it said that two people had died, my heart sank, and she was upset because it could have been me.”
Paul Townsend (Widnes)
“When entering the arena on this tragic day it was obvious to me that something was wrong, there appeared to be far more people attending than any previous year and obviously far more than the 80,000 ‘ish that I thought was the limit. The crowd usually thinned out significantly at the back around the track area where the stalls were located, however, on this day it was even packed around this area. We later learned that there was something in the region of 107,000 there, many of which I believe had got in over the walls etc.
We moved somewhat slower than usual to our preferred location stage left (which always seemed to have more room than the same area stage right) just as Helloween started up, these fun German nutters were riding on the success of their popular 'Keeper of the Seven Keys' opus and went down relatively piss bottle free.
During the end of Helloweens set the scaffolding and video screen on the left collapsed forward and ended up being held just above the crowds heads by the metal fence at the back, if the fence had not been there I think that the scaffolding would have ended up hitting a good few tightly packed punters underneath it.
I was yet to get into Guns N’ Roses and so had no intention of trying to move further forward for their set, looking back I am glad that this was the case as who knows what would have happened if were was unfortunate enough to get caught in the crush that occurred during their set. Besides, this was the first time I had taken my girlfriend (later and still Wife) Sue to a festival and there was no way I was going to jeopardise her safety.
From our vantage point, the crowd looked rowdy but it was not until Axl started to talk about people being hurt, I forget his words exactly but at one point just before 'Welcome to The Jungle' he asked the crowd to step back as there were people unconscious. It became apparent that it was worse down there than it appeared to us, in fact we were oblivious to the severity of what had happened until the end and did not understand the it properly until we got home and turned on the news the next day. It was however apparent that the front was not the place to be and that people were being injured! During the interval after G n’ R’s set I saw a youngish bloke stumble passed us, covered in blood, with a garden cane sticking out of his neck, strangely he was laughing, I have no idea whether this was real or an elaborate make up job but it looked real enough to me. We also heard from passers by that people had been injured.
Although the atmosphere was somewhat less jovial than previous events we continued to enjoy the strong lineup and of course the contents of our 5 litre beer containers. Next up were Megadeth who were ok but seemed to suffer from a less than great sound, I was not overly impressed especially as the largest woman on the planet was blocking our view decked out in the most shockingly pink rain coat and matching umbrella that I have ever seen. Every time we tried to move this pink elephant seemed to move with us.
After what was surely the bottle fight to end all bottle fights, David Lee Roth was next up, and thankfully the Pink one had moved on to annoy other unfortunates. The master showman soon had us eating out of his hands as he ploughed through Van Halen classics such as 'Hot for Teacher' and 'Jump' along with his solo material, the best being 'Yankee Rose' always memorable because of the conversation he always had with Steve Via’s Guitar (guitar responding to Dave’s queries). Part way in to the set Dave seemed to be experiencing problems within the crowd and had to stop at least twice until calm was restored, at one point a security guard got on stage and was told to 'Get Off My Fucking Stage'. I was unsure when we first heard whether the deaths had occurred during GNR or DLR as the crowd seemed possibly denser during Dave’s set.
During the next interval we decided to have a wonder around the stalls but soon gave up due to the sheer amount of people milling about, it was like wadding through treacle trying to get anywhere and had become a mammoth task just trying to get to the toilets. I felt particularly sorry for the ladies who had to endure massive queues, worse than on any other occasion at any festival I have attended to date.
A new phenomenon seemed to be emerging during this show, it was of course the human pyramid, I had never witnessed this before and it may have started elsewhere but there seemed to be a lot of people trying it out on that day, some where quite impressive and had reached at least five or six high. This of course was deemed mega fun for the bottle throwers who all aimed their missiles at the pyramids until they collapsed under the onslaught, this was a great way to spend the interval time for all concerned: pyramid builders, bottlers and observers, I remained in the latter category as I could not be bothered with either of these activities.
It was soon time for Kiss to hit the boards. The version of Kiss that graced us with its presence on this day was of course the 'Crazy Nights' era incarnation minus the make-up and to a certain extent, the fun. Musically I quite enjoyed them during the 80’s and with Eric Carr and Bruce Kullick on board they were certainly way more technically proficient, however, live they were simply not the same beast without the gimmicks, pyros and most importantly the outfits. That said, I enjoyed their set but had that nagging feeling that they were not firing on all cylinders (this was proven correct when I later witnessed the original masked lineup, several times, including their stunning Donington headline of ‘96).
The year before, during Bon Jovi's set, Bruce Dickinson had announced that Maiden would be headlining the following year, so there was no surprise when this was confirmed in Kerrang! sometime after Christmas. At the time Maiden was still one of my favourite live bands and as it was their first appearance at Donington I was eagerly anticipating their set. Again, I was not disappointed, we were treated to arguably the best stage show of any MOR so far and one of the tightest set lists, Maiden reigned supreme on that day.
