US Festival 1983: Days 1 - 3 coming to iTunes, DVD

It was just more than 30 years ago that I attended my first-ever outdoor music festival. I attended the third and final day of the May 1983 US Festival held at Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino. It was the day I first caught U2 and was immediately blown away, becoming a big fan of the Irish rockers. It was a true warm-up for my future Coachellafest experiences, especially because of the intense heat and endurance skills to stand all day (and night).

Amazing, but now highlights of the sets I caught from U2, Missing Persons, Stevie Nicks and even Quarterflash are all finally coming to iTunes and DVD. Read on...

US Festival 1983: Days 1 - 3

 on iTunes November 19th 

and on DVD December 3rd

Featuring U2, the Clash, Judas Priest, Stevie Nicks, Scorpions, INXS, Men at Work, Stray Cats, Triumph, Missing Persons and more 

 

Exclusive clip of U2 "Sunday Bloody Sunday" at RollingStone.com

The US Festival (US is an acronym for "Unite Us In Song") held on Memorial Day of 1983 was a massive three-day celebration of music and culture sponsored by Steve Wozniak, formerly of Apple Computer. Wozniak financed the entire thing himself (approx. 10 million dollars), and his motivation quoted as "to throw a big party in the middle of nowhere" is quite an understatement. This festival was a follow up to 1982 Labor Day inaugural Us Festival events. The festivals were intended to be the celebration of evolving technologies; a marriage of music, computers, television and people.

Us Festival 1983: Days 1 - 3 includes the 3 days of New Wave, Heavy Metal and Rock in 1983 with performances from U2, the Clash, Judas Priest, Stevie Nicks, Scorpions, INXS, Men at Work, Stray Cats, Triumph, Missing Persons and more. This includes the legendary U2 performance of Sunday Bloody Sunday, The Clash's final performance with Mick Jones, a seminal performance for INXS in the US, and many other landmark moments in music history. It is estimated that over 670,000 fans attended.

The festivals included large air-conditioned tents featuring the US Festival Technology Exposition a dazzling display of then-cutting edge computers, software, and electronic music devices. Also making a debut were installations of "out-door rain", perforated pvc nozzles that sprayed water to fight the fierce hundred-degree heat.

The US Festival interest remains strong 30 years later in pop culture with mentions in The Simpsons, Malcom In The Middle, Dharma & Greg and other popular TV shows. US Festival 1983 is produced by Icon Television Music, Inc. and Unuson Corporation with the cooperation of Steve Wozniak. This is the only Unuson sanctioned official release of US Festival 1983 at iTunes and on DVD. 

US Festival 1983 is directed by award winning filmmaker and music biographer Glenn Aveni and includes insight from Mark Goodman, one of the original VJ's that covered the Us Festival in 1983 for the newly launched MTV Channel.

US Festival 1983 Days 1 - 3 are available on iTunes for $9.99 each: itunes.com/USFestival1983    

Order DVD: http://www.seeofsound.com/p.php?s=MVD5946D

Track Listing:

INXS - The One Thing

Divinyls - Boys in Town

English Beat - Jeanette

Stray Cats - Rock This Town

Stray Cats - Please Make Up Your Mind

Men At Work - It's A Mistake

Men At Work - Who Can It Be Now

The Clash - Should I Stay or Should I Go

Judas Priest - Breaking The Law

Judas Priest - You've Got Another Thing Comin'

Triumph - Magic Power

Triumph - Fight The Good Fight

Triumph - Lay It On The Line

Triumph - A World Of Fantasy

Scorpions - The Zoo

Scorpions - Can't Get Enough

Berlin - Sex

Quarterflash - Find Another Fool

U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday

U2 - The Electric Co.

Missing Persons - Words

Stevie Nicks - Stand Back

Stevie Nicks - Outside The Rain