On August 12th and 13th of 1989, some of America’s biggest hard rock/metal bands hopped on a plane nicknamed “The Magic Bus” bound for Russia to perform at The Moscow Music Peace Festival. The festival was a benefit for the Make a Difference Foundation. The Make a Difference Foundation is a nonprofit group directing its drug and alcohol abuse fight toward youth through pro-responsibility messages.
The flight on the Magic Bus was a huge party. Ozzy Osbourne was drunk the whole flight, Ozzy’s guitarist Zakk Wylde was tripping on LSD, and the rest of the bands all participated in drug and booze fueled jam sessions in the back of the plane. This doesn’t sound all that weird but it was irony at work full time. Why? Because this trip would have these bands playing a massive benefit concert for drug rehabilitation. All of the bands were either drunk out of their skulls or high on just about any drug they could get through customs… all but Motley Crue. How is THAT for irony? Local Russian boys done good, Gorky Park, Skid Row, Cinderella, Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions, and Bon Jovi were to take the stage at Moscow’s Lenin Stadium in front of 220,000 people. It was the also first concert in Soviet history where the audience was allowed to stand up and cheer during the performances.
The most ironic thing is that this concert was put on by manager Doc McGhee to avoid jail time after being convicted in 1988 of helping to import 20 tons of marijuana into North Carolina. That is almost as funny as the time Vince Neil did a Rock Against Drugs commercial saying, “I still like to party but now I party sober.” McGhee managed nearly all of the bands on the bill (Gorky Park, Skid Row, Motley Crue, and Bon Jovi), and what was supposed to be this significant musical peace offering of sorts turned into a clash of egos. Apparently, the only bands that had no issues were Gorky Park and Skid Row, who just seemed pumped as all fuck to be a part of this. Ozzy was slated to go on before Motley Crue resulting in Ozzy almost backing out of the festival because he felt he was bigger than Motley Crue. In a press conference, Jon Bon Jovi said that Ozzy said, “Just put me on wherever,” so obviously that wasn’t the case.
The Scorpions were bigger than Bon Jovi in Russia, so they thought they should close the show, and Motley Crue just wasn’t happy at all and furious because Bon Jovi had pyrotechnics (which no band was supposed to have). According to McGhee, they went off accidentally but regardless, resulting in getting sucker-punched by Tommy Lee and then fired as Motley Crue’s manager. According to Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan, Ozzy Osbourne was the real star of the Moscow Music Peace Festival. Black Sabbath’s music was sold and traded on the black market in Russia, so Ozzy was as much a legend or even a myth as he was a living, breathing entity. Bolan said that after every song of Skid Row’s set (as well as the other bands), fans were chanting, “OZZY! OZZY! OZZY!”
The Moscow Music Peace Festival did run into some logistical problems. All the production equipment for the concert had to be shipped in from Western Europe, and it wasn’t until the last minute that President Gorbachev finally gave his permission for the festival to begin. By the skin of their teeth, the Moscow Music Peace Festival was underway.
The festival was broadcast live all over the world as a Pay-Per-View event and was later played on MTV in the edited form that would be on the two-part VHS release. Radio stations all over North America were simulcasting the show into the bedrooms, basements, and apartments of metalheads dying to hear how our American boys would do in front of 220,000 screaming Russians going apeshit as they got to witness these bands for the first time.
The Moscow Music Peace Festival was a two-day festival, and while it was never confirmed, I believe that the reason for this was because the weather was bad, and they wanted to make sure that they could at least capture a good day’s worth of footage. While the simulcast was live, the VHS release of the performances would contain the best footage pulled from both days. I went back and found as much footage as I could from the festival, and I thought I would offer my thoughts on each band’s performance.
SKID ROW
Skid Row opened the festival with a set that pretty much ripped everyone’s balls and tits off. Kicking off with “Makin’ a Mess,” which was their ’89/’90 set opener, and they came out the gates firing on all cylinders. At this point, they were a young band and new on the scene. They were making a huge buzz out on the road with bands like Aerosmith and Bon Jovi and were playing sold-out club shows as headliners. Skid Row played with all the confidence and energy of a band that had been doing this for much longer than they had been. Their cover of the Sex Pistols’ “Holidays in the Sun,” which was also featured on the Make A Difference compilation album fit so well in their set.
Closing their set with “Youth Gone Wild” couldn’t have been a more perfect closer, and watching everyone lose their fucking minds gave me chills. Skid Row’s rough around the edges tight yet punk-inspired sound and attitude was a great way to kick things off for a crowd of Russians who had been denied rock n’ roll for far too long.
