On This Day in 1983

On this day in 1983, the second and final U.S. Festival ended near San Bernardino, California. The festival was created by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and rock promoter Bill Graham to encourage the people of the 1980’s to become more community-oriented.

Running over four days that each showcased a different genre; New Wave, Rock, Heavy Metal and Country, it featured The Pretenders, The Clash, U2, Stevie Nicks, David Bowie, Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen, Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson.

Image shows the poster for the concert. Reading: Today, Tomorrow, Together. A rainbow symbol reads The US Festival 83. Glen Helen Park, San Bernadino California. The bands are listed on a background of a faded out festival crowd. Saturday: The Clash, Men at Work, Stray Cats, The English Beat, Flock of Seagulls, Oingo Boingo, Wall of Voodoo, INXS, Divinyls. Sunday: Van Halen, Scorpions, Triumph, Judas Priest, Ozzy Osbourne, Joe Walsh, Motley Crue. Monday: David Bowie, Stevie Nicks, John Cougar, Pretenders, Missing Persons, U2, Quarterflash, Berlin, Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul.

It followed the disastrous inaugural US Festival from the previous September, during which the weather climbed to 43 degrees, and there were 36 arrests and 12 overdoses. The second rendition went marginally better, reaching only 35 degrees with 2 reported deaths. Both festivals lost $12 million each, and have been parodied by comic strip Bloom County, The Simpsons and Weird Al Yankovic.