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The Archive.
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For
information on today's festivals see eFestivals.co.uk |
Created Dec 2007 .
Updated Feb 2008.
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| Whitesnake |
Castle Donington Raceway. Derbyshire
.UK. |
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The fourth Monsters of Rock festival featured a variable lineup with a solid bedrock of hard rock and heavy blues - represented by Whitesnake and ZZ Top respectively . Otherwise the nights offering was fairly ordinary. The glam metal act Twisted Sister would not have been much to my liking ( they would have a big hit with ' We're Not Gonna Take it " ) but at this time they were not particularly well known or rated by hard core Metal Freaks and for many they were more a novelty act than a serious hard core metal outfit with cred. Meat Loaf could also be very variable in the quality of his performances , either damn good or shambolic, he would end the year in bankruptcy due to record company and management problems . The more lowly support bands were probably of a higher caliber then the middle order acts on this bill . Ronnie James Dio's ( ex Sabbath and Rainbow vocalist ) modestly self named outfit"Dio" and Diamond Head featured some quality players amongst their lineups , as did headliners Whitesnake, who featured ex Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord , skin thumper extraordinaire Cozy Powell and ace bassist Colin Hodgkinson from the semi legendary UK band Back Door . We have to admit that although we are NOT Coverdale fans , this lineup rocked seriously . ZZ Top could of course always thoroughly entertain any crowd with their catchy blues/pop and were to be Donington headliners by 1985 on the back of their huge hit album Eliminator. |
 Courtesy
Ashley Haynes |
The weather was warm and sunny, a lot better than 1981 ....
Recollections.
Courtesy Ashley Haynes |
1983
And a scorcher it was! The rest of our entourage arrived Friday afternoon and the evening was spent back in the village of Osgathorpe. Only difference this time was we didn't fill our beer containers here. We were saving that for our new discoveries....The Moira Arms and The Turk's Head in Castle Donington. This year was the first time we'd actually ventured out into Castle Donington itself. The brief Friday lunchtime visit had given us a good taste for things to come and we were looking forward to a good session, we weren't really concerned about getting to the festival in time for the opening act, which this year was NWOBHM stalwarts Diamond Head. |
The route to Castle Donington was now lined with merchants selling everything
from dodgy 'unofficial' t-shirts to equally dodgy gallons of cider (which we
purchased and promptly drank before we reached the pub). The two main pubs hadn't
yet decided to cash in on the annual event. The Moira Arms in later years would
have a special outdoor bar set up with entertainment. The Turks Head, on the
other hand, was still more like a Sunday lunch country pub with a very tempting
carvery. Both served exceptional beer.
True
to form we had a great session, never really leaving the Turks Head, the carpark
of which had been taken over by Donington revellers. They must've made a fortune
that day. And yes, we missed Diamond Head..!
Whitesnake were this year's headliners, a logical choice, keeping up the momentum
after their 1981 appearance. Meat Loaf was next on the bill followed by ZZ Top,
Twisted Sister, Dio and the afore mentioned Diamond Head. We were in in time
for Twisted Sister, we could hear Dio warbling away while we were walking from
the pub, the lethargy of the hot day had kicked and we didn't care.....
Courtesy Ashley Haynes |
Twisted Sister were quite entertaining. Singer Dee Snider kept making references to 'Rock N' Roll' that prompted myself and Carl to launch into a few Elvis songs much to the bemusement of the people around us. This year we hadn't bothered to settle in a single spot, we just wandered about more. Got quite near the front during Twisted Sister (or Twisted 'Fuckin' Sister as they kept calling themselves) and decided to stay there for ZZ Top.
ZZ Top were enjoying a bit of a comeback with their new album 'Eliminator' and in particular the singles 'Gimme All Your Lovin' and 'Sharp Dressed Man' with their memorable videos. I didn't really know too much about them to be honest but what I saw that day really impressed me. They had a seamless flow about them, a kind of laid back Status Quo if you like, and, with those famous beards flapping in the breeze a definite degree of humour. I wasn't going to suddenly go out and buy their entire back catalogue but I was certainly going to investigate some of the earlier stuff.
