Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of US Festival ‘83!
This momentous event took place on Memorial Day Weekend, 1983 (May 28, 29, 30) and June 4.
US Festival ‘83 button. Photo Credit: Unknown.
670,000 people attended the four shows, but it was day two, Heavy Metal Day, that many say drew 375,000 alone.
Saturday, May 28th (New Wave Day)
Sunday, May 29th (Heavy Metal Day)
Monday, May 30th (Rock Day)
Saturday, June 4th (Country Day)
A “sea of people” for Heavy Metal Day… Photo Credit: Unknown.
The US Festival (“US” pronounced like the pronoun, not as initials) was the name of two early 1980s music and culture festivals in southern California, held around sixty miles east of Los Angeles, near San Bernardino. Steve Wozniak (“Woz”), co-founder of Apple, with help from professional concert promoter Bill Graham, organized the two US Festivals. The first was held Labor Day weekend in September 1982 and the second was held around nine months later. Initially intended to celebrate evolving technologies, the festivals ended up as a technology exposition and a rock festival as a combination of music, computers, television, and people.
Source: Wikipedia
“He (Woz) intended it as a unifying antidote to the just-ended Me Decade - a benevolent we-are-the-world uprising evident in the event's name and furthered via satellite links to the Soviet Union during each fest. Sparing no expense, Wozniak aimed to bring together many of the top artists of the day, segregated by genre new wave, heavy metal, traditional rock, and enhanced by cutting-edge innovation, including one of the first uses of jumbo video screens at a concert. It also served as Ticketmaster's entree into the Southern California market.”
Source: “DJTees Blog” www.djtees.com/blogs/djtees-blog
US Festival ‘83 T-shirt. Photo Credit: Unknown.
Selections from Saturday, May 28th (New Wave Day)
Selections from Sunday, May 29th (Heavy Metal Day)
May 29, 1983: Alex Van Halen at the helm for the headliners (Van Halen) on Day 2 of US Festival ‘83.
Photo Credit: Unknown. Source: alexvanhalendrums.com
Selections from Monday, May 30th (Rock Day)
Selections from Saturday, June 4th (Country Day)
My heroes have always been cowboys…
Country singer Willie Nelson performs as the closing act at the US Festival in Devore, Ca., Saturday night, June 4, 1983. (AP Photo/Michael Tweed)
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