Monsters of Rock Festival

was a festival tour of the USA in 1988, headlined by hard rock band Van Halen as part of their promotion for their album. The Scorpions were a co-headliner. Opening bands included Metallica, Dokken, and Kingdom Come. It formed the first section of the OU812 Tour, the main part of which followed immediately after Monsters of Rock 1988. As one of the many well known Monsters of Rock tours, the tour featured an impressive line-up, especially for a single day event, and proved very popular.

Being a large scale event with multiple acts, there was a long gap between many dates when the bands' gear was transported and set up.

Tour bill[edit]

Members of Van Halen, and Metallica back stage during the Monsters of Rock Tour, 1988.

In San Francisco's Candlestick Park a stadium-wide food fight took place aimed solely at the upper deck. Unfortunately each band played only five minutes longer then the band before them. Kingdom Come played for only 15 minutes, and the show closed with Van Halen playing only 35 minutes. This was after Van Halen held a press conference at Universal Studios, while seated in front of a giant robotic King Kong – Eddie Van Halen stated “Five bands will be playing full sets”.

In Tampa, a stadium-wide food fight took place. The show was general admission and the food fight took place between the concertgoers in the stadium stands and those on the field. Dokken also had issues with their PA system, it was broadcasting on the same frequency as Tampa International Airport's tower.

In Memphis, another food fight occurred between the audience in the stands and those on the field.

In Kansas City, the food fight continued between the lower and upper levels of Arrowhead stadium.

In Maine, the day was plagued by late afternoon moderate-to-severe thunderstorms & a near riot during a lengthy delay. The severe storm had the band Dokken playing toward the rear of the stage in an effort to try & escape the torrential downpour / lightning. The storms themselves caused a long delay post-Dokken's set, at during which the crowd started chanting "Rain or Shine, Rain or Shine". As the crowd was getting more & more agitated from the delay, the crowd was finally appraised of the situation (by a roadie or tour manager) however, the information was delivered in a very ill-advised way; arrogant, condescending, & taunting in nature to the point of the official saying "what?, do you think you're going to get your money back?" At this point the crowd started heaving chunks of the broken asphalt (which was the surface people were standing on) at the tour official, as well as the equipment on stage & the situation nearly devolved into a full-blown riot.

In New Jersey, there was also a large food fight due to people getting fed up with the extremely long wait between the Scorpions and Van Halen's set. People from the upper decks threw food, drink and trash over the railing. At the same time, about one hundred or so people jumped the wall and rushed onto the main field which led to cheers erupting through the stadium.

In Los Angeles, the power was shut off during Metallica's set because fans were aggressively rushing the stage. The members of Metallica sat on the drum riser and watched. After a short break, Metallica resumed their set. Fifteen people were arrested.

Given the extreme nature of Metallica's 1988 release , the band's following act Dokken would come over severe ridicule from the thrash metalheads in the crowd for not matching Metallica's intensity.

In Dallas, Van Halen's set was cut short by vocalist Sammy Hagar's voice problems. He promised that Van Halen would return to Dallas and play a free show. Van Halen made good on the promise three years later on December 4, 1991 when they played a free concert at Dallas Alley, a gentrified area on the northwest side of downtown Dallas where free concerts were often hosted to boost traffic for restaurants and stores in the adjacent collection of shops. This show also had a water/cup fight between the field and the stands at either end of a concession stand that was along the sidelines on the west side of the stadium.

The Houston show also had a trash/food/water fight between the field and the stands. There was also a venue issue where a barrier broke and at least one person fell to a lower level of stands landing on lower seats. EMS was forced to eject several people. The show continue as scheduled.

In Seattle the Scorpions lead singer Klaus Meine was hit in the throat by a camera thrown out of the audience. He ranted about having respect for the bands on stage for about 5 minutes, then they did one more song and left the stage. This was about 3/4 in to their full set.

While at Alpine Valley a lighting rig fell during the Scorpions set, and Sammy Hagar fell off the stage.