The Archive.

Updated Sept 2011

This page dedicated to the memory of ALAN DICK (18yrs) and LANDON PETER SIGGERS (20yrs) who died at the festival..

© Mark Peat

" don't fuckin' kill each other "

Axel Rose addresses the audience during the Guns N' Roses set.....

 

Its a sea of Denim ! © Karl Davies

Fireworks close off the event © Dave Ingham

Recollections . We start off our recollections of this festival with a rather harrowing account from a close friend of one of the deceased.... Hi guys my name is Mark Bradshaw and I was there!!!! We were looked upon as "antisocial", outcast from the general population of our village, the three of us were heavily into the metal scene and dressed accordingly. I was a long haired ruff looking 16 year old, Joe didn’t have the hair but had the leather with denim cut-off, Allan had this awesome leather with a hand painted grim reaper on the back (he always said death was never off his back) he also had a pair of dm’s with blue toe caps the same colour as his ford Capri. For all of us it was our first concert and if we had known what was going to happen we would never have gone.

We caught the train from helensburugh central that morning totally buzzing about the gig we then travel from Glasgow to donnington, We got our tickets from the portacabin outside the main gate and went in to the grounds. I don’t remember much of the gig other than maiden kicked ass and g 'n' r were amazing however I remember plenty about after the gig. When I got back to the coach the first thing I noticed was no one was buzzing or talking about the gig , it was then I saw Joe and he told me what had happened, the arse fell out of my world I didn’t believe him at first and thought yeah right shit joke mate, but when the 2 cid officers boarded the coach and took us to the local hospital to identify Allan’s body it hit me like a fucking train. The guy that had been the first to show me friendship when I moved to rhu ( the village we stayed in) and he was the guy who introduced me to guns n roses was lying on a morticians slab covered in mud and shit and a colour that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Three of us went to donington and two came back, dicky (Allan) was the salt of the earth, he was a good mate and a really nice guy in general, his funeral was mobbed there was a 100 plus attended it. I wasn’t there as I couldn’t bring myself to watch my best mate being cremated. One thing is for sure he will always be remembered. His full name was Allan Dick , he was from the village of Rhu near Helensburgh in Scotland .

I haven’t been to another gig since and do get pretty nervous in crowds but for me Donington 88 was my first and last concert.

Regards...........

Mark Bradshaw.

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i too was there...right in the middle during guns n roses,its like one of the other posters said you really did have to fight your way out. As i did there were loads of people in shock and crying...men and women......sad day ..Alan and Landen i think they were called.

Ian Thompson

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Not terribly comforting to see such a fuckin big PA being supported by such a little forklift....! © Karl Davies

I was there too, SCARY. I was about 50 yards from the stage and for a while there, I was at the mercy of the crowd. Could barely breath! What a wild experience that was!    I was among the 108, 000 fans there that day and since the fans were crushed the organisers got their act together very quickly and the following year barriers were introduced to seperate the front section of the crowd. Sad that people were lost but credit to the organisers. RIP ROCK FANS. We will remember you. LglzPrcy

Nice website, really brings back memories. 20 years ago!!!

I was there and almost got killed during G'n'R set. Can't say I have good memories.      I was there too . must of been close to you. i carried one of the gilfriends of one of the dead guys back stage. lost my jacket money n train ticket home in the chaos     It was my first gig too,and I got pulled under in the crush.I got out with cracked ribs and a broken nose.The bit when Axl told the crowd to get back brought tears to my eyes even after all this time.Total carnage that day.

Hi
I am loving your site, it is bringing back so many memories that havebeen fogged with time.
For GnR I was caught in the crush at the front. I don't remember beingscared at the time, but in retrospect, especially reading other peoples accounts, I am feeling lucky that I got out alive. I wasn't too far from the stage, and remember collapsing on top of a pile of bodies. It saddens me to think that I may have contributed to the death of one of those poor souls.

I think one of the problems was that in the time from the line up beingfixed, and the event taking place, GnR had become massive and it isobvious the organisers weren't prepared for the ensuing rush of people to see a band so far down the line-up.
The only three bands I explicitly remember from that day were GnR, David Lee Roth - only because of his "I forgot the fucking words" act - and Maiden, who blew me away.

My only other memory from that day, and it is a bizarre one, is after Maiden we were all making our way to the exit when they announced overthe PA about the tragedy during GnR. I remember a deathly silenceamongst the crowd, then, for whatever reason, they decided to play Monty Python's "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". I remember shaking my head in disbelief.
Mark Wittenberg

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……

"You are my people,
you are my crowd,
this is our music,
we love it loud...."- KISS

The first (29 and counting) of my festival experiences.
16 yrs old, still only 5' 4" tall, 9 stone (wet through in my denims) and shit scared of life in general, i came to donington with eyes as wide as saucers ("is this what heaven's like?").
After Megadeth, i think Helloween had sold the most t-shirts that day, they were everywhere you looked but i can't say they got more than a polite roar.

