One of my favorite concerts was the American Rock Festival, May 27th 1984. It was in Kalamazoo, Michigan at a Ski Resort called Timber Ridge…
I don’t think they ever did another concert there after this one and I’m pretty sure they banned them intentionally because of the noise. Great day though!
This was a few minutes after Motley Crue’s set was finished. Vince seems quite fine at this point but during their set, drinking heavily, he climbed up the scaffolding and sang from the top while swinging around the poles during Piece of Your Action.
There was this brief moment in time when Crue was very cutting edge and this was that moment…
Cool 
I was soooooo jealous that you guys went without me!!! Didnt’ your car break down on the way also???
Yep, it overheated and we pushed it along the shoulder for quite awhile and then just left it on the side of the road.
I think we actually got there a lot faster because of it, the traffic jam was unreal…
many many people got out of there cars and walk about 2 miles i mean 1000’s as the highway was backed up for miles. my group of people did this too
My buddies and me went the day before and partied in a farmers field, what a kick ass time that was, still get chills about that day
i was there the day before, and slept in my car. it was an awesome day! i totally missed accept. was rolling an O, up on the top of the ski run. damn sure heard them though. best day of my 17 years.
I was there too! What a crazy day! I was 17 years old in 1984. We partied the entire night before… We mostly went to see Triumph and Ozzy
Hey…thanks for posting about this, this was this first concert I had ever been too, I was 15 at the time, went with my brother and a few of my friends. I’ll never forget the traffic jam and the wicked ass sunburn I got that day.
Glad I was there and got in super early also. I think the party for us started the night before and didnt end till we made it back to ypsilanti. Vince was off the hook and thank god Ozzy was throwing buckets of water off the stage it sure did feel good by the time he did his set LOL
I have to say one of the best fests Ive ever been to I guess mostly for the fact most were kick ass up and coming rock band. I still have the concert T’s from this show
hey will. thanks for the great post. i was at this concert as well. came from saginaw the night before. got a great parking spot in a field a mile from the ridge. slept in a old nova with my girl friend, her friend and my best friend rob. got a killer spot center of the mountain about 1/4 of the way up. will, i wanted you to know i read your writing on “struggle” very deep. i had a few questions for you on that. write me if you will. j.p.k ps: poor cows-thats why there was never another gig at this site!!!!
Lol i was n a field to the day before n my 69ss nova, was a party from hell, what a great time that weekend was
Never forget this one; we stayed at a campground the night before which was one heck of a pre-concert party, then walked to the event. My friend who was 6’10” and a bean pole had an american flag on as a cape and was soon dubbed Capt. Concert by all. Good times, good music, good people, and a wicked burn!
I had just finished a bicycle trip from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. to Clyde, Ohio, attended a classmates funeral (sadly), and was just about to spend the summer in New Mexico. This concert contributed to what was the most memorable/ fantastic year of my life. Rediculous traffic jam, unbelievable crowd, and the sound! Triumph was my favorite… sounding the best and loudest as we were sitting 1/4 mile from the stage up the ski slope. I’m sure those up front had bleeding ears. Can anyone recall all the bands present? I recall quiet riot, ozzie osborn, night ranger, motley crue…anyway a great American Concert for sure!
The lineup… Ratt started around 10 am then Accept, Night Ranger, Motley Crue, Quiet Riot, Ozzy, and Triumph. 12 hours. Ted Nugent was supposed to be there as well but cancelled. I didn’t get to see Triumph but thought Motley Crue put on the best show of the other six bands.
I was 22 at the time. A bunch of friends and I went down in a convoy of six cars. We all met in the early morning at Johnson Park in Walker for a pre-trip party. At the Hopkins ramp on US 131 we pick up another car for the convoy. We were there very early and even though they were patting people down, we manage to get some items in. : )
It was suppose to be rainy that day, but ended up being sunny and hot, hot, hot. This was the reason people started leaving when Triumph was playing. Man, were they were pissed off and they let it be known. Can’t blame the people though, because by that time I think many people were close to a heatstroke. I got a wicked sunburn that day.
