10 Live Shows That Changed Music History

Over the years, Monsters of Rock has made a name for itself as the stuff of legends in rock circles. Much as the title might imply, these are the shows destined for the realm of musical gods, who are looking to annihilate every single audience they play to regardless of what pedigree they have. Though the original Monsters of Rock had some fairly well known acts, 1991 was where everything got far more muscly.

Being interspersed throughout different parts of the world, the most important gigs happened in the Soviet Union at Tushino Airfield, which opened with metal legends Pantera playing through a handful of their hits. Being in prime form, this was a signal that metal's golden age hadn't quite exhausted yet, which was made abundantly clear when Metallica took to the stage. Almost like piranhas attacking a ham, the audience couldn't get enough of the thrash metal titans, bowing down to songs like Harvester of Sorrow like the fate of the world depended on it.

The big draw though came from AC/DC that night, where they brought their snide brand of bluesy rock and roll to legions of audiences, much to the amazement of even the musicians waiting in the wings during the show. With the Soviet Union falling just a short time afterward, this might have been the first big sign that the culture was starting to turn a corner.