Dan's Metal Memory of the Month: 6/07

On this day, nineteen years ago, I was standing in the dusty, oil-stained center of the Oxford Plains Speedway with thousands of other small town metalheads from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Brunswick, Quebec and beyond. The occasion: Monsters of Rock 1988! The M.O.R. line-up, as I recall, featured Van Halen, Scorpions, Metallica, Dokken and Kingdom Come. At the time, that seemed like a ticket worthy of $28.50 (+1 dollar for parking). I used to go there as a kid to watch the stock car races and "demolition derby," but hadn't been back for years. This concert took place just after graduation, so we all made a little pilgrimage upstate for one last spectacle together. Despite all the metal shows we'd been to prior to M.O.R., I'd never seen so much hair in one place. Although I love this MTV commercial for the tour, I don't remember seeing it. Wine coolers though, I do remember. I can't believe they still make those things - and people still drink them! Then again, 4 of the 5 bands that were headlining on 1988's M.O.R. are still touring, too. (I'd probably still buy a ticket for at least one of them.)