Before the concert, a guy who came with us decided to try jump the fence to get backstage. All he ended up doing was ripping his whole crotch out of his pants. He ended up sitting on the ground all day with a scowl on his face. Everytime I looked at him, I couldn’t stop laughing.
Motley Crue walked through the crowd right in front of us in full grab before playing. They were very friendly and seemed to be having good time.
Since, I was one of the only people old enough buy beer, friends gave me their money to go on a beer run to the beer tent. I bought four beers, and since security won’t let me out, I stayed there for 1/2 hour drinking them. Needless to say, my friends were very unhappy with me when I got back, but hey a guy’s gotta do what guy’s gotta do.
I wanted a t-shirt, but all they had in the beginning were ones with Ted on them. I waited until they they got shirts with the correct bands. I still have that shirt. It’s pristine condition, never been worn because it didn’t really fit me and I still have the ticket stub. Wonder if I should send the shirt around and try to get signatures on it? All & All, a Great Day!
I went mostly to see Ozzy. Never heard of Motley Crue until I got there, I became a fan and I still am at 45 y/o! I arrived way too early, around 9am. By the time I got home I had second degree sunburn over 50% of my body. I was in terrible pain for days but it was worth it. Great times.
Anyone know where to get one of the posters for the show with the bands listed or an old ticket stub?
That was one wonderful day of music I was home on leave from the Army and saw that show it was spectacular very hot but Triumph,Ozzy, and Quiet Riot were awesome wish they would do another on e there.
I was there in 84 and it was awesome. we were supposed to meet a couple of friends there and when we got there it was like good luck finding anybody but we go in and sure enough there was Tom standing there in the middle of thousands so we all got lit up and enjoyed the show. i knew all the bands and was anticipating all of them. i do remember motleys set and thought it was wicked. i could have swore scorpions was there too. we walked around and eventually got somewhere on the mountain and got burnt like bacon.
it was great, i was a huge accept fan, thought they were great, crue was great too, ozzy rocked, can’t beleive it really happed
Hello all:
I am making a documentary about the American Rock Festival on May 27, 1984 at Timber Ridge Ski Area. If any of you have any items from that day, I would love to talk with you. I am looking for photos, video, shirts, stories, passes, flyers, tickets, anything. Contact me at scottybudmelvin@yahoo.com. Thanks.
hey scotty i was at this concert and it was kickass i still have my ticket stub and also got pictures of this concert
would love to see photos, and possibly use some of them. scotty@scottybud.com
So glad I found your post… I’ve been racking my brain about this concert! I went for CRUE… walked in (finally) about 5 minutes before they took the stage and made my way all the way to the front right in front of Nikki (If anyone remembers an 18 year old girl saying “excuse me, I need to see my boyfriend” this would be me (delusional of course, LOL! Loved Nikki and still do, 10 Motley concerts later and another to come in February in Vegas!!!!) Totally remember thinking that Vince was gonna die that day….
That day was incredible. Was in my the 4th year of college in Toledo and took a roadtrip to kalamazoo. I remeber getting there very early to secure I good spot – boy, did we get a great view up close! The only bad part was we were afraid to leave that position in the fear we would’nt be able to get back to it. So many great bands in thie infancy. I was actually a big Accept fan back then and they were touring for the Balls to the Walls album. Great show! Every band on the bill were running on all cylinders. Night Ranger and Ozzy were highlights for me as well. There was a rumor that day that they may have a special guest show up … the Scorpions, but that was only rumor.
About 10 years ago at Blossom Music Center near Cleveland I met with Quiet Riot and had a nice chat about that festival with Kevin Dubrow. Nice guy. We felt like “old guys” talking about that show. I’ve been to close to 500 concerts in my years and that was a stand-out.
