van halen monsters of rock tour 1988

Monsters of Rock Tour 1988

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The Monsters of Rock Tour 1988 was a festival tour of the USA in 1988, headlined by hard rock band Van Halen as part of their promotion for their OU812 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.

• 1 Tour bill
• 2 Tour dates
• 3 References
• 4 External links

• Van Halen (closing act, 100 minutes)
• Scorpions (75 minutes)
• Dokken (60 minutes)
• Metallica (60 minutes)
• Kingdom Come (45 minutes)

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 than 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. [1]

Given the extreme nature of Metallica's 1988 release ...And Justice for All , the band's following act Dokken would come over severe ridicule from the thrash metalheads in the crowd for not matching Metallica's intensity. [2]

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.

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External links

• Van-Halen.com - The official Van Halen website
• Van Halen NewsDesk
• Van Halen concert tours
• 1988 concert tours
• Metallica concert tours
• Scorpions (band) concert tours
• Pages with script errors

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How Monsters of Rock Became America’s Super-Sized Tour

Launched on May 27, 1988, the Monsters of Rock tour brought together some of the greatest hard rock and heavy metal bands of that era for a day-long rock 'n' roll celebration. But why that name, exactly?

Back in England, the Donington Monsters of Rock festival had become a highly anticipated annual fixture of the international rock circuit since first being staged in 1980, typically comprising a one-day event featuring seven, eight or even more major bands. But in the U.S., where far greater geographical distances made producing a single, massive concert much less practical, it was decided to apply the highly respected Monsters of Rock brand to a full-fledged tour. Featured acts would include Van Halen , the Scorpions , Dokken , Metallica and Kingdom Come.

Van Halen was, at the time, near the peak of their career's second act with frontman Sammy Hagar , following the release of the hit-filled OU812  album. The Scorpions, too, had enjoyed a steady, decade-long climb up the U.S. arena-rock hierarchy, and despite being absent for the better part of a year while recording the recently unveiled Savage Amusement  LP, they could draw thousands of fans of their own accord. The oftentimes quarreling members of Dokken, meanwhile, were living on borrowed time from the most successful album of their career in 1987's Back for the Attack  – thanks in no small part to the song "Dream Warriors" being included in the popular Nightmare on Elm Street  horror-movie franchise.

Then there was the lineup's sleeping giant, Metallica, whose manifest destiny to become the world's biggest heavy metal band had yet to be revealed. There were readying for the fall release of their fourth album, ... And Justice for All , by touring the U.S. for the first time with bassist Jason Newsted in place of the tragically departed Cliff Burton. Finally, rounding out the bill came Led Zeppelin clones Kingdom Come, then enjoying a bright, but all-too-brief, flash-in-the-pan success that nevertheless saw them shifting a million units of their eponymous debut in very short order.

Metallica played a couple of shows at Los Angeles' Troubadour club on May 23-24 in anticipation of the tour, which kicked off for real in East Troy, Wis., on May 27 and took in 28 dates over the ensuing weeks before concluding on July 30 in Denver. Over that span, the super-sized Monsters of Rock operation crisscrossed the U.S. like a well-oiled machine, suffering remarkably rare travails along the way – including a bit of fan violence here, a muffed performance there, and an epic audience food fight somewhere else.

Unfortunately, the subsequent career trajectories of four out of the five bands involved tended to point downhill in years to come – with Metallica being the lone, obvious exception. Still, each one left an indelible mark upon hundreds of thousands of hard rock and heavy metal fans who retain fond memories of attending the Monsters of Rock tour during that hot summer of 1988.

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Monsters of Rock '88

• View history

Monsters of Rock '88 (formally known as Van Halen's Monsters of Rock ) is the third time American heavy metal band Metallica would tour on the "Monsters of Rock" tour festival, being their second year in a row playing on the bill. The tour would support as a pre-release tour for the upcoming album ...And Justice for All , as a result " Harvester of Sorrow " would make a few appearances on setlists throughout the tour, though it's live debut would be a few days before the tour began.

• 1 Typical Setlist
• 2 Tour Dates
• 4 Personnel
• 5 References

Typical Setlist [ ]

• Creeping Death
• For Whom the Bell Tolls
• Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
• Harvester of Sorrow
• Fade to Black
• Seek & Destroy
• Master of Puppets
• Last Caress Misfits cover
• Am I Evil? Diamond Head cover

Tour Dates [ ]

Songlist [ ], personnel [ ].