It was while waiting for Meat Loaf that we realised how bad the bottle throwing was getting these days. It had been a feature of the previous Doningtons as well as other festivals, particularly Reading, but it had really become annoying now, the joke was definitely over....and it was certainly a joke that Meat Loaf didn't find particularly funny. He was pelted! Not that he was disliked by the crowd, a lot of his songs went down really well, he just made such a good target!
Mr Loaf was in good voice and still milking the phenomenon that was 'Bat Out Of Hell' now five years old and probably still in the charts somewhere. His backing band were competent but largely anonymous, and getting bombarded by anything that the audience could pick up and throw, which was very visibly pissing them off. One memorable moment was when one of the backing singers was hit by a plastic bottle upsetting her 'sexy stance'. She turned to the direction the projectile came from, shouted some abuse and flicked a finger before returning to the 'sexy stance' and carrying on, what a professional...!!
I was separated from my mates by the time headliners Whitesnake hit the stage and decided it was futile to try and find them deciding instead to settle down near the front, stage left. I'd met a group of people from Yorkshire and hung out with them while taking quite a fancy to one of the females in their party.
Whitesnake did what was expected of them and with a slightly changed line up from their excellent 1981 appearance including drummer Cozy Powell playing at his second Donington. It was a crowd pleasing set (Love Hunter, Mistreated, Fool For Your Loving etc..) with Powell's solo this year including low-flying helicopters as well as Tchaikovsky. I can't quite recall which song Coverdale was referring to but when he announced 'this is the song you should be singing to your woman' (or something along those lines) I decided to make a move on the Yorkshire lass. I turned round to her and was just about to speak when a plastic bottle full off piss hit me on the head.
The journey
back to the camp site was interesting. I met a couple of guys on motorbikes
who were looking for somewhere to pitch their tents so I ended up getting a
lift back to the campsite on the back of a bike, without a helmet! Seem to remember
passing my weary mates at some point and I was certainly first back and tucking
into the stash of snacks and supper beer.
Donington had really turned up a notch or two in '83, it was the best so far
in terms of the music and the social events surrounding it. The following day
I packed up and set off South towards Reading. And I never saw the girl from
Yorkshire again.....
Ashley Haynes
Recordings and setlists.
Whitesnake's set was filmed for official release as the bands first ever live video, although it features only a portion of their set.. However, its not likely that any other bands were filmed as no releases , official or boot have emerged that we know of . The BBC seem to have broadcast portions of some sets on FM.
Diamond Head
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Am I
Evil? Realeased in 1992 on Cd entitled "The Friday Rock Show Sessions / Live at Reading" |
Dio
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Meat Loaf Likely set list
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Twisted Sister probably FM
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Cover of Whitesnake's DVD of Donington 1983 |
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Whitesnake
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Young master Coverdale at Donington 1983 -for once not doing annoying phallic things with his mike stand :-)
Jon Lord |
Micky Moody |
The late Cozy Powell |
Whitesnake , more than a solid lineup ! |
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 from 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, although not according to this report from the Samaritans who must have been on something as the ticket clearly states that no camping is allowed, very, very clearly....
Samaritans Report Although the Heavy Metal festival at Castle Donington is a one night event, it offers camping facilities the night before and the night after, and so is treated in a similar way to other weekend commercial festivals. This is the fourth year we have been to Donington, and we again have been helped by having built up a good relationship with the organisers. We have also, in that time, become established with the crowd, predominantly young heavy metal fans. It is significant that a lot of our callers are lonely or depressed, either primarily as a result of relationship difficulties or with these as additional worries. This shows that there is a need for our befriending work, even at events where people have come from far and wide to enjoy themselves. We guess this did not stop anyone from going ahead as usual and camping, but it warn't official m'duck as they say in Leicester.... |
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Can we get a witness ?
We need more info on this and the other Donington festivals, most especially a site map, more photos and personal recollections so c'mon head bangers, get yer photos out and fire up what's left of the aging brain cells .Send your recollections and scans to us NOW ! !! Contact us
1990 under construction
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Watch this space for more Monsters of Rock pages to be added in the next month or two - we will eventually go up till 1990, meanwhile if you have material from any years up to 1990 , send it along and we will add it as we build the pages.
