US Festival
Template:Use American English Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox music festival Template:Location map Template:Location map The US Festival is the name of two early 1980s music and culture festivals held near San Bernardino, California.<ref name=ffupap>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=rkfnshdm>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=opethr>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=fscrwd>Template:Cite news</ref>
Background
Steve Wozniak, cofounder of Apple and creator of the Apple I and Apple II personal computers, believed that the 1970s were the "Me" generation.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Remembering US '82 and '83 as Steve Wozniak's dream bash turns 30 - Soundcheck Blog: Orange County Register</ref> He intended the US Festivals, with Bill Graham's participation, to encourage the 1980s to be more community-oriented and combine technology with rock music.<ref name="eg198306">Template:Cite news</ref> The first was held Labor Day weekend in September 1982,<ref name=rkfnshdm/> and the second less than nine months later, over Memorial Day weekend in May 1983.<ref name=opethr/><ref name=frflok>Template:Cite news</ref>
Wozniak paid for the construction<ref>Us Festival Took A Year Of Planning (AP) - The Telegraph - Sep 1, 1982 - Nashua, NH</ref> of a new open-air field venue and an enormous state-of-the-art temporary stage at Glen Helen Regional Park near Devore.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This site was later to become home to the Glen Helen Amphitheater.Template:Citation needed The festival stage has resided at Disneyland in Anaheim since 1985, and has operated under various names and functions as the Videopolis dance club, the Videopolis Theatre, and the Fantasyland Theatre.Template:Citation needed
September 1982
The festival ran for three days in early September in Template:Convert weather;<ref name=ffupap/><ref name=ffbheat>Template:Cite news</ref> there were 36 arrests and a reported twelve drug overdoses.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> One "associated" murder of a hitchhiker occurred the day after the event.Template:Citation needed The festival lost a reported $12 million,<ref>iWoz - Computer Geek to Cult Icon: Getting to the Core of Apple's Inventor; Steve Wozniak with Gina Smith; Headline Review, London, 2006; p. 255</ref> and total attendance for the three days was about 400,000.<ref name=opethr/> The price for a three-day ticket was $37.50 (Template:Inflation).<ref name=rkfnshdm/>
The festival featured the first use of the U.S.-Soviet Space Bridge, a two-way satellite hookup between the United States and the Soviet Union.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Organizers had planned to have the US Festival and Soviet rock fans interact as a way to promote goodwill between the Cold War rivals, but it was too dark in California for cameras to pick up the festivalgoers when the link went live.
Performers
Bands are listed below in the order they appeared:Template:Citation needed Template:Col-begin Template:Col-3
Friday, September 3
Saturday, September 4
Sunday, September 5
- Grateful Dead
- Jerry Jeff Walker
- Jimmy Buffett and The Coral Reefer Band
- Jackson Browne
- Fleetwood Mac
May 1983
The 1983 festival ran for three days over Memorial Day weekend, along with an additional day on June 4.<ref name=":1">iWoz - Computer Geek to Cult Icon: Getting to the Core of Apple's Inventor; Steve Wozniak with Gina Smith; Headline Review, London, 2006; p. 256</ref><ref name="arrfest">Template:Cite news</ref> Colorado-based promoter Barry Fey replaced Graham as Wozniak's business partner.<ref name=wwfpfl>Template:Cite news</ref> The weather was slightly cooler than the September festival at Template:Convert, but the air quality in the region was the recorded worst in four years.<ref name=opethr/><ref name=badair>Template:Cite news</ref> The total attendance was reported at 670,000 when all of the days were added together.Template:Citation needed Van Halen was reportedly paid $1.5 million to perform.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Clash demanded that $100,000 of their $500,000 for the performance be donated to charity before they took the stage for what would be their last show with guitarist Mick Jones before his firing in September.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> There were two reported deaths.<ref name=bldth>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The festival lost an estimated $12 million, as the 1982 festival had.<ref name=":1" /> Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2
Saturday, May 28 (New Wave Day)
- Divinyls
- INXS
- Wall of Voodoo
- Oingo Boingo
- The Beat
- A Flock of Seagulls
- Stray Cats
- Men at Work
- The Clash
Sunday, May 29 (Heavy Metal Day)
Monday, May 30 (Rock Day)
- Los Lobos
- Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul
- Quarterflash
- Berlin
- Missing Persons
- U2
- The Pretenders
- Joe Walsh
- Stevie Nicks
- David Bowie
Saturday June 4 (Country Day)
- The Thrasher Brothers
- Ricky Skaggs
- Hank Williams, Jr.
- Emmylou Harris & The Hot Band
- Alabama
- Waylon Jennings
- Riders in the Sky
- Willie Nelson
In popular culture
- The festival was parodied in the comic strip Bloom County, when Milo and his friends organize their own version of the "US Festival" as a political fundraiser for their Meadow Party.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In this case, the name comes from the fact that the proceeds of the concert will "go to us!",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as in the promoters when asked in a fourth wall inquiry.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Several well-known groups and musicians make cameo appearances, including actual US Festival headliners Van Halen<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and The Police,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> non-performers Culture Club<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Barry Manilow,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the fictional heavy metal band Tess Turbo and The Blackheads.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- In 1984, "Weird Al" Yankovic parodied the US Festival (and its heavy financial losses) on an episode of Al TV, claiming that there would be a third edition of the festival, but without any live bands; the entire show would be released only on a cassette tape.<ref>Archived at GhostarchiveTemplate:Cbignore and the Wayback MachineTemplate:Cbignore: Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref>
- In The Simpsons episode "Homerpalooza", Homer Simpson refers to the US Festival as the greatest of all time.
Home video releases
In 2003, the band Triumph released a DVD of their US Festival performance, Live at the US Festival. In 2011 Shout! Factory announced plans to release a series of live concert DVDs from the US Festival. The first two of these releases, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, were released on November 15, 2011. The third DVD release from Shout! Factory was Quiet Riot, released on March 27, 2012.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On September 18, 2012, Shout! Factory released The English Beat: Live At The US Festival, '82 & '83 on CD/DVD.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On September 9, 2019, it released Santana: Live at US Festival on Blu-Ray and DVD.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On September 9, 2020, it released The B52s: Live at US Festival on DVD.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On November 19, 2013, Icon Television Music released The US Festival 1983 Days 1–3 on iTunes. This is the only US Festival release authorized by Steve Wozniak and the Unuson Corporation.
Judas Priest's 30-year anniversary release of Screaming for Vengeance included a DVD with footage of their set from the 1983 festival.