That the sound wasn't great and it was drizzling is about all i remember. That and the fact that the singer had black canvas pants and huge white basketball trainers on "Hey, look, german rock stars dress just like us!"

Like all the truly great gigs you ever see, he didn't beam down from another planet, he beamed you to his.
I was a fan of Kiss and i enjoyed their set but they were never a support band. Its easy to say now but without the make up and gimmicks it was a bit like a blowjob after the nightclub has shut in a public toilet off a girlfriend you dumped a couple of months previous, still great but it really is time you both moved on and you both know it.

My first Donington, ( the others being 91 and 95 ) and the most memorable for a variety of reasons.

The 3 of us got the coach up from Norwich, 16 years old and no idea what to expect.

My memories are

Being amazed at how close we got to the stage during Helloween’s set
Laughing at some stupid cow setting up a picnic, complete with wicker basket in the middle of the crowd just before Guns N Roses came on and seeing the thing obliterated as the crowd surged forward and then trying to tell 107,000 people to move back!
Being seriously shit scared during the first song, the crush was unreal
Trying to get my mate out of the crush, he was only small and was in serious danger of falling. We managed to get to the area in front of the lighting tower and could see everything unfold.

Dave Mustaine was and still is an arrogant sod but he was damn good
Dave Lee Roth – the only guy who could get away with playing California Girls in the freezing cold and rain and pull it off.
Kiss – were truly awful
Maiden were on top form as always

It wasn’t until the bus trip home that we heard that those 2 kids had died! Everyone just stopped talking!

Festivals were different back then, you went with the purpose of having a laugh with your mates and seeing the Bands, I don’t go to festivals any more, too much other shit going on. The Big Day Out in Australia for example! I now live here and would never go again, 30 different bands, 5 stages, Ferris Wheels, markets WTF!!

The camaraderie was also one of the main attractions. Everyone got on!

I’ve met so many people in Australia who talk about wishing they could have gone to some of these Donington Festivals ! I’m lucky to have seen 3 of the best

Great site – brings back lots of memories
David Miller

© Karl Davies

This was my first visit to Donnington. I was 17 and very excited, My fav band were Guns N Roses. I was known to buy anything they sold!!! My friend commented - "If GnR packaged shit, Julian would buy it!!! ... they went on to release one 12" with a sick bag!!!, and yes I bought it!!!
We went by coach from Poole, Dorset. I think there were 3 or 4 coaches of Rock fans.

I was in the middle of the crowd at the front, can't remember how close, but remember the the fear in my mind as the crowd swell grew. THE biggest problem was the ground. It was a mud bath. The stage was at the bottom of a bowl and the ground was not fit for the sheer volume of footfall. You could not keep your feet before hand, but once your feet were stepped on, you could not move your lower body. The crowd was moving left and right, front and back, you could not keep up.

I was eventually horizontal and couldn't see the sky due to bodies on top of me. I genuinely had decided in my mind this was it. Very weird and never to be repeated. I was on top of a girl, I think about my age, who was crying and very scared. It was the scariest experience of my life.
Out of nowhere my friend grabbed me from behind and somehow managed to pull me out. I still don't know how to this day. As I got out I pulled the girl out too. She was really upset that she'd dropped her camera - I think she thought her parents would give her hell. I remember saying you're alive, don't worry. I never saw her again, hope she's fine.

My friend said I was as white as a sheet. I'll never forget, and wasn't surprised to hear of the two sad deaths at the end. I always thank my lucky stars it wasn't four, not realising it could have been many more.

With all this said, I have fond memories too of the festival. I got to see my fav band of all time Guns 'N Roses. Dave Lee Roth was awesome and enjoyed Kiss. I was never a big Iron Maiden fan, but they put on a good show with all the props and lights.
The sound was mostly awful at the start but got better from Diamond Dave.

The two sad deaths will never be forgotten by anyone there, but Monsters of Rock was how a festival should be. You see all the bands, you don't have to walk miles to miss half the set!

Enjoyed your site and the recollections.
Showed my eldest son as I had told him about 1988, he was shocked to read what I had told him. But he's got the bug, as my wife and I took him to Glastonbury when he was 18 months old!!!! More recently he loved Foo Fighters at Wembley, at 14 he's hopefully got some great gigs ahead of him as have his two sisters and two brothers!!!!!
Keeping the Rock flag flying.

Julian Clark

This was my 6th and last Monsters of Rock and only remember it for being the most terrifying moment of my life
Me and my mate were huge fans of GnR so made our way down to the front for their set but couldn't really get that close. Before It's So Easy had finished I was a lot closer than I wanted to be having been literally carried forward in the surge with my feet off the ground. The crowd were all over the place, one minute I was stage centre, the next stage left. Then we were pushed to the right. People right next to me were falling over and I only just managed to hold my footing and helped a couple of people up.