Dudes! I can’t believe I found this page! Me and a buddy went the night before from Union Lake, MI and had a case of Labatts, and other stuff. We found a hotel that would let us have the room if the people didn’t show. Well, they didn’t! We partied with other rockers and the town was loaded with prostitutes because there was a huge political convention in KZoo! Anyone remember that? This chick got pissed that we weren’t “renting”, just laughing. We were 17.
The next day we were all trapped on 131 and I was on E in my ’74 Pontiac Ventura. I got to the shoulder and started passing the cars as I had to find gas. Then we got to the other side of the freeway, and again did 60 mph on the shoulder! Glad no-one got hurt. Finally made the exit and the gas station.
We parked on a farmers yard about a mile from the show. We were wasted and I think we came in at Accepts show. I too was blown away by Motley and Neil climbing the scaffolding. Very exciting. We were kind of close, by the beer tent thing.
When we left the farmer was screaming at everyone and wanted 10 bucks or he was calling the cops. I was parked in his driveway behind his house near his outbuildings. I started my car and hit a huge F’N rock and bent my flywheel!! Transmission fluid pouring out! I shut the car off because the flywheel was BANGING! Mistake, because we then had to turn the engine crank BY HAND to line what was left of the flywheel to the starter teeth. All this time the farmer is screaming at me! I finally got it started and we drove through his ditch with the tranny going bangbangbang with every revolution! Fn crazy.
We made it back home to Union Lake that night. But I will never forget that show. It sounds like none of us will.
Sounds like your journey there was as fun and interesting as mine was, maybe more so.
This was by far the best festival I have ever been to., we had a keg in the trunk and the tapper put through the back seat it was a hot day and alot of cars overheated the traffic was backed up for miles on the expressway, what a great time. Now it’s 2012 and I’m putting on a event for the Blue Star Mothers and Great Lakes Burn Camp for kids 6-17 in chesterfield Twp Mi march 9th 2013 dress up and cone out and relive the good times!! go to http://www.80spartyforapurpose.com for more info
We need Sponsors if you would like to get involved.
This was my 1st concert. I was 14. We left ” 7am. Stopped pickin up people drugs n beer on the way . Don’t remember what time we got there but we ended up sittin on the hill. We were tripping . I was peaking durin motley n it was awesome! Now 42 I recall bits n pieces of this concert. What a great show!
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Still one of the best concerts I have ever been too. I was 16 at the time of the show and was huge fan of all of the bands. Especially there to see Motley Crue and Ozzy. I got dropped off at the D Ave. exit at 3am by my parents because I did not want to drive my car and have to worry about parking etc….after seeing the mayhem that ensued from the farmers, police etc..that was the smartest move I could have made. Walked about 1/2 mile and found 5 of my friends in their car. Hopped in and started drinking at 4am. We were one of the lucky ones and made it into the concert about 1/2 an hour before it began. Ratt, in my opinion, while still very raw sounded great. Next was Accept and I was a huge fan but by the reaction of the crowd they still were very unknown in little ole Kalamazoo. Night Ranger put on a good set but as most of the people on this page before me have already stated Motley stole the show. I can still remember the climb by Vince Neil. I have always wanted to meet him and ask him if that is something he remembers since it is so memorable to all of the people that attended. Ozzy was great!!!! I can still remember a beach ball making it to the stage and Ozzy picked it up and made somewhat of an attempt to kick it back into the crowd, completely missed the ball and about fell on his ass. Probably a pretty good sign of how much he had to drink that day!! Stayed for most of Triumphs set. Never a huge fan but they put on a great show. That festival was talked about for quite awhile and I remember the promoters wanted to make it an annual event to be held at Timber Ridge. But all of the farmers, business owners etc….made sure that would never happen. They attended City Council meetings and put up a big enough bitch that Timber Ridge agreed not to host another one. That is too bad. But all of us that were fortunate enough to be there, saw one helluva show!!!
