On August 12th and 13th of 1989, some of America\u2019s biggest hard rock\/metal bands hopped on a plane nicknamed \u201cThe Magic Bus\u201d bound for Russia to perform at The Moscow Music Peace Festival.\u00a0 The festival was a benefit for the Make a Difference Foundation.\u00a0 The Make a Difference Foundation is a nonprofit group directing its drug and alcohol abuse fight toward youth through pro-responsibility messages.<\/p>\n
The flight on the Magic Bus was a huge party.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 This doesn’t sound all that weird but it was irony at work full time.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because this trip would have these bands playing a massive benefit concert for drug rehabilitation.\u00a0 All of the bands were either drunk out of their skulls or high on just about any drug they could get through customs\u2026 all but Motley Crue.\u00a0 How is THAT for irony?\u00a0 Local Russian boys done good, Gorky Park, Skid Row, Cinderella, Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions, <\/strong>and Bon Jovi<\/strong> were to take the stage at Moscow\u2019s Lenin Stadium in front of 220,000 people.\u00a0 It was the also first concert in Soviet history where the audience was allowed to stand up and cheer during the performances.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0 That is almost as funny as the time Vince Neil did a Rock Against Drugs commercial saying, \u201cI still like to party but now I party sober.\u201d 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.\u00a0Apparently, 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 In a press conference, Jon Bon Jovi said that Ozzy said, \u201cJust put me on wherever,\u201d so obviously that wasn\u2019t the case.<\/p>\n The Scorpions were bigger than Bon Jovi in Russia, so they thought they should close the show, and Motley Crue just wasn\u2019t happy at all and furious because Bon Jovi had pyrotechnics (which no band was supposed to have).\u00a0 According to McGhee, they went off accidentally but regardless, resulting in getting sucker-punched by Tommy Lee and then fired as Motley Crue\u2019s manager.\u00a0 According to Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan, Ozzy Osbourne was the real star of the Moscow Music Peace Festival.\u00a0 Black Sabbath\u2019s 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.\u00a0 Bolan said that after every song of Skid Row\u2019s set (as well as the other bands), fans were chanting, \u201cOZZY!\u00a0 OZZY!\u00a0 OZZY!\u201d<\/p>\n The Moscow Music Peace Festival did run into some logistical problems.\u00a0 All the production equipment for the concert had to be shipped in from Western Europe, and it wasn\u2019t until the last minute that President Gorbachev finally gave his permission for the festival to begin.\u00a0 By the skin of their teeth, the Moscow Music Peace Festival was underway.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s worth of footage.\u00a0 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\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n SKID ROW<\/strong><\/p>\n Skid Row opened the festival with a set that pretty much ripped everyone\u2019s balls and tits off.\u00a0 Kicking off with \u201cMakin\u2019 a Mess,\u201d which was their \u201989\/\u201990 set opener, and they came out the gates firing on all cylinders.\u00a0 At this point, they were a young band and new on the scene.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Skid Row played with all the confidence and energy of a band that had been doing this for much longer than they had been.\u00a0 Their cover of the Sex Pistols\u2019 \u201cHolidays in the Sun,\u201d which was also featured on the Make A Difference compilation album fit so well in their set.<\/p>\n Closing their set with \u201cYouth Gone Wild\u201d couldn\u2019t have been a more perfect closer, and watching everyone lose their fucking minds gave me chills.\u00a0 Skid Row\u2019s 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\u2019 roll for far too long.<\/p>\n