• James Hetfield - Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
• Kirk Hammett - Lead Guitar
• Jason Newsted - Bass, Backing Vocals
• Lars Ulrich - Drums

References [ ]

• 1 M72 World Tour
• 2 Dave Mustaine
• 3 Monsters of Rock '88

"Van Halen could do nothing, night after night, to stem the charge of this Godzilla": How 1988's Monsters Of Rock tour was the making of Metallica

In 1988 Metallica released ...And Justice For All. Then they went out on the road to claim the throne of modern metal

America had long been crying out for a regular hard rock festival. Fuelled on the memories of the 1970s California Jams, the Bill Graham Presents Day On The Green stadium bashes, and a legendary heavy metal night at the US Festival in 1983 – which hosted the likes of Judas Priest , Ozzy Osbourne , The Scorpions and Van Halen all gaining the sort of rave reviews which would become gold standards in their live careers – it was only a matter of time before someone devised a Monsters Of Rock for the US market.

The year was 1988, when word filtered through that there was, indeed, to be a Monsters Of Rock festival in the States. The hair was big, the riffs were bigger, and hard rock was enjoying enormous success in the US. In fact, it seemed that all you needed was a bit of tight denim, some scarves near yer mic stand and some pouffy locks to immediately get platinum status, so this was a logical, and seemingly bound-to-succeed, step.

Legend has it that this 23-city US Monsters Of Rock came about first as an idea of Sharon Osbourne, but that somewhere along the line of conceiving and arranging the concept, she decided it didn’t feel right. Thus, in came Van Halen and their manager at the time, Ed Leffler. 

Having suffered the trauma and potential marketing nightmare of David Lee Roth ’s departure in 1985, Van Halen had recruited ex-Montrose rocker Sammy Hagar to lead the charge with devastatingly successful results. Thus with their second Hagar album, OU812 , ready for release in the summer of ’88, Leffler and company saw their moment to book Van Halen’s biggest ever tour into stadiums with the sort of bill that would have Head & Shoulders begging to sponsor.

Finding that perfect big band, who wouldn’t complain about playing right before Van Halen, would be tough, but The Scorpions were more than happy to take the slot.

More than likely the memories of that supporting US Festival stint were still fresh and, in hindsight, the German band were smart. With a new album themselves in Savage Amusement , the Scorps could enjoy the exposure without the pressure of leading from the front.

Behind them were Dokken , and with them one of hard rock’s great modern pantomimes, with singer Don Dokken seemingly always fighting with guitarist George Lynch . These two hated each other, but managed to check the negativity once they realised that their albums were going platinum.

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Holding up one of the two bottom slots were a bunch of ragamuffins called Metallica . They'd caused a stir on Ozzy Osbourne’s US tour in 1986, and seemed to be a bit of an underground metal hit. Their new album, ...And Justice For All , steadfastly refused to entertain a conventional single, instead being a thoroughly radio-unfriendly offering. 

Finally, opening the festival would be Kingdom Come; effectively The Darkness 15 years before their time, and ineffectively trying to channel Led Zeppelin through every riff – hence their unofficial yet adopted by all name, Kingdom Clone.

As was the way with the 1980s, Monsters Of Rock in the US was all about size and show. The eventual touring production would cart about a reported 971 tons of equipment and carry 250,000 watts of power, supplied by two sound systems weighing 440,000 pounds, suspended over a huge 168-by-60- foot stage, all transported by 51 48-foot trucks. Heavy metal? Very heavy indeed, we'd say.

The press conference to announce the tour saw the bands take their seats at a long table planted firmly in front of the Godzilla in Universal Studios theme park. It was an early morning conference – not very metal – and the questions coming from the press corps were asked with the enthusiasm of a bunch of freeloaders who’d showed up for a free breakfast. 

Herman Rarebell , then The Scorpions’ eccentric drummer, tried to entertain a few of the assembled reporters by eating one of the fake bananas on display – giving true context to that phrase ‘it’s the thought that counts’. 