The day before the american rock festival. We left the collage in plainwell mi, and headed out at 7 p.m. for a short drive to k-zoo. Thier was 5 of us in tow. Why we left for the show when we did i will never know but it was all worth it. We ended up in a store parking lot with a whole lot of others going to the show too.
They were selling bootleg shirts thier , becouse they still said the nug was going to be at the show still. we partied all night long , drank many beers and a did a few other things. The store stayed open till it sold out of every thing in the store and they had nothing left to sell. behind the store a bon fire was blazzing and people were jumping over it.
Well the driver said hay lets head over and park at the concert get a little rest and head in 1st thing to get good seats. When we noticed we lost some one. So now it was just the 4 and we figurered he would find some one to take him the rest of the way so we left and found a spot.
A beer breakfest later we walking into the show the path was muddy and a thin layer of dew was blanketing the ground but we found a seat dead center of the stage, 10 to 30 feet back from the standing room only closed off area, waiting for the 1st band to start.
They blasted the music out and blew the stacks . thats when the climbing on the stacks happened if i remember correctly. remember all the panties being throw up on stage by the girls as they were added to the mic stand and some where helped by the bouncers to behind the stage for other kind of fun i’m sure by the band.
more could be told but that is enught for now was one hell of a show for sure.
Great show. First time I saw Triumph and the reason I saw them again.
I was there!!! All day…never have been to anything like it since…was AWESOME!!!
I was there. My two friends and I borrowed my dad’s battleship of a Buick and drove up from Goshen, Indiana. Way up on the hill…far enough to actually experience some delay in the music (see a cymbal crash, hear it a second later!). It was a great/weird day. My father had died two weeks before and my girlfriend had just dumped me…I needed SOMETHING! Ratt – couldn’t hear them well. Accept – big favourites (then and now). Night Ranger – not my cup of tea. Motley Crue – again not my cup of tea but they were entertaining. Quiet Riot – pretty much the same. Ozzy – CLASSIC post-Rhoads lineup with Jake E. Lee, Bob Daisley, Don Airey and Tommy Aldridge! Triumph – saw them live the year before, and still great even though an outside gig for their pyrotechnic show was kind of odd; Canada’s best live band, with Mike Levine’s classic joking with the crowd.
We all got sunburnt. I wore a jersey that gave me a 1/4 arm sunburn, one friend bought an Accept sleeveless tee that gave him all-arms sunburn…second friend was STUPID and took his shirt off; got sunburnt to the point of having cookie-size blisters on his back, almost had to go to the ER.
Two funny things stand out. First was this quite overweight Sheriff’s Officer who had confiscated a bag of dope. Some kid ran up behind him, grabbed the bag and made 90 away from him. The sheriff’s trying to run after him but no hope at all of catching him! Second was when my friends and I were lying down on the hill. A very attractive girl walked directly over us. She was wearing a skirt…and she’d nothing on underneath (proving her to be a natural brunette). We all simultaneously looked at each other “DID YOU SEE…”
I never would have thought that event would still be remembered almost 30 years on.
i was from goshen too, do i know you?
You certainly do, and I know you.
Partied all night the night before never went to sleep. When we walked in nobody took my ticket. Sat on the hill and got fried.
sweet! our gang of 8 or 9 drove down from Bay City the day before. Camped, did the pre-concert bash but we knew how crazy it would be and got up early day of and made it, parked and sat halfway up the main hill right in front of the stage. We had heard about the “special guest” people said scorpions, though they played Pine Knob(then) the following nite-I read Uncle Ted Nugent was supposed to be there but backed out… One buddy made a huge sign we held it up for a while until the party “accessories” kicked in, the sun was relentless but we countered that with an all day party!!! the sun that scorched us that day made the rainy night with the scorps very chilly indeed!!! I remember the tall dude in the american flag shirt too! Vince climbing up the light rigging!! I remember chocking on the $19.50 ticket price- the most I ever paid in those days….a bargain big time today… great memories Michigan rocks baby always and forever. peace out.
