Video: 'The Us Festival 1982: The US Generation Documentary | Amplified'

(Friday, September 3, 1982, 2:00 p.m. PDT) — The US Festival, a three-day music festival featuring some of the world’s most popular rock acts, opened this afternoon at Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino, California, with Gang of Four kicking it off with “Anthrax.”

About 400,000 people turned out to see bands like The Cars, Fleetwood Mac, and Talking Heads. The price for a three-day ticket was $37.50 (approximately $100 in 2021 money.)

The shows were expected to bring in $10 million but lost a reported $12 million.

The festival, founded by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and rock concert promoter Bill Graham, ran in 110 °F weather; there were 36 arrests, and a reported twelve drug overdoses. One “associated” murder of a hitchhiker occurred the day after the event.

The US festival featured the first implementation of the U.S.-Soviet Space Bridge, a two-way satellite hookup between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Organizers had planned to have the US Festival and Soviet rock fans interact as a way to promote goodwill between the Cold War rivals, but it was too dark in California for cameras to pick up the festivalgoers when the link went live.