'80s Rock Band's Concert Leaves Fans Amazed 34 Years Later: 'Not a Phone in Sight'
- - '80s Rock Band's Concert Leaves Fans Amazed 34 Years Later: 'Not a Phone in Sight'
Isabella TorregianiDecember 16, 2025 at 4:17 AM
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Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Before smartphones and social media, concerts were about being fully present in the moment. Few performances capture that feeling quite like Metallica’s legendary 1991 show in Moscow.
Taking place as the Soviet Union teetered on the edge of collapse, the Monsters of Rock concert drew a crowd of more than a million people and marked the first open-air Western rock festival in Soviet history.
More than three decades later, fans are revisiting the performance — not just for the music, but for what it represents about a very different era of live entertainment.
When Metallica performed at Tushino Airfield on September 28, 1991, alongside AC/DC, Pantera and The Black Crowes, the country was still reeling from political turmoil. Only a month earlier, eight high-ranking officials known as the State Committee on the State of Emergency had declared Mikhail Gorbachev unfit to govern.
Tanks were sent into Moscow, and the failed coup set off the final unraveling of the Soviet Union, which officially dissolved on December 26, 1991.
Even with the country in crisis, the show went on. Moscow remained a stop on the global Monsters of Rock tour, with Metallica scheduled to take the stage.
Official attendance figures have varied over the years. Time Warner, the event’s sponsor, reported 150,000 attendees, while later sources put the number between 1 and 1.6 million, ranking it as one of the biggest shows any of the bands had ever played.
During the set, Metallica performed fan favorites including “Sad But True,” “Master of Puppets” and, most memorably, “Enter Sandman.”
Decades later, that moment is finding new life online. A TikTok user recently uploaded a clip of Metallica performing “Enter Sandman” at the Moscow show, and it quickly gained traction, racking up more than 400,000 views.
Along with the views came an outpouring of nostalgia — and opinions.
One listener of Metallica wrote, “not a phone in sight,” which got agreement from another commentator who added, “those were the good days.”
Another made similar remarks, saying, “No phones, no branding, no algorithms. Just raw human presence and sound.”
A fourth added, “Now everyone in the audience is staring at their phones and focusing on social media, telling everyone where they are with videos.”
Although some fans prefer experiencing concerts without phones or cameras, smartphones weren’t introduced until 1992 — explaining why none were visible in the crowd.
Still, it raises a bigger question about phone etiquette and how concertgoers experience live music today.
This story was originally published by Parade on Dec 16, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
