AC/DC at Monsters of Rock Donington Park; 18 August 1984
Line up: AC/DC; Van Halen; Ozzy Osbourne; Gary Moore; Mötley Crüe; Y & T; Accept
This was probably the best Monsters of Rock festival that I attended. I’d won tickets in the local newspaper (note “complementary” stamp on ticket at left), which was a positive to start with, so my mate and I went along free of charge for once! The weather was great, hot and dry, and the line-up was as strong as you could get in terms of heavy rock in the mid 80s. The bottle fights really took off this year, as I recall, with bottles of piss being lobbed across the crowd throughout the day. I have never been one for trying to get to the front at such events, and staying near the back of the crowd was definitely wise on this particular day.
I don’t remember much about Accept or Y&T. Motley Crue were OK, but didn’t have the scale of theatre and excess that I would see on their Theatre of Pain tour the following year (review to follow at some point). Gary Moore played some great blues guitar, as always. Ozzy was at the top of his game during this period in my view. At this time he was playing Mr Crowley, Crazy Train, along with Sabbath classics Iron Man and Paranoid. Van Halen were OK but, for me, had already lost some of the power and hunger they had in the early days when they supported Sabbath on their 1978 tour and on their first UK headline tour shortly after that (review to follow). As I recall there was a lot of talk about Van Halen blowing AC/DC off the stage, which just didn’t happen at all in my view. AC/DC were, as always, excellent and brought a great day to a close. AC/DC setlist: Guns for Hire; Shoot to Thrill; Sin City; Back in Black; Bad Boy Boogie; Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution; Flick of the Switch; Hells Bells; The Jack; Have a Drink on Me; Highway to Hell; Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap; Whole Lotta Rosie; Let There Be Rock; Encore: T.N.T.; For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)
6 Jan
AC/DC: Monsters of Rock Donington Park 1984
Posted January 6, 2012 by vintagerock in AC/DC, Accept, Gary Moore, Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen, Y&T. Tagged: blues, concert, concerts, folk, gig, gigs, heavy metal, music, pop, prog rock, punk, R&B, rock, rock n roll. 7 Comments
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Posted by DM on September 23, 2014 at 1:35 am
Hi of all the bands you’ve seen you’ve never really seen Y & T ? From the glory days of Earthshaker when they blew ACDC off the stage at the City Hall as the support act on the For Those About to Rock tour (6th October 1982) to 2011’s gig at the O2 Academy Y & T are a stunning rock band and still rocking today. Saw them at the Mayfair as well as Donington 84.
Posted by vintagerock on September 23, 2014 at 6:13 am
Hi DM I haven’t got to Y & T yet. I’m working through bands alphabetically and am currently just about finished the letter “S”. Will get to them Best wishes Peter
Posted by Kev shotter on October 22, 2021 at 3:53 pm
Awesome day in the sun, I was 18 at the time stood at the back thankfully 🤘🏼😎
Posted by vintagerock on October 22, 2021 at 3:56 pm
Happy time was had by all Kev! Great day. AC/DC were mega. Happy days Peter
Posted by Steve miller on December 7, 2021 at 9:04 pm
Hi peter, long time no see. Just stumbled on your site. Good you have a photographic memory of the gigs! I was at a few but must’ve had too much booze to remember😂. Hope you are still enjoying the music from the good old days. Best regards, Steve.
Posted by vintagerock on December 8, 2021 at 12:29 pm
Great to hear from you Steve. Yes you will recognise many of these gigs. Happy days. Cheers Peter
Posted by Patrick O'Connor on October 22, 2025 at 11:33 am
Having only went to the 1981 show. I would easily say this has the ultimate lineup of all the ‘Monster’ concerts.