10 Biggest Shows In Rock History

10. US Festival 1983

The US Festival tends to be one of the dark horses in the history of rock music festivals. Being the little brother of events like Cal Jam, this little upstart from Apple cocreator Steve Wozniak proved to be a fertile breeding ground for new up and coming talent. Though acts like the Ramones graced the first iteration of the festival, the real guts were put back in place in 1983.

While each respective day showed different stripes of rock, country, and new wave, the real glory came in the form of Heavy Metal Day, with a bill any metalhead would have killed for. As Judas Priest and Van Halen commanded the stage in their respective slots, the new arrivals like Quiet Riot and Motley Crue really left the biggest impression of the day. With the heart of California looking in on them, this was one of the first glances of the changing landscape of metal towards something much more glammy.

After this one date, you could practically feel the hard rock industry snap on a dime, with every other hopeful band making their way to the Sunset Strip in search of stardom. Though the New Wave of British Heavy Metal was still underway, this one California date showed that the tides were shifting beneath the old guards' feet.