The Archive.

Created Autumn 2007 .Updated Dec 2007

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The second Monsters of Rock festival featured a much stronger overall lineup than the 1980 show, which may have contributed to the larger turnout - 65,000 compared the reported 35,000 for Rainbow the previous year. Four out of the six bands were pretty much top drawer heavy acts in terms of popularity or of having very strong stage acts. Slade in particular were on the rise after a storming set at the 1980 Reading festival where they had stepped in at the last minute to replace Ozzy Osbournes Blizzard Of Oz.    AC/DC were of course a major band by this stage in their careers, they were capable of tearing down any house with their mix of power rock even though they had lost their charismatic lead singer Bon Scott in 1980.Their tribute to Scott, Back in Black, was major seller and their new singer Brian Johnson had emerged as a worthy successor to Scott in his own right , with a dynamic stage presence . Of course diminutive but totally manic lead guitarist Angus Young was the main attraction of this band , love him or loathe him you couldn't fault the passion that he put into this playing and his stage persona, never anything less than 150% !   Unfortunately the weather wasn't as kind as it had been in 1980. It pissed down for much of the day , soaking the assembled punters to the skin and turning the ground into a mess. However, this wasn't the only problem that the crowd had to content with , there was also the small matter of Blue Oyster Cult and their horrendous sound mix .......

   The show got off to a slow start with sets from More ( or possibly Diamond Head - as reported by one attendee, although this is unlikely , as it is not listed on their official site ) and Blackfoot - neither of whom managed to inspire the crowd greatly. Slade were on next and they were just the right act for the time - they got the crowd singing along to ' Merry Xmas " and generally hit the right spot . Obviously they had transcended their glam roots and managed to successfully transmute into a heavy enough outfit to satisfy a crowd of headbangers ! A major commercial achievement on their part and well done considering it was still daylight -its always hard to get a crowd going in the daylight hours.

So basically BOC were pretty much fucked up before they even put a foot onstage , but worse was to come .....

   Up till now attendees were in agreement that the sound for the opening bands was good , however, when Blue Öyster Cult got onstage their sound sucked ! Something was seriously wrong, but just 'what' was a matter of contention. Blame was put on the BOC sound mixer George Geranios but the band blamed faulty cabs, rain on the keyboards and orders from the headliners to limit the volume ....

   Having seen photos that show big umbrellas held up to protect the onstage mixers and big gaps in the polythene covers over the side of the stage, we can believe there may have been leaks, you can read George Geranios's lengthy explanation of that went wrong and other reviews of the show at the excellent Hotrails To Hull a BOC site that documents all their live performances.

Recordings and setlists.

Festival Welfare report

Fws reports tell us nothing about the music but give a fascinating insight into just how well rock festival were run, in general, things had improved form 1980, but there were still a few features that could have been improved -such as pass outs and camping , in fact camping was always discouraged and pass outs were not availbale in 1982 either ....

MONSTERS OF ROCK

Castle Donington .
August 22nd 1981
FIELD WORKER'S REPORT

Estimates of attendance 60- 70,000

   This event was organised by the same promoters and was held on the same site as the festival last year, about which FWS had not written a very complimentary report. The festival had better facilities this year, although there was still much room for improvement. The weather this year was inclement, to say the least; in fact it varied between drizzle and hard rain for the whole day and the site got very muddy.

  The main improvement on last year was in a better selection of food and drink being available in the arena, so queuing was minimal and prices were reasonable. The toilets in the arena worked well too and there were plenty of them. I didn't see much of the 3,000 miles of toilet paper advertised by the promoters, except being thrown at the stage. Carefully selected toilets were even still useable on Sunday morning, although unfortunately you could only get at them then if you were working at the festival.

  FWS had been invited by the promoters to "be there" in the information marquee in the arena which the promoters were providing. I had telephoned the promoters office to find out if FWS was expected to do anything. We were invited to be there, but the promoters were making arrangements for representatives from British Rail and the local bus company to give out travel information; Sounds would be there doing messages with a notice board and the promoters staff would be dealing with general enquiries.

   Mike and I worked in the information tent from 6pm until the crowd left the arena at the end of the concert. No lighting had been supplied in the tent, so we had to use our own gaz lamp. There were still many people wanting travel information throughout the evening, as many people had not heard the stage announcements. People who had arrived by coach had not found out where they were being picked up afterwards, so we had to find the coach park and ask the drivers. There were no promoters staff in the information tent and the Sounds tent packed up around 8pm. We recommend that in future the information tent is planned to be staffed until the arena is cleared; that large site plans and maps of the area are provided that the information tent has a better link with the promoters office; and that some local volunteers are involved to give out information on local devices.

  The Sounds tent was demolished during the evening by people climbing onto the roof to get a better view. This would also have happened to the information tent, but we were constantly going out to ask people to get off it. Security staff were not evident at the back of the arena to prevent this. One of the small tents nearby housing the fire extinguishers was also demolished and all the fire extinguishers taken out to be used by the kids to stand on.We recommend better security in the arena, especially around the emergency services and more effective communication with the security services and promoters for the information service.