I tried to get out of the crowd but it was so tightly packed it was impossible to move backwards. It was like being on a roller-coaster and wanting to get off, you had no choice but to wait until it had finished. It was a relief when the show was stopped and things calmed down a bit, but then it all went crazy again when they played Welcome To The Jungle. I seem to remember thinking they only played Patience to calm things down again, which kind of worked.

It took a while to find my mate after the set, we'd got split up as soon as they came on. He managed to get out of the worst of it but was still pretty shaken up. I can't remember anything about Megadeth, or Dave Lee Roth, not even sure if we watched them, and we ended up leaving halfway through Kiss. We didn't hear about the deaths until the next day and sadly, weren't surprised at the news.
Fantastic website. Brought back a lot of memories, thanks for all your efforts in putting it together and keeping it going
Cheers
Martin Hand

A large group of us set off from Hull in coaches for this festival. I had specific instructions to look after my younger brother who was 15 at the time. It was from memory all our first festival. At that time I certainly stood out like a sore thumb with my extremely short hair (I had just joined the Army in March).

The weather was poor, really overcast and horrible drizzle. Through the mists of time I can remember that the festival site was already packed. There was no chance that we would get near the front of the stage, so we must have been 200-300m from the front.

I can remember the Bailey Brothers were awful. Helloween were good. And then Guns ‘n Roses. My mate Andy and I had been fortunate to see them in Newcastle back in late 87 just as they were beginning to break, so we weren’t too fussed. My brother thought they were crap.

I believe they opened with ‘It’s So Easy’. And all hell broke loose......................

From my vantage point, the entire crowd moved as one and didn’t stop for moving the entire set. The phrase of ‘packed in like sardines’ was extremely apt!! I remember a crowd surge from behind us with people wanting to join the melee at the front. In this surge I lost my bag containing food, drinks and souvenir t-shirts. Compared to two other young festival goers, this was nothing.......

It appeared relentless at the front, the entire front seemed packed and not moving. I can recall quite a few people being carried out by their friends, unconscious, past us to the medical post. The faces of these people showed sheer terror and panic. It was just sheer mayhem.

After GnR’s set, no one had an inkling of the tragedy that had unfolded in front of our eyes.

Megadeth, were, well to be honest I can’t recall their set!!

David Lee Roth was good, very entertaining.

Kiss were good. They played a festival set full of their hits.

Iron Maiden were great. You get what you get with Maiden.

We boarded the coach back home. It was only when the news came on after we left the festival site that the two deaths were reported. It left a very deflated feeling but after witnessing the carnage from afar, it wasn’t a surprise. To be honest, it was a surprise that no others sadly died. It would be interesting to know how many people were injured during GnR set.

Now, being older and a lot greyer, I still attend festivals, however I work them (namely Glastonbury). As part of my job I am trained in crowd control, crowd dynamics and mass panic in crowds (no I am not Festival Security!!). Over the years maybe festivals have become more corporate, but the lessons of the Donington 88 tragedy have been learnt in my opinion. Safety is paramount to all those who attend. Glastonbury proves that a large number of people can safely attend a festival. Should the festival organisers have taken more steps to prevent the crush and tragedy? Should they have been more aware of how big GnR had become? But did it really take the deaths of two young men who only wanted to see their favourite bands to change things..........

Darren Winstone

The worst festival I've ever been to. They over sold the place (sheer greed) it was crushing, wet and miserable. My girl friend and I (she's now my wife) clung to each other as we got dragged through the crowd unable to move or put our feet on the floor as people moved from left to right through the crowed, it was scary. They later tried to pass peoples deaths off on slam dancers. RUBBISH they over sold the place and the weather did the rest. I read the tribute to one of the guys who died on here and I felt so sad, it just should not happen at a gig. RIP. I'm not even going to talk about the music, it was irrelevant on the day.

Carl , Essex.

Hi there
saw your website & thought it was great & brought back a lot of memories. I was at 83, 84, 85, 87, 88, 90.
Got a few ticket stubs, lots of photo's of bottle fights - my mate got hit by a ball-cock from a toilet (fuck knows where that came from).
Memories include:-
83 - Brilliant line up, just arrived as Diamond Head where playing Am I evil. Dio (amazing), Meatloaf getting pelted with anything & everything, Whitesnake - nailed it as headliners.
84 - Refused to go on family holiday as I wanted to see Van Halen. Some guy hit Dave Lee Roth with a bottle & Diamond Dave's response was - "Hey I saw you throw tha, t and after the show I'm going to come and find you and.......fuck your girlfriend". Some bloke also scrambled up the hoarding to get Eddie Van Halen to sign his Kramer.
88 - we were in front of the mixing desk and it went fucking nuts when Guns & Roses came on. Had to move as we had girlfriends in tow. Really sad end to a great day when we heard about the death at the end.
Steve