A girlfriend and I got to see this concert. My uncle drove us in from South Bend. It still amazes me with all the pat downs all the stuff that still got through. Funny how everyone shared that day too. I ended up with sun poisoning, but man was it worth it! To think we were at the beginning of some of those bands careers. Brenda and I had the best time ever. My poor uncle did not fare so well. He drove us there, he went back home and then came back to get us, only to drive back again. Poor guy.
One of the greatest most irresponsible times of my life! Had just turned 18 a group of us drove down for the weekend and got a campsite which was a wicked party by itself. 40 ounce beer bongs and every party supply you could think of back in those days were dangerously consumed in double portions! It’s amazing we lived through it and that we can still remember it! Even with being such screw UPS we still managed to do somethings right. We drove to concert site the day before and found the back route in so day of concert we pulled right up to a parking lot half mile down the main drag that was pedestrians only and around the corner pulled right in with NO traffic jam! Was there ready and ripped for rat. About a quarter up hill in front of stage by the tall bearded hippie that danced all day and by time triumph played a big circle had cleared around him so he had all the room he needed for lay it on the line. We all got sunburned so bad we had blisters oozing yellow pus the next day. Two of us had to work our jobs that sun night and we both called in and said we were broke down in Kzoo and couldn’t get home, we were so uncomfortably BURNT! AS a 47 year old responsable father of three it seems like a complete different lifetime ago, where did the good times go? Glad to have found this site cause I was visiting a friend from this trip over the holidays and we were trying to narrow down when this all happend or if we dreamed it. Thx
Great story! Please checkout the Facebook page that gives updates on the Rock Documentary I am making about The American Rock Festival.
https://www.facebook.com/AmericanRockFestival?ref=hl
Scotty Melvin
Kalamazoo , Michigan
I was wondering when I’d see this blog post come across your radar, Scotty. Can’t wait for the documentary!
New details on the documentary. We just secured Mike Levine from Triumph, and will probably have Wolf Hoffman from Accept as part of the documentary. Check out updates at the Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/AmericanRockFestival?ref=hl
We had a good time best concert ever most of our friends that went we r still friends 2 this day need another 1 sure would b nice
I was there, was 19yrs old and i will never forget it, i lived n indiana and a few of us went and just thinking of it still gives me chills, was 1hell of a show
The good ole days
I just sent this to Scotty
The line up in order of appearance:
Accept opened the show and the sound was very poor. I would even say they should have readjusted the boards and had Accept come on later.
Night Ranger came next, the sound was sketchy and still in need of help. Night Ranger Played Very Well even with the poor quality effects.
Ratt was next, Good show, years later I was Stationed in San Diego just a few miles from Stephen Pearcy’s Ratt Mansion / Castle (home)
I think they opened with “You think your tough”
Mötley Crüe………. They opened with “In the beginning” and right into “Shout at the devil”.
They were perfect and someone even noted Vince climbing the scaffolding, he was beyond hammered. When the show started he was on the side
drinking what looked to be JD, then during the solo’s you could him pounding JD off stage.
Then he walked around with a Fifth on stage, tossed the bottle into the crowd and took to climbing.
Personally, I thought he was on his way down when he made it to top of the stacks.
Side note: I had seen Crüe with Saxon that same Year. I joined the Military and during “Boot Camp” I found out Razzle was killed.
Quiet Riot, not to bust on them, but they were kind of a downer after Crüe.
Ozzy ……………… best guitar solo I have ever seen to this day. Jake E. Lee was beyond phenomenal.
Why Ozzy did not close the show is beyond me. The story was he had another obligation in Ohio that night.
They did not have the intranet at that time so I have to believe that this is what happened.
I did see/hear a Helicopter fly in before Crüe hit the stage.
Triumph was last………yes they closed the show…….after two songs I went home to beat the traffic.
It was a hot day and I was about 30 “rows” back even though it was a pavilion event.