I have mixed emotions when thinking back to what was easily the most memorable of the Monsters Of Rock gigs, on one hand, the music was superb and company great as always, on the other hand, it was hard to come to terms with the fact that two people had arrived at the festival as we did, expecting to have the time of their lives but never returned home. On the plus side, the events of that day have forced changes in festival safety which have been implemented and improved ever since. I now feel incredibly safe standing near the front at Download or elsewhere and thankfully have never witnessed that kind of chaos since.
RIP Allan Dick and Landon Siggers, you shall always be remembered.”
Roger Moore (Glinton, Peterborough)
“What I can remember is the night before MOR (1988) me & my friend went to a local rock nightclub, left at 4:00am-ish grabbed a couple of hour’s kip, and then headed off to meet up with some other of our mates; jumped in the back of their van and headed off.
It was the first really big rock festival we had been to. We couldn't quite believe that we were able to see so many bands on the same day!
I'd never seen so many rockers in one place. They were everywhere...it was an incredible sight...I still remember the Dunlop tyre... (Now sadly gone) standing out...
It was very muddy as it rained heavily most of the time and at one point we ended up wearing the famous black bin bag
coats.
Later (after plenty of Cider) when Guns N’ Roses were on, we were stood about a third of the way back, when the crowd surged forward, but my mum (back at home) panicked when she heard on the radio about two people getting crushed and remember it was in the days before mobiles. She had no way of contacting me, worse for her was that all the
previous rock gigs I’d
been to, I had always been at the front. So she was very worried to say the least. So when I returned home safe. Her face was a picture.
Having said that, all in all (excluding the 2 unfortunate deaths of course) I can say it was a fantastic experience and has led to me continuing going to festivals and rock gig for over 30 years!
And long may it continue.”
Deborah Mowforth (debbywebby)
“1988, still at 6th form and a skinny 17yr old. I just about managed to scrape enough money to go to Donington.
I worked in a pub bottling up and one of the regulars was going with his mate to the festival from Newbury! (Can't remember his name) So myself and a good friend Mike (He introduced me to the ‘Appetite For Destruction’ album about 2 months before, so I couldn't wait to see them) scrounged a lift in a tiny mini metro to MOR.
Pink & purple swim shorts, a Reading Festival 1987 tour T-Shirt, doc martins, topped off with an old brown leather jacket that I bought from a friend for £10 and I was ready to ROCK.
We eventually made it to Castle Donington, my first of many MOR/DL concerts. I can remember walking over the race track near the famous tyre and looking down (the stage was at the bottom of the hill in a bowl) and the area was pretty full considering no one was on stage yet.
I think we quaffed a few lagers and made our way down for Helloween and positioned ourselves behind one of the speaker/lighting rigs to the left hand side of the stage.
When GnR’s hit the stage, wow, by that time we had ventured forward as close as possible, no room to move and then they kicked off with ‘It’s So Easy’, I can remember all of a sudden being about 30 ft from where I was first stood. Jesus it was insane, trying to stay on your feet as the ground was a bog pit! The 1st song went by and by this time I had lost my friend Mike and the other 2 that we had come with! I was now squeezed in about 20-30ft from the front. Next song kicked off and yet again it was just a case of trying to stay on your feet. I remember helping people who had fallen or ended up on the floor, pulling them up and then bouncing along with them in the scrum.
At one point they stopped the set and asked people to move back as the people at the front were getting crushed, so for about 20-30 seconds we could breath a bit, then the next song started and back to the mass of bodies running from left to right, trying to stay upright.
At this point 1 guy had fallen over and I picked him up with another chap, he was semi conscious and we held him under his arms and started to make our way back as there was no way he could stand on his own. I remember shouting and yelling at people to ‘get the f*** out the way’, as myself and this complete stranger struggled to carry the chap out of the masses. As we struggled towards the speaker/lighting rig, which was fenced off, I thought my legs were wet.....and yes the chap I was carrying had thrown up all over my shorts and legs, um lovely.
All I remember then is that we eventually got this chap to the fenced off lighting/speaker area and not so much threw him but tried to place him in the safety of this area. I'm not sure what happened to this chap but I'd like to think that the 2 of us had helped him survive?
From there I ventured back away from the bouncing masses to the relative safety of mid viewing. I look back and think it was one of the scariest times I have ever experienced at a gig and only that I stayed on my feet stopped me from becoming a statistic.
After GnR’s, I decided not to go to close to the front to watch the remaining bands. Although for DLR I did get right to the front, but that was it.
I didn't find any of my friends until I went back to the car after Iron Maiden. One hell of an experience and I was so hooked and had one of the most memorable days at a festival. So much so I went to MOR in Bochum Germany the following week, Awesome.”
Russell Kennerley (Newbury)
“At long last British Heavy Metal heroes Iron Maiden finally got their shot at headlining Britain’s top rock festival.
Their show was based around the ‘Seventh Son’ album. And with an impressive stage set and song selection they wowed the crowd with an excellent performance worthy of their position at the top of the bill.
