The Monsters of Rock Tour 1988 was a festival tour co-headlined by Van Halen and The Scorpions. Opening bands included Metallica, Dokken, and Kingdom Come. It formed the first section of Van Halen 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. Van Halen, Scorpions, Dokken and Kingdom Come were promoting their then-current albums OU812, Savage Amusement, Back for the Attack and Kingdom Come respectively. Metallica did not release their next album ...And Justice for All until four-and-a-half weeks after the closing of Monsters of Rock, although one of its tracks "Harvester of Sorrow" was showcased throughout the tour.
Tour bill
Van Halen
Scorpions
Dokken
Metallica
Kingdom Come
Tour
At the opening night of the tour at Alpine Valley the sound quality during Dokken's set was poor and as a result the band was booed heavily by attendees. A lighting rig fell during the Scorpions' set, and Sammy Hagar fell off the stage. The amphitheater at Alpine Valley had been recently sodded and before the Scorpions took the stage, fans had become impatient and started hurling chunks of the freshly laid sod into the air. Attendants came out and threatened to close down the venue. The scene then calmed down and the show finished without further problem. In San Francisco's Candlestick Park a stadium-wide food fight took place. In Tampa, another 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. Police around the perimeter of the field were being hit with bottles and garbage and eventually had to leave the stadium. The front field was so tightly packed with fans people began to pass out due to the heat and had to be carried to the front of the crowd and pushed over the rails to safety. Staff began spraying the crowd at foot of the stage with firehoses to cool them. Dokken again encountered problems with the wireless PA system, as 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. Van Halen cut their set extremely short after Sammy Hagar's equipment malfunctioned. He called out to his guitar tech during the final song, "My axe be cutting out on me, Zeke." The concert was introduced by hostess Martha Quinn of MTV. In Kansas City, yet another food fight occurred between the lower and upper levels of Arrowhead stadium. The Maine show was plagued by late afternoon thunderstorms which forced Dokken to play toward the rear of the stage to escape the downpour and lightning. The storms caused another long delay after Dokken's set, during which the crowd started chanting "Rain or Shine, Rain or Shine". As the crowd became agitated, they were finally apprised of the situation by a stage announcement. However, the person making the announcement appeared arrogant and condescending, taunting the audience with statements including "what?, do you think you're going to get your money back?" At this point the crowd started throwing chunks of broken asphalt collected from the grounds at the stage, nearly resulting in a riot. In New Jersey, a toilet was ripped from a restroom wall causing a small flood on one side of the stadium. Between the Dokken Scorpions sets, fans stole a case of frozen hot dogs from a concession stand and threw them into the audience. There was another large food fight due to fan impatience with the extremely long wait between the Scorpions and Van Halen sets. People from the upper decks threw food, beverages and trash over the railing. At the same time, approximately one hundred fans jumped the wall and rushed onto the main field which led to cheers erupting through the stadium. In Washington, D.C. the crowd started tearing out seats at RFK and lit a huge bonfire in the middle of the field which led to a concert suspension until the fire was extinguished and the concert resumed surprisingly. In Los Angeles, the power was briefly cut during Metallica's set because fans were aggressively rushing the stage. The band sat on the drum riser and watched. After a short break, they resumed their set. Fifteen people were arrested. In Dallas, Van Halen's set was cut short by vocalist Sammy Hagar's voice problems. During the show a water/cup fight broke out 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. Hagar promised Van Halen would return to Dallas and play a free show due to the brevity of the concert. The band eventually played the free show on December 4, 1991 at Dallas Alley. 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. Despite these setbacks the show continued as scheduled. In Seattle the Scorpions' singer Klaus Meine was hit in the throat by a camera thrown out of the audience. He became angry and ranted at the audience about respecting the bands on stage, then they played one more song and left the stage 3/4 through their full set. Dave Grohl attended the June 10 show in Washington, D.C.. "I was a cynical pothead," he recalled in 2008. "Like, 'This is stupid. This place is so big.' It made no sense. But now I guess it does."