The weed flowed easily (personal note) and I was just their for the music…….2 guys 5 women……no complaining and I did not get lucky.
Maybe next time.
For more personal stories like the couple that was banging their brains out right next to us or the couple that was out in the truck going at it like no one’s business or the
pills they took from one of the stoner girls I was with (they turned out to be birth control) or the dope sharing kind people that were in front of us I can give you more details.
I was driving so I could not partake in any of the activities that my so called friends where doing.
Sorry Flipper, but I need to correct a couple of things. Ratt went on first and their first song was “Wanted Man”.
Ken, I agree with Wanted Man, I just played the video, I should have watched the concert before hand. .
But I am not fully convinced that Ratt was first on stage.
If I am wrong maybe it is time to for me to check into to old folks home.
At this time That Metal Show is on PALHD so I must go…………Thanks for the Memories.
I was there with a couple HS buds. We woke up and set out hungover from St Joseph MI and hit the gridlock on the road to TR. Selling beers out of the trunk of my car to make up costs of tickets!! We get there and see two HUGE piles of bottles as everybody is chugging their booze before entering.
The rest of the day was a blur… Crue kicked ass and Ozzy entered stage by repelling down from a hovering helicopter. Does nobody remember this? Or was it my imagination?? Don’t really remember too much more than that. Triumph was brilliant of course.
Well i gotta tell ya, been to many concerts in my years but this was one of the best, on our way to the show we had 2 car loads of people, buddys car broke down maybe 20 minutes out, we left it on the side of the road and loaded 13 people into my buddys baby blue grand torino and continued on, partied like crazy all the way there and parked on the side of some road next to somebodys farm, i was 18 yrs old and we stayed up all night. started walking to the gates early and waited about and hour to get in, was exhausted by then and it was cool then but soon got very hot, remember im standing ike this for an hour with about 10 pounds of camera gear im hoping to get in with–cross your fingers for me. finally they let people throught these red this stipe type wood fencing(the kind used in construction sites i guess) i ran as fast as i could to get to the end so they could take my ticket and hopefully get by the security, we no problem there as i was pushed from behind by a huge crowd running as fast as i was and just flew past the ticket takers. sweet im in and still standing(barley). run for a bit and as i turn the corner there she is a huge stage in the middle of the field. get right up front against the wall left center. security was awesome , even let me put a few lenses on the ledge behind the wall. i remember them playing different songs and every time a new song came on they would go wild as if the show was going to start, i remember at one point sleeping standing up and at times i was off the ground floating from the crushing crowd, all while sweating and exhausted from my partying from the night/day before. still dont know how i didnt just go crash out under a tree. but once the bands started i whiped out my trusty minolta and was in heaven from the begining to the end, watched every band and got pictures of all of them, best time ever. i remember watching triumph jam his guitar like he was magic, using all ten digits to jam, i was hypnotized watching him and i was not into triumph then but he was simply amazing, many people missed out on a performance of one of the greatest guitar players i have ever seen. god what a great time, after it was over i somehow found the car, not sure how that happened and the ride home was a blur, probably was good as im sure there was at least 10 people that made it back with us. what a great time..ive got lots of pictures i would love to share , let me know and i will send some out.
glad i found this place..any word on the documentary
Don, any chance you have those photos available? Looking for any photos to add to the project. Thanks. scotty@scottybud.com
FORGOT TO MENTION–IF YOU WANNA TASTE OF THE AMERICAN ROCK FESTIVAL CHECK OUT ROCK ON THE RANGE ON OHIO, AMAZING FESTIVAL , HAPPENS EVERY YEAR…BEEN TO THIS THE PAST 5 YEARS ALWAYS A GREAT TIME, COPS ARE COOL AND EVERYONE HAS A BLAST.
Great show. My wife was pregnent with our first son. What a great time and a trip. Quit riet drove past us in line and saw some tits on the way. Ozzy flew in on a big yellow chopper