The most memorable moment came when someone asked The Scorpions a question which required them to remember Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony’s name, and as Rudolph Schenker stumbled over this, stuttering “Michael... Michael...” Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich leaned into his mic and proudly blurted, “Schenker!” to a loud chuckle from the room.

Yes indeed, pickings were slim. In fact it should’ve been a forewarning of the tour to come, where the young upstarts – namely Metallica – proved themselves unafraid to take a pop at the old, established rock legends.

And so it came. Monsters Of Rock. To a stadium near you. The whole thing looked well-conceived and well-assembled... the only problem was that the upper half of the bill just couldn't deliver what one band on the lower half of the bill were delivering. That is to say: raw, crisp, fuck-you-festival-style energy. 

As Metallica’s reputation quickly escalated, so the crowds came earlier and earlier, until very soon there were 40-50,000 people inside at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, ready to hear them lay sonic waste to whoever was in the way.

The tour’s most extraordinary feat was how, on Kingdom Clone’s departure, within 30 minutes, tens of thousands of people streamed in and started hooting and hollering like the headliners were about to come on. They weren’t, of course – and for the first few shows, the arrival of all these baby headbangers to see the scruffy rookies that were Metallica ’88 was viewed as almost cute by the bigger fish at the top of this food chain.

But by the time the tour rolled through Detroit’s Pontiac Silverdome, it was abundantly clear that this ‘small fish’ had the appetite of Jaws, gorging on audience energy and returning it tenfold. Indeed, as thousands and thousands of fists pumped the air to signal For Whom The Bell Tolls , Monsters Of Rock 1988 suddenly became the tour where Metallica were destined to become the proper rock monster and Van Halen could do nothing, night after night, to stem the charge of this Godzilla.

By the time the tour reached the Los Angeles Coliseum, people were getting pissed off that Metallica only had a 60-minute set. This culminated in a riot at the Coliseum as fans stormed the field from the stands to get closer to the band. Soon, arses were engaged in hauling seats everywhere as opposed to sitting on them. It’s fair to say that this punk-like energy was not what the promoters had fully expected.

Subsequently, when Van Halen came to close the show, it was a little more than they could handle. Always a fine live act, there just seemed a little too much snap-happy-doo-dah about their performances, at times more Jimmy Buffet than Jimmy Page . And anyhow, they were dealing with a seriously flagging crowd by then. Of course, you might question the wisdom of a two-hour-and-20-minute set that included solos, but hey, rock’n’roll baby; in the land of leather pants and egos, no headliner could be seen playing a minute less.

Van Halen did their damnedest to make everyone feel welcome – particularly Metallica, with whom Sammy Hagar got a little obsessed. Crowds came out to play, and right now it’s tough to remember why Monsters Of Rock ’88 wasn’t considered a success that ended up spawning a regular festival.

Perhaps America simply wasn’t quite ready to embrace a travelling concept like this. After all, when Ian Astbury tried to assemble the Gathering Of The Tribes the following year it fell apart after a few dates. It did open the door for Lollapalooza, but this, too, had limited shelf-life. 

In fact one of the only true touring rock festival to annually succeed in American history has been Ozzfest, which actually feels like a Donington or Reading circa the early 1980s as opposed to a headline act with some support bands in a stadium.

And the fact is, when people look back at the US Monsters Of Rock ’88, they invariably end up trying to remember it for a while before exclaiming: “Oh yeah, didn’t Metallica do that one?”

Didn’t they indeed.

This feature was originally published in Classic Rock Presents Heavy Metal in 2006.

Having started rock'n'roll writing at the age of 15, Steffan Chirazi's career could almost look like an old Batman cartoon speech bubble!  Sounds, Kerrang!, Bam, Rip and Spin are just a few of the publications he has contributed to over the years, and for the last 14 years he has been the editor of Metallica's own in-house publication,  So What!  magazine. He lives in San Francisco, CA with his family.

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Van Halen in the Monsters Of Rock Tour FULL CONCERT (Miami, Florida 1988)

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On This Night In 1988: Van Halen Headlines Giants Stadium During ‘Monsters Of Rock’ Tour

June 26, 2021 —by Eric Senich Leave a Comment

Thirty three years ago tonight Van Halen’s “Monsters of Rock” tour invaded Giants stadium in New Jersey for the first of two concerts.

