Description

In 1980, promoter Paul Loasby, along with Maurice Jones, planned a one day festival dedicated specifically for bands within the hard rock and heavy metal genre. Loasby was an established and successful promoter working that year on the Rainbow UK tour and penned the festival as the final show of the tour for the band to headline. Jones knew the owner of the Donington Park race track, Tom Wheatcroft, located next to the village of Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England, and the site was chosen to host the event. Donington Park was unknown as major location but its location in the East Midlands next to the M1, A42 and A50 allowed for better transportation to the site from around the country. Additionally the site ground level sloped which allowed for a better viewing for the audience throughout the site. The first Monsters of Rock was held in 1980 and the line-up consisted of a mix of British and international bands and was a success with 35,000 heavy metal fans attending. Although only conceived as a one off event, it was mentioned on the day the idea that the festival will return the following year and the first edition birthed what would become a regular festival for the next 15 years, becoming synonymous as a Mecca for fans of the genre and further establishing the Midlands as the home of heavy metal. Over the years, the attendance continued to grow, reaching 107,000 in 1988, when two fans died during Guns N' Roses set. Initially the blame was thought to be the size of the crowd and a rush forward during the bands set but officially the cause is laid on the weather, causing muddy and wet conditions on the sloping ground. As a result the festival was cancelled the following year, returning in 1990 with a limitation to the crowd of 75,000. The festival continued on as the premier hard rock event in Great Britain in the 90's but started to fall upon hard times as heavy metal became less popular, with another cancellation in 1993 due to being unable to find a strong enough headliner. In 1995 the festival found itself in a similar situation until Metallica agreed to play with the condition of the band having control over the event and naming it Escape from the Studio. In 1996 Ozzy Osbourne and KISS co-headlined the festival and although plans to extend the festival into a two day event in 1997, the promoters once again found themselves in a struggle for headliners and the event was cancelled and discontinued. The 1992 line-up for Donington were Iron Maiden (later released as the live album Live At Donington), Skid Row, Thunder, Slayer, W.a.s.p. and The Almighty. The 1992 festival was also held with a slightly different line-up in Italy and with four shows in Spain. The Italian Monsters Of Rock festival was hed at the Aeroporto di Reggio Emilia on the 12th of September and it was headlined, just like the Donington show, by Iron Maiden. The opening acts however where in the correct running order local Pino Scotto, Warrant, Testament, Pantera, Megadeth and Black Sabbath. The second half of the Iron Maiden show was TV broadcast by Italian TV. The rights to the TV show was bought by Masterplan that released it on dvd in 2008 with the title ‘Iron Maiden In Italy’. Masterplan has released several TV shows with all kinds of artists and most of the times we could have wished for a more suitable cover artwork. This cover features a live shot taken at a show in Paris on the 25th of June 2005 (several tours later). However that’s only a minor complain and the good thing is that we who live outside of Italy finally can see this show Track listing: 1. Tailgunner 2. The Evil That Men Do 3. Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter 4. Clairvoyant 5. The Heaven Can Wait 6. Run To The Hills 7. 2 Minutes To Midnight 8. The Iron Maiden 9. The Trooper 10. Sanctuary 11. Running Free