For the first time ever, Donington played host to a dual headliner.
Taking place on Saturday 17th August at Donington Park, Castle Donington, England, this was the 15th annual event. For only the second time in the history of Donington, a 'second stage' featured six of the finest new bands, equalling the biggest bill ever; twelve bands in all.
Kiss had appeared just once before at Donington. It was in 1988, in front of the event's biggest crowd - over 100,000 people. They are credited as a major influence by many of the current U.S. metal elite. Formed in 1973, the band recently re-united their original line-up of Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley for an MTV Unplugged show. This proved so successful that they decided to tour the U.S. with their full show, makeup, pyrotechnics and all! Donington '96 was the first time that the full show had ever visited the U.K. and the first time the band had appeared in make up in this country since 1981. Kiss have a 23 year and 75 million records sale history.
As a rock legend and household name, Ozzy Osbourne can be thought of as a Donington veteran. In fact, this was his first appearance in ten years and only his third ever show at the festival. Ozzy previously played Donington as a special guest of AC/DC in 1984 before headlining in 1986. Ozzy Osbourne was one of the first founding figures of hard rock; a bona fide legend. He is still selling millions of records and tickets worldwide and has the legacy of influencing three generations of rock fans. Ozzy is currently on a world tour, but it is said that when the opportunity toplay Donington arose, he postponed all of his prior commitments.
The third major act at Donington 96 was Sepultura. They are relatively recent visitors to the event, having appeared alongside Aerosmith in 1994. Their sixth album, 'Roots', has gone silver in the U.K. in the three months since its release following hard on the heels of '93s gold selling 'Chaos A.D.'
The full lineup (in billing order) for the main stage (with provisional times) was:
The Second Stage:
- The corresponding schedule for the second stage was:
- Type O Negative (6.30-7.00).
- Everclear (5.00-5.30)
- 3 Colours Red (3.50-4.20)
- Honeycrack (2.40-3.10)
- Korn (instead of Redd Kross - see top of page) (1.30-2.00)
- Cecil - their first single 'No Excuses' received no radio play due to a heavy 'f-word factor'! Frontman Ste Williams 'burns up the stage like some prime Iggy"! (12.20-12.50)
TICKETS
The credit card hotline number for Donington is 44 (0)115 934 2044. Full ticket and travel details are made available on the info. line - 0891 615470 (UK only, premium rate call).
Coaches travel from all main cities and towns, the length and breadth of the U.K. Information on coach travel is made available on the travel line 44 (0)115 934 2007.
DONINGTON FACTS, FIGURES & TRIVIA:
- Donington is the mainstay of the rock calender in the UK; the biggest hard rock concert in Europe.
- It has been staged annually (except '89 and '93) since 1980 and has hosted no fewer than 66 bands, 48 of which are still in existence, providing evidence for the enduring qualities of rock music.
- About Donnington '95
- Metallica became the first band to play the festival four times. Their debut was ten years ago alongside ZZ Top and Bon Jovi!
- Therapy? became the first band to play in consecutive years.
- 1995 had the biggest main-stage bill to date; nine bands in total, surpassing the previous highest of seven (1980 & 1984). The highest festival total was eleven bands in the 1994 event but five of these appeared on a second stage, the only time that this has occurred. Second stage openers in 1994, Headswim were the only band ever to have played the festival without an album under their belts.
- Approximately thirty miles of electrical cable are used. 3000 KVA generators are utilised, effectively producing enough power to service a small town.
- About 35,000 gallons of assorted drink are purchased and 32 tons of food. Alcohol was not sold on the site until 1984.
- The wettest Donington was in 1988. The driest ones were 1985 and 1990.
- The most equipment was used in 1991 when forty truck loads turned up. 12 trucks are used annually just to carry the steel from which the stage is built.
- Mark Wilson and Jo-Anne McGuffie from County Durham had their marriage blessed on-stage before the start of 1994's event.
- Rev. Brian Whitehead held a special service at St. Edward's in Castle Donington prior to the 1995 show in order to oppose the 'occult forces' which he feared could have been unleashed by the festival and, in particular by the band White Zombie.
- The loudest ever performance was by Iron Maiden in 1988.
- The greatest attendance was 97,800 in 1988.
- There are 500 toilets on-site!
- Blue Oyster Cult's drummer left the band the night before the '81 show. A roadie had to sit in.
- Ozzy Osbourne was enjoying himself so much in 1984 that he wouldn't come off stage. In the end he played half an hour over his alloted time in a tightly scheduled bill. As he said at the time "I didn't realise I'd played over, I was just enjoying myself."
- The P.A. system was blown up the night before 1980's festival - the first one - when the organisers got a little too enthusiastic with the pyrotechnics. They rigged up a series of explosions near the right hand speaker stack and, although it had been checked by fire officers, when they went off they destroyed a load of equipment and sucked out all the speakers. £18,000 of damage was caused with the shockwaves being felt three miles away!
- In 1983 the police were so concerned about the reputation of Twisted Sister for using foul language that they asked vocalist Dee Snider to limit his use of the F-word to sixteen times during their set. On completing the performance Dee was asked why he had exceeded this limit. He replied that he hadn't realised that 'MotherF's would be included!
- Rainbow's 'Stargazer' was the forst song to be played by two different bands at the festival. It was played in 1980 by Rainbow themselves and again in '83 by Dio who had co-written it whilst in the band.
- It takes three months to organize the festival. Obviously the bands are booked prior to this stage but the administrative and production time takes about 14 weeks. The Donington Park site takes twelve full days to be turned into a concert venue.
- Acts are generally booked up to 12 months in advance, although 1995 sets another record with only nine weeks between confrimation of Metallica and the date of the show!
- 100 police are involved. Medical staff on the day include thirteen doctors, eleven paramedics, eighteen nurses, two radiographers and 170 St John's Ambulance staff. Sixteen ambulances are situated around the site. The budget for the show is over one million British pounds.