Van Halen was just about midway through the 23 city, 29-date tour when they arrived in New Jersey. It kicked off on May 23rd at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin and ended on July 30th in at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado. For the massive tour, the band licensed the “Monsters of Rock” trademark from the European company that hosted the annual events at Castle Donington. Packaging a big festival the likes of which the United States hadn’t seen since the seventies, Van Halen would be headlining over Scorpions, Dokken, Kingdom Come, and newcomers Metallica.

Van Halen opened their set with “A.F.U. (Naturally Wired)”, the first of five songs coming off of its most recent studio album – OU812 . One interesting addition to the setlist was Van Halen’s cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition”. The band had first played it during its club days as far back as 1976. Van Halen would play “Superstition” a total of 14 times during the “Monsters of Rock” tour. Below is the complete setlist from that night:

SETLIST (June 26th, 1988):

A.F.U. (Naturally Wired) Summer Nights There’s Only One Way to Rock Panama Bass Solo Runnin’ With the Devil Why Can’t This Be Love Mine All Mine Drum Solo You Really Got Me Sucker in a 3 Piece When It’s Love Eagles Fly I Can’t Drive 55 Best of Both Worlds Guitar Solo Black and Blue Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love Superstition (Stevie Wonder cover) Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin cover)

Below is the entire show uploaded in two parts by YouTuber My Collection :

Below are some videos featuring interviews and clips of Van Halen before and during “The Monsters of Rock” tour:

MTV News Segment:

NBC News Segment & Interview:

Van Halen Segment of MTV’s “Monsters of Rock” Special:

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30 years ago today: the Monsters of Rock tour hits Seattle, Scorpions show Van Halen how it's done

I haven't traveled to Seattle to see many concerts, but there have been times when I've been lured across the border by the promise of riff-riddled rock. 

One such time was 30 years ago today, when I trekked to the Seattle Kingdome to see the Monsters of Rock Tour, which was the big hard-rock/metal show of the day.

I was accompanied by longtime  Georgia Straight  concert photographer Kevin Statham and my older sister Marnie, and we wound up getting rocked like a tornado or something.

Here's my review:

About 40,000 people paid $38.50 (Cdn) to see the marathon Monsters of Rock show at the Seattle Kingdome last Wednesday (July 27). My calculator blew up when I tried to figure out the night’s take, but I do know that the Kingdome is capable of holding a lot more people (closer to 70,000, I believe), so the show wasn’t quite the commercial success it might have been.

But as a once-in-a-lifetime treat for riff-hungry young metalheads, it was definitely worth the investment. Heck, you can easily dish out 25 bucks to see just one band nowadays. And of the five groups at the Kingdome last week–Van Halen, Scorpions, Metallica, Dokken, and Kingdom Come–there’s at least one that most hard-rock fanatics would kill to see. Mine was the Scorpions, and as expected they put on a stronger show and were better received than headliners Van Halen.

Both are fine bands, of course. The main difference seemed to be in their energy levels, which the crowd–especially those crammed together on the vast Kingdome floor–responded to in kind.

The stage itself was an enormous structure reaching from one side of the dome to the other, with three-storey-high speaker columns as bookends. (Three such stages were leapfrogged across the country to accommodate the many back-to-back concert dates on the Monsters of Rock tour.) If you’re into figures, the total weight of the equipment being shipped around for the tour is 971 tons, and is carried by fifty-one 58-foot-long trucks. About 250,000 watts of sound and 850,000 watts of stage lighting are also being used.

Needless to say, the concert was loud and bright.

Most of the pyrotechnics were saved for headliners Van Halen, of course, including an endless array of giant sparkles that cascaded over the stage. Most of Van Halen’s set featured material from their new album  OU812 , but they also went back to such faves as “Panama” and “Running With the Devil”.

The Scorpions weren’t allowed an encore, unfortunately, even though the crowd had made an even bigger racket for them. When the house lights went on, cutting off any chance of the Scorps’ return, the action was followed by a heavy chorus of boos. It gave one the impression that someday Germany’s favourite sons could well headline their own Monsters of Rock tour.

You can bet I’d be right there for that one too.

  The Straight ran a full-page ad for the show, but the promoter got the month wrong. No wonder it didn't sell so well.