Gorky Park
From what I have read, Gorky Park was a super-group of sorts. Each member was from an already established Russian band with Gorky Park being formed in 1987. The band at one time was even barred from performing by the military police. Gorky Park performed at a festival headlined by the Scorpions, and this is where they were noticed and signed by Mercury records. Managed by Doc McGhee, Gorky Park headed to Little Mountain Sounds studio in Vancouver to record their debut LP, which would feature the singles, “Bang,” “Try to Find Me,” and the Jon Bon Jovi/Richie Sambora penned “Peace in our Time.”
Gorky Park followed Skid Row, which honestly was a really tough act to follow. I’m assuming they went on after Skid Row since Moscow was their home country but still, going after Skid Row as a somewhat new band was tough. With that being said, Gorky Park put on a great set opening with “Action” and delivering fantastic songs such as “Try to Find Me,” “Bang,” and their excellent cover of The Who’s “My Generation.” The band was very well received, of course, and for me, as a teen who had no idea that Russians could even play music, I was floored. After all these years, their set still sounds fantastic. It’s fun to watch, and their debut album still sounds as great today as it did in ’89.
Cinderella
Cinderella was on tour for their 2nd album Long Cold Winter, and Cinderella was on top of their game. Opening for bands such as Bon Jovi, AC/DC, and Judas Priest proved no issue for Cinderella, who played each show with energy, fire, and confidence (not arrogance.) Kicking things off with “Falling Apart at the Seams” was their tour opener at the time, and it proved to be the perfect song to kick things off. It was a stellar performance, but it had some of the most unfortunate backing vocals. Cinderella was never really known for their incredible backing vocals, so this was not a big deal at all.
Cinderella was pretty much the only “roots” band on the bill but their songs and sound resonated with the crowd perfectly. It was fun to watch all these Russian kids playing air guitar, cheering really loud, clapping in unison, and even flying Cinderella banners. Cinderella closed out with “Shake Me,” and while it isn’t my favorite song by them, it worked so well, and it had them going out with a bang. Definitely a classy band full of great songs and underrated musical ability, Cinderella definitely kicked a lot of ass in Moscow.
Motley Crue
Motley Crue’s appearance at the Moscow Music Peace Festival was a big fucking deal for the band. This was the first (and last) show Motley Crue ever did sober, and also, they were just about to release their newest album Dr. Feelgood. Since it wasn’t out yet, the band pulled material from their first four albums (Too Fast for Love, Shout at the Devil, Theater of Pain, and Girls Girls Girls.) Opening with the Girls Girls Girls tour opener, “All In the Name of…” was fucking crazy good. I was shocked by how good they sounded. Motley Crue looked and sounded fantastic. There was a fire in them and some excitement in their eyes that I had never seen before. They were musically raw, rough around the edges, and loose, but this is what I always associated with the sound of Motley Crue.
Vince Neil sang 97% of the words for each song as opposed to the past (and future) 45%, and he sounded great. “Looks that Kill,” “Shout at the Devil,” and the show-stopping “Wild Side” had the band sounding amazing. If Motley Crue would’ve put this much effort and fire into their performances after this, I feel that they could’ve been a truly great band. At least we have the Moscow Music Peace Festival to remind us of the band that Motley Crue could’ve and should’ve been.
Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy was hands down, the star of the Moscow Music Peace Festival. Black Sabbath’s music had been available via the black market for so many years that Ozzy had become figuratively, and in my opinion, this is the best that Ozzy was up to this date. Ozzy had been on the road supporting No Rest for the Wicked, which featured his brand-new guitarist, Zakk Wylde. The touring band also featured his best touring line up featuring his old friend Geezer Butler on bass and drummer Randy Castillo.
Kicking things off with “I Don’t Know” was just monstrous, and it was the best I had heard Ozzy sound since Sabbath. Zakk played with so much feel and fire that it sounded like he could’ve played those songs from the beginning. This is also before the ridiculous squealing guitar playing he has become known for, which I find to be completely unlistenable. Ozzy’s set highlight for me was the fantastic take on “Sweet Leaf.” At just midway through his ten-song set, Ozzy and Co. were killing it. Ozzy closed things out with “Paranoid,” which had everyone going apeshit crazy. Ozzy, without a doubt, should have closed this show.
