Twenty three years ago, a man had a dream

Steve's Story

By: Steve Wozniak

The idea first struck me while driving home through the Santa Cruz mountains in the Spring of 1981. I heard a few of my favorite songs in a sequence on a progressive country/western station, KFAT, and the idea occurred that this was a new music trend across the country l arrived home and related the idea to my fiancé that a ''Woodstock West." based around the hip country western music (''BMW.cowboys"), might draw up to a million people After all, Wood stock drew up to 400,000 for an event that represented the social conscience of the day.

Well, my fiancé wasn't as intrigued as I, Besides, I knew nothing of managing the logistics of such an event, much less hiring capable people. I shoved the idea to the bottom of my list, figuring I would scan the western United States in my plane for a couple years, then learn how to get permits, book the finest groups in the world (money being little problem), and put up a stage I knew little of the tasks really involved My assumption was that the entertainers would command 80%-90% of the total budget! I was later to learn that the problems of site construction, security, planning, etc. would consume 70% of the budget!

As our wedding approached in June, 1981, we hired a local club group to play, Joe Sharino along with Emmylou Harris I mentioned to Joe's manager, Jim Valentine, my ideas of the timing being right for a "Woodstock West" and he agreed. This positive feedback increased my motivation. I figured that I even had access to someone who, being in the music business, could possibly put a show together in 2 years!

A week after the wedding, I began summer school at Berkeley, working toward my degree in Computer Science which was a year away. I continued to talk to Jim of my serious even intentions and one day he called with the news that the finest, most able person he knew for managing such an event, Dr. Peter Ellis, happened to be available. We set up a meeting in my Berkeley apartment.

I had a feeling that this simple meeting might be the start of something extremely large and significant, so I invited a couple of school friends, one of whom I was tutoring, to be over at the right time and hear what transpired. I believe that Peter probably had some doubts that what Jim was telling him was real, so I set about to convince him that this American success story was indeed serious about this idea. Peter's background included radical activities at San Jose State University in the 60s, including putting together a survival fair which I remember well for the Pinto automobile they buried.

The meeting went well (getting to know one another) and another was set up to proceed toward forming a business entity to proceed for real, UNUSON for (Unite Us in Song).

Steve wearing a UNUSON T-Shirt

 I felt strongly that what we were doing would lead to something great, so I videotaped the next few meetings in my apartment. First, I assured Peter that I was ready to fund the corporation with a large check to guarantee my seriousness.

Peter came up with the suggestion we call it the US Festival. At first I wasn't too excited the name didn't have the futuristic grab of a science fiction title or the magic of a name like 'Apple.' He spoke of the progression from 'me' thinking to 'us' thinking in the 80s.1 didn't think much of it, but found myself thinking how right he was continually for the next week or two. In order to promote the social significance of what we stood for, It required time spent discussing the US philosophy for a few meetings. Peter also came up with the idea of including a tech fair in the event of the 80s and attempting an unheard of satellite linkup with rock musicians in Moscow.

The staff quickly grew to a dozen or so employees, offices were opened in San Jose. and a site search was begun. Using real-estate agents we found a private land site near the 'grapevine' area of Highway 5. Unfortunately, this site overlapped two counties and involved a third, so our permit requests had to be submitted to multiple agencies The local press picked up on what we were planning and ran articles to the effect that a million people would show up for rock and roll, The sheriff was quoted commenting on the possibility of 2% of the fans ( 20,000 ) taking over small towns of 400. Needless to say, our hopes of permission to stage t at that site were dashed Next we were considering a state park in Riverside county. 

We got many key state officials on our side (we were respectable with PhD's on our staff and my Apple background) Just when we were confident of approval, they decided that our planned fall date (Labor Day, early September) entailed too great a fire danger there By now it was May 1982, and we hadn't even begun booking groups.

Next, the county of San Bernardino contacted us. They were interested in holding a festival at Glen Helen Regional Park. We studied the site, prepared our plan, and sought approval which was granted unanimously. In fact, no one opposed us at the meeting.

We attended local club meetings in the community of Devore (Kiwanis, Rotary, etc. ) and offered them the chance to participate in concessions with us (in the true US spirit) The site grading began (moving hills to form the huge amphitheater) and plans were finalized for the camping and parking areas. The Highway Patrol was one of our strong backers and helped guarantee that the traffic could be handled and exit markings would be moved as parking lots filled The only downs side of the Glen Helen park was that it could only comfortably accommodate 300,000 persons (400,000 ignoring traffic problems).

