Updated Aug 22nd: The original video has been pulled from YouTube. A new one popped up, embedded above.
This is the most significant and important newly-unearthed Van Halen footage in many years. PURE GOLD. A truly Holy Grail gem.
Watch a nearly-complete PRO SHOT concert from 1984, embedded above. Enjoy!!
About this footage:
This single-camera, professionally-filmed footage has never been seen anywhere publically before last night!
The YouTube channel which uploaded this is not the source who leaked it. We don’t know who the source is. But whoever they are, they must not have had any AUDIO to go with the video, but luckily for everyone, there was already an audience-recorded audio bootleg of this show in circulation. So, they must have painstakingly matched up the bootleg audio with the professional video. And there you have it… one of the best and most important pieces of Van Halen footage the world has ever seen!
The actual concert footage is approximately 60 minutes (an abbreviated setlist for England’s ‘Monsters of Rock’ tour). There are approximately two minutes of footage before the band hits the stage, and then five minutes of footage filmed after the show, without sound.
This concert includes the only known footage of Eddie’e guitar tech, Rudy Leiren, introducing the band.
The video opens with some women climbing the stairs to the stage. You can see Susan Anthony (Michael’s wife), Janice Monk (Noel’s wife), and Valerie Bertinelli.
Previously, the only footage anyone ever saw from the show was a live performance of “Hot For Teacher,” which aired on European TV.
About this Concert:
On August 18th, 1984, Van Halen performed for 65,000 sweaty heavy metal fans at the “Monsters of Rock” Festival at Donington Park in Castle, Donington, Leicestershire, England. This show was the first “Monsters of Rock” show out of five the band played to wrap up the 1984 tour. This was also Van Halen’s first U.K. appearance since 1980. The bill for this day included Mötley Crüe, Y&T, Accept, Gary Moore, Ozzy Osborne, Van Halen, and AC/DC.
The “Monsters of Rock” Tour was a festival tour of Europe in 1984. For a short portion of the tour, Van Halen played on the bill as the brief European leg of their 1984 tour supporting the album of the same name. It was the second portion of the tour after a large North American one and featured the final performances by David Lee Roth with the band until he rejoined in 2007.