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Hot summer nights with the Monsters of Rock & more: A look back at 1988’s amazing concerts and sweltering heat

• Updated: Aug. 31, 2023, 5:24 p.m. |
• Published: Aug. 31, 2023, 1:15 p.m.

Van Halen’s Sammy Hagar (left) and Eddie Van Halen on a "Monsters of Rock" tour stop in Oregon. (Ross Hamilton) Oregonian

• John Benson, special to cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The summer of 1988 was hot.

Ronald Reagan was still in office, Kurt Cobain and Nirvana toiled away as an unknown indie band and Dick Goddard talked about 40 days eclipsing the 90-degree mark, as well as the recording of Cleveland’s highest temperate to date -- 104 degrees.

However, there was a six-week summer run of concerts -- when Van Halen’s “When It’s Love,” Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me” ruled MTV and the radio airwaves -- that seemingly marked the apex of ‘80s glam metal with coming-of-age and acid-washed Gen Xers mingling alongside Baby Boomer audiences.

Here’s a look at a handful of shows that are still talked about today:

The 1988 “Monsters of Rock” tour played two dates at the Akron Rubber Bowl. (John Benson/cleveland.com)

“Monsters of Rock” (June 22-23 at Akron’s Rubber Bowl)

“Hot summer nights, that’s my time of the year” (Van Halen, “Hot Summer Nights”)

With roadies watering down the sunbaked “Monsters of Rock” crowds at the Rubber Bowl, perhaps no photo better epitomizes the 1988 summer concert season.

Cooling the 1988 “Monsters of Rock” crowd at the Akron Rubber Bowl. (Jim Gayloe/The Plain Dealer) Cleveland Plain Dealer

For two days and nights at the since-demolished Akron venue, fans weathered the heat to see Van Halen, Metallica, Scorpions, Dokken and Kingdom Come rock the Rubber City.

It wouldn’t come as a surprise to learn today Northeast Ohio dermatologists put their kids through college based on those sun-drenched days.

The girls’ hair-sprayed hair didn’t move while the shirtless guys had their T-shirts wrapped around their belt loops.

The shows proved top-heavy with Metallica’s growing impact palpable while Van Halen supported “OU812.”

The lasting memory is of the latter act’s performance of “5150″ album track “Summer Nights.”

Just as smiling Eddie Van Halen and Sammy Hagar (still on good terms at the time) started the song, a hot summer wind blew in almost as if it was designed to be a part of the show. What a night!

Whitesnake with Great White (July 15 at Blossom Music Center)

Whitesnake with Great White performed July 15 at Blossom Music Center. (John Benson/cleveland.com)

“In the still of the night, I hear the wolf howl” (Whitesnake, “Still of the Night”)

Whitesnake’s victory lap at Blossom Music Center on July 15 kicked off a week’s worth of amazing rock shows in Northeast Ohio.

After toiling around in hard-rock obscurity for a decade, former Deep Purple singer David Coverdale -- embodying a calculated Sunset Strip sound and look with long locks, bare chest and frontman bravado -- finally found an audience.

The band’s self-titled 1987 effort produced hits “Here I Go Again” and “Is This Love. But it was the encore tune “Still of the Night,” a Led Zeppelin rip-off if there ever was one, that showed the group’s true colors.

The only thing missing from this show was Coverdale’s future wife Tawny Kitaen provocatively dancing on the hood of a Jaguar.

Aerosmith with Guns N’ Roses (July 19 at the Richfield Coliseum)

Aerosmith with Guns N’ Roses performed July 19 at the Richfield Coliseum. (John Benson/cleveland.com)

“I’m alone, I don’t know if I can face the night” (Aerosmith, “Angel”)

The newly reformed -- and sober -- Aerosmith brought its “Permanent Vacation Tour” through Northeast Ohio for a raucous show at the old Richfield Coliseum.

The Toxic Twins (singer Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry), whose drug use was so bad The Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia once expressed concern, tempted fate by bringing out the then-rising act and decidedly not sober Guns N’ Roses.

Tyler has since commented they asked Axl Rose and company -- who were finally breaking thanks to “Sweet Child O’ Mine” -- not to do drugs backstage.