Scorpions
The Scorpions were no stranger to Russia as they were the only band on the bill that had been there before (besides Gorky Park, of course.) This show had the Scorpions performing between the Savage Amusement tour and the release of their 1990 hit album, Crazy World, and as usual, the Scorpions took the stage like they owned the place. Kicking things off with “Blackout,” the Scorpions were in fantastic form, and the crowd was definitely high energy for them.
Their set was made up of mostly “hits” like “Big City Nights,” “The Zoo,” “No One Like You,” and the international hit, “Holiday.” The Scorpions are definitely a band that rocks way fucking hard, but they look like they do it without even trying. They’d been at it so long that this show was just another gig to them, but they gave it their all nonetheless. “Rock You Like a Hurricane” closed things out with a bang, and the crowd was just amped the fuck up. I never thought the Scorpions were a very visually dynamic band, but they let the music and the performance do the talking, which at the end of it all, is what matters. If you have all the energy of spastic kids and you can’t play your way out of a wet paper bag, then you’re just not worth a shit.
Bon Jovi
If the Scorpions kick tons of ass without even trying very hard, Bon Jovi is the polar fucking opposite. I have never seen anyone try so hard to rock only to fail miserably. The band was touring for their massively popular (and massively lame) New Jersey album. The band kicked off with the song “Lay Your Hands on Me,” and the only thing cool about this song is, well, nothing. Jon Bon Jovi made his grand entrance walking through the parted audience in a Russian military jacket and hat like he was the non-rocking Moses or something. It was so obnoxiously pretentious and again, did nothing to cover up for the fact that Bon Jovi was nothing but (and still is) watered down shite.
The rest of Bon Jovi’s set contained songs about some people named Gina, Tommy, Bobby, Johnny, and whatever else the fuck simple white name they could come up with. As the set progressed, I got more and more bored. I will say that as much as I do love “Wanted Dead or Alive,” this live version was just not good. Jon Bon Jovi has to be one of the worst live vocalists, and on this show, he definitely was the worst. The band as a whole is really great, and those fuckers can play, but the songs are all just shitty, hard rock versions of Bruce Springsteen songs. This was the most underwhelming end to a kick-ass festival I can imagine. If I were those Russian kids, I would’ve left before they even hit the stage to beat traffic.
The Jam
I have no idea who thought this was going to be a good idea, but my god, this was terrible. First off, you had Jon Bon Jovi and Co. up there with the Scorpions and Cinderella all together. Just with Bon Jovi in the mix, I knew it was going to be pretty bad. They kicked off this jam with “Hound Dog,” and what a fucking hot mess. Then we had Scorpions, Gorky Park, and David Bryan of Bon Jovi doing “Long Tall Sally/Blue Suede Shoes,” and that went about as awesome as you can imagine… not at all.
Then we get Skid Row, Motley Crue, Klaus Meine, Zakk Wylde, and Jason Bonham all on stage to play the Led Zeppelin classic, “Rock N’ Roll.” First off, how the hell did Jason Bonham manage to even be there? It’s like he hid in the baggage compartment, and when they landed, they were like, “Well, I guess you can play “Rock N’ Roll?” How can the son of one of the greatest rock drummers of all time be such a shitty drummer and be proud of it? This song was a wreck of Titanic proportions. It’s like nobody knew the song musically, and they only knew one verse of the song. Tom Keifer even came out to try and help this sinking ship only to bail out before it went down in a blaze of shit.
The lamest of the lame was when ALL THE FUCKING BANDS took the stage to perform the Plastic Ono Band’s “Give Peace a Chance.” If I remember correctly, they had even done a video for this song or something like that. This was so stupid, and it was so contrived and forced. Why even do that dumb shit? Just get up there, let your music do the talking, and get the fuck out. The jam, I’m sure, was meant to be fun, and they all seemed to be having fun, but my god to have that shit televised worldwide was a facepalm moment, to say the least.
The Moscow Music Peace Festival was a piece of hard rock history that still means a lot to those who were there, those who performed, and those of us who watched it via Pay Per View. I asked Rachel Bolan of Skid Row once why the Moscow Music Peace Festival seems to be overlooked so many years later, and he seemed to think that maybe it was because of the bands that played the fest. Many people these days may have a problem acknowledging that these bands were on top of the world once and, for some odd reason, aren’t taken seriously by the press. These bands were significant to me (except for Bon Jovi), and they all made a huge statement. Yes, most of them were pretty fucked up for this event, but hey, it’s the thought that counts.
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