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An Event to Remember: The 1989 Moscow Music Peace Festival |
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I recently got my deranged claws on a video copy (pirate, I must confess, but I am hunting for the DVD) of the 1989 Moscow Music Peace Festival – the first ever festival inside the Iron Curtain that involved Western bands; “the Russian Woodstock”. I found it to be absolutely awesome, and subsequently thought that I should tell you about it too. The bands involved included some of the hottest acts of the late 80s, which also turns out to be many of my personal favourites - Skid Row, Mötley Crüe, and Cinderella, as well as the we-have-a-hit-every-time-we-record act Bon Jovi (then still sporting real 80s hair!), the Russian act Gorky Park (remember the hit ‘Bang’?), German band the Scorpions, and my all time favourite, the Prince of Darkness himself, Ozzy Osbourne. The purpose of this festival was to create drug awareness among the Russian youth as part of the Make a Difference Foundation (Like that could ever be authentic! Rock stars saying don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t do drugs… all while they are smashed, of course!), and subsequently, the home video contains many clips of the musicians talking about drugs. A few political comments are also thrown around; my personal favourite being Ozzy’s “Maybe Rock & Roll could do what the politicians couldn’t”. Another winning comment is Jon Bon Jovi’s “Thinking that Mr Bush and Mr Gorbachov is both going to be aware of who Ozzy is gonna be pretty historical in itself”. Further clips include the musicians acting like, well, rock stars – the guys from Skid Row driving around on a golf cart, thrashing a few things in their way, and bitching that Russia is indeed ‘skid row’; Nikki Sixx (Bassist from the Crüe) threatening to moon the camera (at least that was edited out!), some bands jamming acoustic in the street, and Vince Neil (Vox, the Crüe) asking Sebastian Bach (Vox, Skid Row) if he will do anything special for on stage in Russia, and Bach answering, “Yeah, sing on key”… Now, to get to the most important part – the bands’ performances. The show kicks off with Skid Row, their first song being a cover of the Sex Pistols’ classic ‘Holiday in the Sun’ – quite cleverly chosen if you consider the lyric about the Berlin wall. The Skids’ set also went on to include one of my personal anthems – ‘Youth Gone Wild’. Although the band had really good guitarists, for me it was really driven by the bass of Rachel Bolan (yes, that is a guy name) in the back and the great voice of Mr Bach in the front. Next up was Cinderella, a true Mississippi-Delta-Blues-meets-Hard Rock act, performing songs mostly from their ‘Long Cold Winter’ album, including ‘Falling Apart at the Seams’ and ‘Coming Home’. Side note: if you don’t have any Cinderella, check out either ‘Long Cold Winter’ or ‘Heartbreak Station’ – both are excellent albums, and Tom Kiefer’s voice is truly stirring. Bon Jovi opened their set with a rocking rendition of their ‘Lay Your Hands on Me’ (hmmm…), and closed up with their classics ‘Living on a Prayer’ and ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’. Wedged in the middle was an extended version of their ‘Blood on Blood’, featuring a very nice duet with guitarist Richie ‘I am married to Heather Locklear’ Sambora (who knew that the guy could sing as well? It’s just not fair…). Next up were LA bad boys Mötley Crüe, who gave the audience what they came for – solid Rock. This included their Harley Davidson-inspired ‘Wild Side’ and the sleazier-than-sleazy-Los Angeles Strip-club-anthem ‘Girls Girls Girls’. In true Crüe fashion, these boys ended their set by trashing their equipment, lead by Sixx’s trashing of a Fender Jazz bass, and polished off by Tommy Lee trashing the drum kit and mooning the audience (for which he was fined a very hefty $137!). So wasteful, yet so authentically Rock & Roll. I won’t say too much about The Scorpions or Gorky Park, as neither band really ‘does it for me’. However, what I will say a lot about is the all-star performance delivered by Ozzy. Now don’t get me wrong, I know I am biased and I would say Ozzy rocked even if he didn’t (like that’s even possible! Bite my tongue!), but he really shook the foundations of the U.S.S.R at this show. Jamming to songs like ‘Shot in the Dark’ and ‘Suicide Solution’, as well as Sab classics like ‘Sweat Leaf’ (at a drug awareness show…hmmm) and ‘Paranoid’, Ozzy showed Russia just why he is the Godfather of Heavy Metal. Also, bravo to Ozzy’s excellent band. A very young Zakk Wylde - I think he was about 20 years old at this stage - filled in on guitar, and proved again that he is more than worthy to carry forward Randy Rhoads’ legacy, with exploits like playing a solo behind his head and with his teeth. Pounding away on the drums like a madman was the awesome Randy Castillo (R.I.P), while the Grandfather of heavy metal bass, Geezer Butler (see ‘Black Sabbath’ if the name doesn’t ring a bell, you heretic!) filled in the bottom line. Legendary stuff. And then, finally, a big bonus is when the bands get on stage together. Cinderella, Bon Jovi and the Scorpions joined up to do a really much heavier version of Elvis’ “Hound Dog”. In turn, Skid Row and the Crüe, together with Jason Bonham, performed an old Zep song that’s name I just can’t remember (so I have never been a big fan, sue me!). What is truly remarkable about this festival show is that Rock and Metal brought together people long before the politicians even considered it; the ‘Devil’s music’ was used as a bridge between East and West as a way to prevent kids from throwing their lives away. These big bands did it not for money, but purely for the cause, and for the experience. Things like this make me even more proud to be a part of this crazy thing called Rock & Roll. So, in conclusion, if you ever see this on video or DVD, buy it, and if you don’t like it, call me, and I will gladly take it off your hands for more than you paid for it. Oh, and before I forget, remember to challenge sanity every chance you get. |