Music-wise, fans were treated to the popular Aerosmith single “Angel,” which they really haven’t played since.

Also, this was so early in Guns N’ Roses’ rise to fame that the band didn’t even play “Paradise City.”

That video -- featuring singer Rose in a less-than-flattering white leather jacket -- would be shot the following month.

Def Leppard with Europe (July 20 at Blossom Music Center)

Def Leppard with Europe performed July 20 at Blossom Music Center. (John Benson/cleveland.com)

“I’m hot, sticky sweet” (Def Leppard, “Pour Some Sugar on Me”)

There’s something about seeing a band at the height of its musical prowess and mainstream popularity.

That said, the epitome of ‘80s rock for many folks would be Def Leppard’s wet and wild “Hysteria” tour stop in the summer of 1988.

Yes, the band came through earlier that year at the Richfield Coliseum with Tesla, but the Blossom Music Center gig had an extra “Pour Some Sugar on Me” frenzy with a packed lawn audience who had to weather a torrential downpour and what still feels like the longest line of cars heading into the Cuyahoga Falls venue.

Wearing his mullet proudly as adoring female fans screamed with approval, frontman Joe Elliot started the evening off with the fun “Run Riot” and didn’t look back.

David Lee Roth with Poison (Aug. 1 at Blossom Music Center)

“This must be just like livin’ in paradise/And I don’t want to go home” (David Lee Roth, “Just Like Paradise”)

The thing to remember about David Lee Roth -- who a few years earlier destroyed fans by leaving Van Halen -- was at this time he could still sing.

Diamond Dave was touring in support with his second full-length album “Skyscraper,” which didn’t stand the test of time but included radio hits “Just Like Paradise” and the underrated “Damn Good.”

As far as the Blossom Music Center show, the concert sounded great with the singer’s ego front and center.

The vivid memory is of Roth being paraded around on an oversized surfboard during his cover of The Beach Boys’ “California Girls.”

The self-centered singer also said something to the effect of “How do you like my band?”

The problem was Roth had assembled a veritable all-star band featuring virtuoso guitarist Steve Vai and bassist Billy Sheehan.

The comment rubbed some in the audience -- and perhaps the band members -- the wrong way.

Both Vai and Sheehan were about to leave Roth’s band for greener pastures.

The former’s solo career continues today; the latter formed Mr. Big.

What was obvious during Roth’s set -- which featured Van Halen hits “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘bout Love,” “Hot for Teacher,” “Jump” and “Panama” -- was without his former band he “Ain’t Got Nobody.”

Also on the bill was a young Poison, still showing off what the cat dragged in, taking notes and waiting in the wings for its headlining shot that was just around the corner.

The summer of 1988 was a momentary magical paradise that those who experienced can still feel the heat, hear the tunes and remember why hot summer nights are their time of the year.

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Average setlist for tour: Monsters of Rock 1988

Note: only considered 27 of 28 setlists (ignored empty and strikingly short setlists)

• Summer Nights Play Video
• Panama Play Video
• Bass Solo Play Video
• Runnin' With the Devil Play Video
• There's Only One Way to Rock ( Sammy Hagar  song) Play Video
• Why Can't This Be Love Play Video
• Mine All Mine Play Video
• Drum Solo Play Video
• You Really Got Me ( The Kinks  cover) Play Video
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• Black and Blue Play Video
• I Can't Drive 55 ( Sammy Hagar  song) Play Video
• Best of Both Worlds Play Video
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• Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love Play Video
• A.F.U. (Naturally Wired) Play Video
• Rock and Roll ( Led Zeppelin  cover) Play Video

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GEORGE LYNCH Says He Was 'Dispirited' And 'Depressed' During DOKKEN's 1988 Tour With VAN HALEN And METALLICA

In a new interview with MetalTalk , George Lynch reflected on DOKKEN 's participation in the 1988 "Monsters Of Rock" U.S. stadium tour, also featuring VAN HALEN , SCORPIONS , METALLICA and KINGDOM COME . The trek kicked off in East Troy, Wisconsin on May 27 that year and took in 28 dates over the ensuing weeks before concluding on July 30 in Denver.

