MVD Entertainment GroupA new documentary and concert film about the making of the 1982 US Festival, the three-day musical extravaganza put on by Apple computer company co-founder Steve Wozniak, will be released on DVD and Blu-ray this Friday, August 10.
The US Festival: 1982 The US Generation mixes performance highlights with new and archival interviews with Wozniak, some of the artists who played at the concerts, and various other people involved in the event.
The festival took place September 3-5, 1982, at Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino, California, and was attended by about 400,000 people. Among the many artists who performed at the festival and are featured in the film: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Police, Fleetwood Mac, Santana, The B-52s, The Cars, The Talking Heads and The Ramones.
The flick includes exclusive conversations with Wozniak, Fleetwood Mac’s Mick Fleetwood, Eddie Money, The Ramones’ Marky Ramone, The B-52s’ Kate Pierson, The Police’s Stewart Copeland and The Grateful Dead‘s Mickey Hart, among others. It also features archival appearances by Johnny and Joey Ramone, Carlos Santana, Sting, The Cars’ Ric Ocasek and The B-52s’ Fred Schneider.
Wozniak, who’d become wealthy thanks to Apple’s success, decided he wanted to spend some of that money on a massive rock festival that would promote a sense of community through music and technology. Famed concert promoter Bill Graham helped organize the event, which lost $12 million.
In a trailer for the documentary, Wozniak recalls the motivation behind the festival. “I thought, ‘Wow, time for a big huge concert out in the middle of nowhere,'” he said. “And I was just thinking the whole time…’I am so thankful that I have all this money from Apple that I can do it, ’cause nobody else would.'”
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