My “quick” answer:
Technically, that’s what the sound guy is providing to the band so they can hear themselves.
However, “monitor mix” in the audio fandom world is a term also used to cover an FOH mix (front of house), which is what comes out of the P.A.
Unauthorized bootlegs (quick and cheap, usually illegal altho’ some bands, ex., The Dead, The Black Crows, sometimes allow) are most often just a recorder in the audience space, so just FOH.
“Authorized” boots typically combine either the board or audience FOH mix (see below) and the monitor mix. Sometimes they combine only the board and audience FOH mixes. These obviously require interaction with the venue’s or band’s mixing gear; sometimes the venue will illegally allow access; sometimes the band’s stuff gets stolen …
The monitor mix will, without audience mic’s, lack ambience and maybe effects, as the tracks are typically close mic’d or D.I’s (direct inject, i.e., plugged into the mixing board). Such mixes will sound un-balanced, usually unduly emphasizing the vocals or kick or lead guitar – those mixes are done to enable the band to hear themselves and the emphasis addresses the environment and the sound drives (cans or speakers) to get what the player needs, not necessarily to sound good; ex., the guitar player in front of his amp doesn’t need the guitar in the monitor mix. But those multi-tracks can be re-mixed and that mix is called a “monitor mix” because it’s made up of the raw board tracks – it’s not necessarily the same as the monitor mix a given player hears.
The monitor mix then, is made up of the multitracks, with one or two tracks for each instrument, and mixed down to a two-track (stereo), either contemporaneously for the player(s), or afterward using those monitored multi-tracks; the latter more useful for publication.
As said, then, a true monitor mix for the band is often customized for the player, ex., the bassist wants a lot of kick in his personal mix, the singer wants the bass and rhythm guitar emphasized and reverb on his voc, etc. EQ may be applied also. That said, the quality/extent of the gear makes a difference. A stadium is likely gonna have a separate monitor mix board, mix engineer and resultant mix made just for the band/players; a club might just put the board mix (see below) into the monitors.
So where an audience FOH mix is gonna be two tracks from out in the crowd, there is also what is called a Board Mix which is a two track (possibly more tracks for, say, subs) tapped from the board before it hits the P.A. – it’s the FOH sound guy’s mix, with the effects and processing (reverbs, delays, compression, EQ) in place as it goes to the P.A. I wouldn’t be surprised if, like say for The Stones, a live recording might combine the multitrack monitor mix, the FOH soundboard mixdown, and maybe some audience FOH mix (besides audience mic’s to pick up the applause – funny story, Frampton Comes Alive uses [I think it was] a Humble Pie audience applause track).
There is a cliche that says, “more mic’s, more problems” and that in part references issues in aligning the mic’s for timing; you can have phase issues whenever you have two or more mic’s on one source (look up “recording rule of 3 vs. 1” if you want to know more). Chorus, flange and phase are effects that utilize that phenomena – imagine having drums with a chorus’d or flange’d sound – not something you typically want unless you are NIN or EDM, etc., and so a final mixdown of multitracks plus an FOH and/or board mix requires “alignment” to control alla that.
Finally, “monitor mix” could be be applied to what the recording musician is hearing in his cans (headphones) as he records in the studio, but that term is applied only in that situation and if that mix is preserved it’s usually just called a “rough mix”.
Sorry you asked? 
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vlayman 