about a year or so ago, i stumbled upon Steve Wozniak’s website for the US Festival of 1983 (http://www.woz.org/us/).  the festival was actually put on 2 years in a row (82-83) and was apparently a commercial failure although one day supposedly had 375,000 people in attendance.  my interest in the festival was renewed after i found a video of the Clash performing “Straight to Hell” when they headlined one day of the fest in 1983. 

while Steve Wozniak’s vision of bringing people together through music and technology may have been a failure financially, i can’t help but think this festival paved the way for the current eclectic festivals that seem to multiply every year… coachella, bonnaroo, pitchfork, sasquatch, apw… the list is getting huge.  the US festival’s lineup was a mix of rock, new wave, heavy metal, and punk.  between the ‘82 and ‘83 lineups, the festival boasted bands like the Talking Heads, the Clash, David Bowie, INXS, the Police, Oingo Boingo, Van Halen, the Scorpions, the Ramones, Flock of Seagulls, the Grateful Dead, the Kinks, Jimmy Buffet, Fleetwood Mac, the Stray Cats….and so much more.

if you get time and have an interest in music festivals, look up US Festival on youtube and you can find a ton of footage of many bands, too many to link to here.  in addition to woz.org/us you can also check out this site which has much more in the way of photos, stories, and general information about the festivals: http://www.usfestivals.com/

here is my favorite photo page from that site: http://www.usfestivals.com/Davespics/danwhelan.htm  so much about these pictures reminds me of the good times had at coachellas past =D