However there was an impressive line up beneath them……
Kiss performed a no nonsense, no make up set, that would have set the crowd alight had it not been for a very colourful Dave Lee Roth and co. strutting their stuff with typical American bombast and flair immediately before them. Steve Vai brought out his triple necked, heart shaped guitar at one point.
The Dave Lee Roth T-shirts were probably the best of the day also.
We all know what happened during Guns n’ Roses performance, although we didn’t at the time. The bands meteoric rise to superstardom had caught the organisers out (they were only second from bottom on the bill, which was probably right when they were originally booked). A sad day for rock music.
Both Megadeth and Helloween were OK, but nothing special.
The weather was windy and wet.
Due to repercussions following the deaths of the two fans during Guns n’ Roses’ set there was a year out in 1989.”
Paul Hartshorn (Chesterfield)
“I have numerous experience’s from Monsters of Rock, the first year I went was 1988 with my Mum and Dad (I was 14 and lucky for me they loved their rock music, they still do in fact!) and I was hooked. I was such a huge Maiden fan from the age of 7 as my Mum and Dad use to hammer “Number of the Beast”; so to see them in a scale so big was out of this world. I have not missed a MOR or Download since so that’s quite a few years! Memories that stand out for me on this wondrous one day event (apart from the horrible drive home after drinking too much warm beer), were the human pyramids, I remember my first year attempting one, I ended up in A & E the next day with 5 other people dressed in Monsters of Rock T-shirts who I had never met adorning the same type of bruises I had. They were definitely not for the faint hearted and luckily enough they have kind of gone out of fashion! I remember a load of us had piled down in a transit van with no windows and just a mattress for protection in the back, we pulled up near the Hallowed Turf next to 3 other transit vans who’s doors opened and what seemed like hundreds of people rolling out the back, believe me if you ever wanted to know how many people you could fit into the back of a transit van…….it was a hell of a lot! Also, one thing that had always tickled me is how some people had a total utter need to wear their full tasselled leather jackets with patches and some even with the denim cut off jacket over the top in 90 degree heat!! Then again I guess that still happens but with the addition of New Rock Boots in Download Festival!!” Jude Wright (Wallasey, Merseyside)
“During the Guns n’ Roses set in 1988 and the resulting crush that unfortunately took 2 of our fellow fans, myself and a friend were about 10 metres from the barrier and feeling the pressure from all the people around us, so we decided to get the hell out of there..
As we turned to get away a girl was also trying to get out, but she was heavily pregnant; we advised going over the top of the crowd as the quickest and probably safest way out for her, but she wanted to walk out. So we got the girl between us, with my friend at the front and me at the back. We somehow managed to get all 3 (4 if you include the baby) out of that hell.
She thanked us for our help (as if we could say no) and that was the last we saw of her.
I often find myself wondering how the girl got on and hope that her baby was well and who knows might be attending the festival these years, as he/she will be what 22 years old now....I can only hope.”
Martin Scott (Ayr)
“What an amazing festival line-up that was, Maiden, Kiss, Guns n’ Roses, David Lee Roth, Megadeth etc.
By the time we entered the main arena we were pretty much hammered, early on we were sat near the beer tents at the back.
When Guns n’ Roses came on I made my way to the front to get a better view, but Presh stayed further back to carry on his drinking, I made a note of where he was and was gonna join him in about 40 min
s, this was mid afternoon and I'd left all my money, beer and food with him; I wasn't going to be long, as soon as Guns finished I was gonna make my way back to him to carry on drinking.
Problem was though, finding the fucker again. I could've sworn I knew where he was, but I must've walked round that field dozens of times trying to find the twat; nowhere to be seen!
What a bastard, never saw him again all day until we got on the bus to go home, I was starving hungry, dehydrated and dying of thirst. He'd had a great time, eaten my grub, drank my beer and spent my money, bastard.
He said he never moved from the spot, I still don't believe him.”
Gary ‘Fozzy’ Forrester (Hull)
1990
Whitesnake,
Aerosmith, Poison, Quireboys, Thunder
After the melancholy feelings of Monsters Of Rock in 1988 came the sense of elation at the festivals return two years later, with a bill that was a 60% British and 40% American. There was reduced festival capacity and more safety precautions in place; so problems like the year before would never happen again.
Making their first of three appearances at Donington (ending with their ‘secret band’ slot at Download 2009) Thunder opened the proceedings for the day and set the bar very high for other bands to try and achieve. Playing tracks from their debut album 'Backstreet Symphony', Thunder were the quintessential British band, with their feet firmly stuck in the '90's but their roots in the classic rock sounds of the '70's.
Another British band was up next, the Quireboys, hailing from Newcastle with their brand of 'Faces' music for the modern rock fan. Managed at the time by Sharon Osbourne (before she hit mega stardom) the Quireboys were the ultimate party band; singing their way through a set peppered with tracks from their debut album 'A Bit Of What You Fancy'; we were covered in 'Roses And Rings',