Monsters of Rock

Held at the Castle Donington racetrack in Leicestershire, Monsters of Rock was the biggest annual hard rock music festival in the UK throughout the 1980s and 1990s and was host to some legendary hard rocking performances over the years.

Started in 1980 by rock promoter Paul Loasby, Monsters of Rock was planned as a day long summer festival which was devoted solely to hard rock and heavy metal. Loasby had been promoting the band Rainbow’s recent UK tour before his idea and asked the band if they would headline his festival idea, to which they agreed.

 When thinking of a venue in which to hold such an event, it was realised that somewhere expansive with good transport links would be needed. Donington Park car racing circuit, in the small town of Castle Donington was eventually chosen due to its proximity to the industrial Midlands (which some people consider the home of heavy metal and where some of the greatest metal bands hail from) and the fact it could hold 100,000 fans. Initially there were some objections from the local community who thought that an event called Monsters of Rock would bring unsavoury characters to their community and also from the police, who thought there may be problems with security. After allaying these fears however, the first Monsters of Rock took place on Saturday August 16, 1980.

The first Monsters of Rock line-up consisted of the bands Rainbow (headliners), Judas Priest, Scorpions, April Wine, Saxon, Riot and Touch; a mix of both British and International hard rockers. Things didn’t start smoothly for the event, after Rainbow drummer Cozy Powell blew out all the P.A and caused £18,000 worth of damage during his sound check a few days before the event was set to take place. Torrential rain the week before had also turned the site into something of a bog; however the day itself was bright and sunny and the first Monsters of Rock was hailed a huge success, with 35,000 people attending. The first event set the ball rolling for what would become the established annual event for rockers in the UK for over 15 years.

Over the years Monsters of Rock continued to grow in scale and size of attendance. 1988 saw a huge turnout of 107,000, the largest ever, but this year’s event was marred by tragedy. During Guns N Roses set, which went down an absolute storm, two fans were crushed to death during the L.A rockers song “It’s So Easy”. The band did not know about the disaster until they had left the stage and put a huge dampener on what was a tremendous performance. Excerpts of their set can be seen in the Paradise City music video. Due to the deaths, 1989’s Monsters of Rock was cancelled.

From 1990 until 1996, Monsters of Rock continued on as the UK’s premier hard rock event. In 1997 however, just as the event organisers were planning to add a second day, it was cancelled. 1998 saw the ultimate end of the festival as an annual event, as it was overshadowed by the new Ozzy Osbourne run Ozzfest.  

In 2003, the spirit of Monsters of Rock was resurrected in the newly conceived Download Festival, which was held at the Donington Park site and has run with great success up until the present day. Unlike Monsters of Rock, Download was initially a two day festival which then expanded to three days in 2005 and has showcased the best acts in contemporary and classic hard rock since its inception.

In 2006 another festival by the name of Monsters of Rock was held at Milton Keynes Bowl, headlined by Deep Purple and with Alice Cooper as a special guest.