Music

Watch U2 Perform at the 1983 US Festival

When Steve Wozniak wanted to spend some of the money he made from founding Apple Computers, he sunk a ton of cash–a rumoured $10 million–into the US Festival.  It was cash he’d never see again, of course. But the two gigs that were staged are remembered as some landmark events.  

The 1983 edition was a three-day affair.  Monday, May 30 was billed as Rock Day, opening with Little Steven, followed by Berlin, Quarterflash and then U2.  Missing Persons, The Pretenders, Joe Walsh, Stevie Nicks and headliner David Bowie were also billed higher than U2.  Then again, it was early in their career; they just starting to work the War album.

Footage from the ’83 US Festival has been hard to come by over the decades but come December 3, everything will be available on DVD.  Here’s what U2 looked like that day. Nice head o’ hair, Bono.

More at Hennemusic.

Juliette Jagger

Juliette Jagger is a Canadian music journalist. She is on Twitter @juliettejagger.

Juliette Jagger has 562 posts and counting. See all posts by Juliette Jagger

One thought on “Watch U2 Perform at the 1983 US Festival

  • I loved it when Bono had an Irish accent.

    Reply

Let us know what you think!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.