  There was no first aid unit on the campsites, although there were many police on duty and some arrests, mainly for drug possession. The Samaritans had a tent on the campsite from Friday evening until Sunday morning. It was perhaps lucky that there were no accidents on the campsite, as there were a number of very drunk people, in very lively spirits. Many people were building bonfires and tearing down live trees and bushes and destroying fences for firewood. It was very reminiscent of chaotic Knebworths. There were fewer people camping on Saturday night, although many had obviously decided to stay overnight because of the enormous traffic jams and number of confused motorists driving round. Many people were wandering round in the dark, having lost their bearings, their car or tent. We recommend some sort of signs in the car parks and campsites for people to recognise which one to look for their tent or car in and large site plans of the area.

  We recommend much better provisions for camping. A festival attracting thousands of people to a site like this, which is ideal for a festival, must expect many people to arrive the night before, which is part of the ritual. There is a need for toilets and water supply in each of the camping fields. There should be some lighting at night on the fields and more stewarding to keep emergency access open. It would be better to provide some out wood for campfires to prevent damage to woodlands and fences. There should also be a central information point on the camping area, with good communications to the promoters' staff and security.

   It was generally agreed that the prohibition of alcohol from the arena was a good idea from a welfare point of view, and that the banning of cans and bottles from the arena cut down on the number of serious casualties resulting from missile throwing in the crowd, who seemed quite happy to make use of some of the miles of toilet rolls the promoters had supplied. We recommend however that there is an efficient pass out system for people wanting to leave the arena and return later in the day.
Penny Mellor
Field worker.

Recollections.

1981
After 1980's arse-crunching coach journeys I decided to take a leaf out of my brother's book and biked it this year. We also camped, not at the site which was still not allowed, but on a farm further down the road. A few others had also taken the initiative and done the same. We'd also travelled down a day earlier, mostly to try out some of the local pubs. It was while sitting outside The Storey Arms in nearby village of Osgathorpe when we heard AC/DC doing their sound check wafting over the meadows, talk about 'Rock N' Roll Ain't Noise pollution'!

This year everything lot a little bigger and a lot wetter! It drizzled on and off all day leaving everyone extremely soggy. The weather had an effect on the sound too, the wind carried the music everywhere except, it seemed, towards the audience. Facilities around the site had got even better with more toilets and more places to eat. Still no bar, in fact, the first licenced bar didn't appear here until 1984 (with bizarre consequences in 1986!).

As for the music, only six bands this year with AC/DC topping the bill. Whitesnake were second (after being rumoured as headliners) followed by Blue Oyster Cult (strangely missing from the programme and t-shirt), Slade, Blackfoot (also absent from the t-shirt but receiving a token half-page picture in the programme) and this year's NWOBHM reps More kicking off the proceedings.

After a brisk stroll from Breedon Brand farm to the festival site armed with waterproofs and gallon containers of beer (Courtesy of the Storey Arms) we entered the arena and found our spot, it was a soggy spot but with a good view. No big screen this year, it blew down so I hear.
More did their best and went down fairly well earning an encore, to shouts of MORE obviously although Thermos was none too impressed and continued to shout LESS!

After a short wait and a couple of light showers Blackfoot hit the stage and turned out to be just the job for a rainy day in Leicestershire. Their brand of Southern style boogie at least got everyone off their feet for a little dance to help keep dry.
The highlight of the day came a little earlier than usual and it arrived in the form of Slade who had returned to the limelight after a barnstorming set at the 1980 Reading Festival. It seemed only logical to add them to Donington in 1981. Tommy Vance introduced them as a band that the country holds dear to their hearts and judging by the rapturous reception, he could've been right. They came, they saw, they got piss wet through, copping the worst rain of the day. Noddy Holder commented that the rain was dripping through 'The Bell' (Hell's Bell swinging overhead) and that it was going to get rusty. The band ploughed through what was mostly a greatest hits set with a hint of new songs from the recent 'We'll Bring The House Down' album. They urged everyone to perform an acapella version of 'Merry Xmas Everyone' and during 'Mama Weer All Crazee Now' launched about 300 bog roll into the crowd.....Blue Oyster Cult were going to have 'fun' following that!

And FUN they DIDN'T have! Blue Oyster Cult's set was a disaster from start to finish. Of course, after the event we learnt that drummer Albert Bouchard had quit just before the gig which couldn't have helped. After the up tempo Slade set, BOC seemed very dour and above all BORING....last song 'Dont' Fear The Reaper' was the only light relief but then that doesn't sound like anything else they're ever done anyway. It was a far cry from their 'Spectres' laser-enhanced spectaculars of the late seventies.

Whitesnake next and they were well up for it with only one thing on their mind, blowing AC/DC off the stage. And I think they pulled it off, just. I'd seen them the previous year on the 'Ready N' Willing' tour and this set was pretty much the same as that. They played well and were received well, not much to add to that.

With the advantage of darkness and a lightshow (and no rain by then) AC/DC ran through a fairly standard set. They were never bad - just not brilliant today. New boy Brian Johnson seemed well settled in and although he mentioned that they were recording a new album no new songs were played. We were all knackered towards the end and looking forward to our sleeping bags. Even the end of show fireworks seemed to be going off in a half-hearted manner. A good day, but nowhere near as enjoyable as 1980.

Ashley Haynes