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<\/a><\/p>\nIn the history books of rock 1980 is a pivotal year, it was the crowning year for New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. Many classic records were unleashed during that period of time. It was also the birth of Monsters Of Rock, the biggest heavy metal festival in the world.<\/h2>\n
So as the new decade dawned, Monsters Of Rock was originally created in the back of promoter Paul Loadsby\u2019<\/strong>s mind. The man had promoted the recent UK tour by Rainbow<\/strong> so they were a natural group to be asked to headline the event. Luckily Ritchie Blackmore<\/strong> & co. agreed and Rainbow\u2019s example soon brought other bands into the bill as well.<\/p>\n The venue chosen for the event was the Castle Donington motor racing circuit in Leicestershire. Capable of holding up to 100,000 fans, it was near to the industrial Midlands and had an easy access to major transport links. Early preparations were delayed after objections from locals and police but the original timetable was held on to and event scheduled for Saturday, 16th of August 1980.<\/p>\n The rest of the bill meantime was assembled as a balanced mix of British and international hard rock. Judas Priest<\/strong>, who had just released their masterpiece \u201cBritish Steel\u201d<\/strong> were the frontrunners of the new age of heavy metal although they had been around for several years already. Scorpions<\/strong> were hailing from Germany, back then still a new territory as far as metal bands were concerned. Their latest album \u201cAnimal Magnetism\u201d<\/strong> again had caused controversy with its cover rather than the brilliant music it contained.<\/p>\n Another NWOBHM act Saxon<\/strong> were a new ambitious group with also an excellent record \u201cWheels Of Steel\u201d<\/strong> behind them. April Wine<\/strong> acted as pioneers from Canada, their career had begun in 1969. This left Riot<\/strong> and Touch<\/strong>, both travelling overseas from the US. All in all it was a mighty impressive bill.<\/p>\n For the festival a quadraphonic sound system was installed to ensure maximum volume and sonic boost. The original idea for fireworks to be launched from the trees all over the area had to go as the shock wave literally knocked people down during the testing.<\/p>\n Parallel to a Judas Priest sound-check days before the event a test of Rainbow drummer Cozy Powell<\/strong>\u2019s pyrotechnics resulted in an explosion heard some three miles away blowing out all the P.A and causing \u00a318,000 worth of damage to the stage set-up. The officers calmly asked effects to be toned down.<\/p>\n Ticket prices were \u00a37.50 in advance. Though torrential rain over the preceding week had turned the site into a mud field, the day itself dawned bright, hot and sunny. The P.A. system only seemed to work well for those few thousand crammed down the front of the stage but, minor criticisms apart, the occasion was deemed an overwhelming success. The organizers actually lost money on the day but artistically and from a fan point of view the event was so successful it opened a possibility to continue tradition next year.<\/p>\n The most funny event during the festival happened when a bass player of Touch swallowed a bee while performing onstage. The bee stung him in the throat and poor fellow had to be rushed to emergency room. To bassist\u2019s amusement, Touch\u2019s manager Bruce Payne<\/strong> announced to worried media crammed outside the van: \u201cIt was a touch and go but the doc says the bee will pull through.\u201d<\/p>\n Apparently all performances from the day were recorded. An LP and cassette was released consisting of two songs each from Rainbow and Scorpions and one from each of the other acts, except Judas Priest. Bootlegs of the show remain in the circulation. The Rainbow performance was filmed and shown on UK television in 1980-81 and was finally released as CD\/DVD \u201dMonsters Of Rock \u2013 Live At Donington\u201d in 2016.<\/p>\n Priest’s performance has been bootlegged and can be heard in great sound below:<\/p>\n<\/a>By then there were no annual events of such kind, of course festivals had been organized since the days of Woodstock and during the 1970\u2019s there were few huge outdoor shows in the Isle Of Wight, Day On The Green in Oakland and California Jam. But those were one-offs, with less thought going into marketing, agenda and general commodity of the people. And most important of all, they were never strictly metal with always few acts from other genres to draw in maximum amount of people. In that sense, Donington was something completely unheard at the time. A huge risk.<\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>