10 Live Shows That Changed Music History
9. US Festival 1983
If you'd explained the idea of the US Festival to your average music fan today, the breaking in period would have been pretty confusing. Wait, so a bunch of acts coming together as an '80s answer to Woodstock, under the watchful eye of the guy who started Apple that's not named Steve Jobs? What the hell kind of pop culture mad libs game is this? Well...it's the kind that made history back in the early stages of glam metal.
As much as the first US Festival went off without a hitch, you can definitely see the tide turning when you take a look at the bill for this gig. Straying away from the usual classic rock happening on the last tour, the newer acts coming from LA like Quiet Riot and Motley Crue left quite the impression on those teenagers on Heavy Metal Day, signaling a shift away from NWOBHM and towards the mean streets off of Sunset.
Even looking back on it, Frank Banali of Quiet Riot credits this show alone with being responsible for kickstarting the band's career, saying that that one date would have been enough for any other musicians' lifetime. The days of the David Bowie flavors of glam had started to die...it was time for the makeup brand of rock to get a little more gnarly.