'80s Metal History (December 31st)

December 31, 1985: Metallica, Megadeth, Exodus and Metal Church performed on New Year's Eve in San Francisco. Anthrax were also on the bill but canceled and replaced by Megadeth. Metallica performed the song "Master Of Puppets" for the first time. Wow! Just wow! 🤘

Happy Birthday to Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian (December 31, 1963).

December 31, 1984: Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen was involved in a life threatening car crash that resulted in the loss of his left arm. While in hospital, Rick started to put a plan into place using his feet to continue drumming.

December 31, 1982: L.A.’s own Black Leather Demons, Mötley Crüe played the "New Year’s Eve Spectacular" show in Southern California. Tommy Lee was impersonating Elvira in this photo 💀

December 31, 1981: Ozzy Osbourne played the second night of the North American "Diary Of A Madman" Tour at the L.A. Sports Arena in Southern California. If we were thinking about the future, we would've bought a ton of these shirts 🤑

December 31, 1987: Alice Cooper brought the "Raise Your Fist And Yell" Tour to Seattle for New Year's Eve. Motörhead were on the bill, but they had just concluded the "Rock 'N' Roll" Tour eight days earlier in England, so they were replaced by Armored Saint.

December 31, 1989: It was a New Years Eve Party! with Armored Saint at The Waters Club in San Pedro, California, where the band performed for the first time the songs "Last Train Home" and "Tribal Dance" from their forthcoming album "Symbol Of Salvation", that wouldn't hit stores until May 1991. Sadly, this would be guitarist Dave Prichard's last show with Armored Saint. He succumbed to leukemia on February 27, 1990 😔

December 31, 1973: AC/DC played their first official gig at Chequers in Sydney, Australia. The line-up consisted of Angus and Malcolm Young, vocalist Dave Evans, Colin Burgess on drums, and Larry Van Kriedt on bass and saxophone.

December 31, 2015: "All Bad Things Must Come To An End" as Mötley Crüe played their final show ever in Los Angeles 😁

'80s Metal New Year's Eve playlist!

Have a Kick Ass New Year! Thanks for listening to METAL SHOP 🤘