"That was pretty much the pinnacle of it, wasn't it?" George said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET ). "That was the last big tour of that style, I think, in that kind of giant rock arena tour, I think that was the last one. So it was kind of an end of an era. Nobody knew it at the time. And we were misplaced on that bill. It was kind of good for us, I guess, in a way, but we were billed over METALLICA ; they hadn't quite gone over the edge yet. We had the same management company [ Q Prime ], so we were very fortunate to get that spot.

"The thing I will never understand about the management and that tour and the band was that in their insane thinking, the management called a meeting before the tour started and informed the band that Don [ Dokken , DOKKEN lead singer] was gonna be breaking the band up and trying to just hire us as musicians on the band," he continued. "Or else, if that didn't work, we didn't agree to that, he was just gonna leave, keep the name and kick us out. [And that was] before the tour started — literally days before it started.

"I operate — or at least then operated — out of a sense of commitment and on a mission. We built this thing as a family, as friends, as a band of brothers. And that was really the struggle between Don and I. Don was kind of out for himself and used people as best he could. I'm not saying this in a derogatory way. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, because we succeeded because of him and that mentality — the way he views the world and the way he operates. He's able to do things that I personally couldn't do, or I wouldn't live with myself. For better or worse, I don't know if it's good or bad — I can't even say — but we benefited from it. But it also was a double-edged sword and it worked against us in a sense that we split everything up equal, we all worked hard and to the best of our abilities, and we all contributed what we have to contribute, and a rising tide floats all boats and we all win. And we have this sense of like we did it together, and there's enough to go around. Don saw the writing on the wall, and with the managers' help, decided that he wanted the whole thing for himself. Because we were up for renegotiation on our [record] contract. And that's where you wanna be in this career. When you build yourself up and you double your record sales every record for three consecutive [albums], and then your contract ends and you have to renegotiate that contract, that is exactly where you wanna be.

"When you renegotiate, you're negotiating from a position of strength. And now you're MÖTLEY CRÜE , now you're VAN HALEN , now you're set for life," George explained. "And we all were looking at that, and we all worked for that, and we all earned that, and we should have been patting each other on the back and in a really good place. Instead Don took that as, 'Well, I'm gonna take this all for myself, and fuck these guys.' I had to go on stage knowing that every night. And it depressed me, and I kind of just fell into drugs and alcohol and just went out and went through the motions. I was quite dispirited. I mean, I had some good shows, but I was maybe just faking it to a certain extent, 'cause I was definitely dispirited. All this for this, and now I have to go out and put on a face? I'm just sort of like a 'wear my heart on my sleeve' kind of guy, and it was [very hard] for me to do. It was very depressing. And the only way I'd deal with it was drugs and alcohol."

All the members of DOKKEN 's classic 1980s lineup — Dokken , Lynch , bassist Jeff Pilson and drummer Mick Brown — reunited on stage for the first time in more than a decade in November 2009 at the House of Blues in Anaheim, California.

Less than five years ago, the four musicians rejoined forces for a short Japanese tour. The trek marked the first time in 21 years they had hit the road together.

A DOKKEN concert DVD focusing on the band's reunion tour, "Return To The East Live (2016)" , was made available in 2018. In addition to the Japanese performance, the set included footage from the classic lineup's only U.S. show in September 2016 at Badlands in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as well as newly recorded acoustic reworkings of "Heaven Sent" and "Will The Sun Rise" . Also featured on "Return To The East Live (2016)" was "It's Just Another Day" , the first DOKKEN track featuring the group's classic lineup since 1997's "Shadowlife" .

Since completing the Japanese reunion dates, DOKKEN has continued to perform with the group's current lineup — including bassist Chris McCarvill , guitarist Jon Levin and drummer BJ Zampa ( HOUSE OF LORDS ).

Last month, Lynch told Jeff Gaudiosi of MisplacedStraws.com that there has been talk of more shows featuring the classic lineup of DOKKEN . "I've actually been talking to Don a little bit, and we're both in agreement that that should probably happen — meaning some kind of a meaningful reunion done in the right way, carefully and with proper preparation and time and rehearsals and not just throwing it out there like we did last time," he said. George added that "the obvious choice" to replace the recently retired Mick Brown would be Mick 's brother Steve , who can be heard playing alongside Lynch and Pilson on the upcoming THE END MACHINE album, "Phase2" .

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