US Festival - History

History

In the years after the confusion of the Woodstock Festival, the crowd-control debacle of the Altamont Free Concert in 1969, and the massive traffic jam that was Summer Jam at Watkins Glen Raceway in 1973 (crowd estimated at 600,000), most festivals attempted in the United States were small-scale affairs, usually centered around a humanitarian cause. Only one festival, Florida Sunfest, in 1977, attracted over 100,000 fans to see Jimmy Buffett and 17 other acts perform at a cow pasture in Lakeland, Florida. The 1982 US Festival was the first major festival since California Jam II that was not a charity concert—it was intended to be celebration of evolving technologies; a marriage of music, computers, television and people.

The two festivals also 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.

Each of the two festivals attracted several hundred thousand people, but were, ultimately, commercial failures. It is estimated that sponsor Wozniak lost nearly $20 million over both years.

Van Halen received an upfront sum of $1 million to headline the 1983 US Festival. It was then upped to $1.5 million after it was discovered that David Bowie was to be paid $1 million. Van Halen had a clause in their contract that they would be paid more than any other act performing at the festival. In contrast, The Clash refused to play unless some donations were made to charities or other such noble causes by Wozniak and some of the other major bands. Before the Clash began their set, they made angry comments about the barrio conditions in LA. After The Clash performed, the DJ began speaking right away and Clash guitarist Mick Jones attacked the DJ, believing he was trying to prevent an encore.

This and The Clash's ironic criticism of the festival in the press conferences and in interviews prior to the event caused an argument backstage between Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth and The Clash singer Joe Strummer. This may have also been started by a comment guitarist Eddie Van Halen made in Rolling Stone magazine one month prior regarding the punk movement ("...that's like what I played in my garage when I was a kid, man."). A clearly intoxicated Roth compounded this rivalry by insulting The Clash on stage early during Van Halen's headlining set with his comment, "I wanna take this time to say that this is real whiskey here... the only people who put iced tea in Jack Daniel's bottles is The Clash, baby!" This was Roth's only mention of The Clash on stage that night.

"It was the day new wave died and rock n' roll took over" - Vince Neil, regarding the overwhelming attendance on Sunday, "Heavy Metal Day", at the '83 US Festival. It set the single-day concert attendance record for the US with an estimated 375,000 people. Showtime recorded the event and aired a 90-minute special for each day of the festival.