We were trying to move on booking groups with inexperienced personnel. Our ideas of creating a foundation with representation from the participating music groups was going nowhere. We finally decided to proceed with a major promoter like Bill Graham doing the booking and production. We wanted to do so many things beyond a rock concert that we retained control over the rest of the event. Needless to say, we could not have accomplished the successful event with out someone like Bill Graham. 

As the festival approached, the stage was constructed. About two weeks before the event, I looked down on the site with the stage, many control towers, and several large circus style tents for our tech-fair. Finally I realized that we had overcome all the obstacles, including costs and cost overruns, to realize our dream. This was the first measure of success.

A couple of nights before the big event I talked my wife into coming down a day early to see the light/laser effects. She was expecting our first child in a couple of weeks. We retired about midnight and about 2 a.m. she awoke me saying she was in labor. I asked if she really was and she said "no," but said "yes" a few minutes later I got on the phone to reach a natural childbirth center in Culver City, near Los Angeles and about 70 miles away. We departed to have the baby by 3 a.m., but left almost no word at the house. Later I called to arrange for some baby stuff and people were surprised. A couple of news crews showed up at the birth center and did interviews. For a few minutes after the birth the doctor didn't show us enough to tell the baby's sex, but it turned out to be a boy. By our agreement I got to name a boy, and named him Jesse John Clark. The last name was simplified for good reason! By the time I called my parents to tell them, they had already seen the story on the news!

We drove back to our house and got to bed by about 3 a.m. I awoke about 6 and hurried out to the site to watch the first fans approach the stage. We delayed the entrance a couple of hours to install the large day time video screen which had just arrived (very late, due to a shipper who pretended it was coming on truck and put it on a train to save money) Although I spent the entire day on the grounds, often backstage, often in the concert bowl or beer gardens, and even opened the concert holding our new, less than a day old son in my hands, the next morning's San Francisco Chronicle reported that 'Woz was asleep but the show went on without him.'

The 115 degree heat was unexpected (our research indicated an average 88 degrees) but I feel it helped. People were not likely to fight in such heat Everyone was dressed in beachwear or less. We had taken some unusual steps to provide water and cooling, such as water cannons to spray large crowds, water trucks, 800 water fountains, half-acre shower areas, etc.. The symbol of the concert became to spray a stranger with water bottles For the most part those in attendance spent the day leisurely sitting in groups on blankets, sharing snacks, waiting for the evening headline groups, not staring at the stage for 10 hours a day.

The show came off without a hitch There were no lines at the concessions or thousands of porta-potties, in part due to fewer people in attendance than we were set up to handle. The grass turned brown in the heat and also from trampling. It had come in insufficiently to hold the dust down, a situation which we believe is remedied this year I had an image of the performers being bothered by people trying to mob them like groupies, so I figured I wouldn't bother them (out of shyness and lack of presumption too), I didn't meet any until the last day and was surprised to find them so approachable, personable, and of generally good humor. Waiting for the last Fleetwood Mac encore, Stevie Nicks sat next to me and spoke supportingly for what we were doing.

After the show, my first estimates were that we had lost 2 or 3 million dollars. (After all, quite a few more than we were expecting showed up. ) Weeks later it was obvious that the total loss was substantially greater than that. Crowd size estimates were generally high, the best ones coming from helicopter surveys of the parking and camping areas, counting vehicles. As odd as it sounds, we neglected to preserve the ticket stubs, so counterfeit estimates are not precise.

We never intended to hold a second US festival. During the final set Bill Graham predicted we couldn't hold another because we'd sell a million tickets in a day (it had appeared to go that incredible). Of all the large music festivals in this country, this one was the first to achieve the acclaim of 'having worked' Bill Graham did an excellent job of producing a fine music event under the circumstances, despite a lack of getting along with our less experienced staff in some areas. The mood of the event was peaceful and fun. I had a very good feeling from southern (and northern) California youth who attended.

The mail started arriving About a thousand letters were 100% positive, I expected that even if it was so successful, the most we could expect was maybe 80%. People wrote that they had gotten into the US feeling, that they had expected virtually no amenities, that it was the finest 3 days of their lives. These were the sentiments that I wish could have been a part of my life when I was 20.1 decided that a second US festival would bring this kind of joy to many people again.

A great deal of my focus on the first festival was that if it was artistically successful(came off well and pleased those attending)that it would also be financially successful. Boy was I wrong the first time. But sometimes it takes an investment to establish yourself. Many close friends urged me not to do a second one if it would lose that kind of money. Out of respect for them, we had to analyze the situation carefully and be confident of making money (due to not having to spend again constructing the site and excellent national publicity). The final decision was 'go' and the result will be known soon.

This year, we again sought to put on the finest entertainment event in the world, period. Booking the top groups in the world is next to impossible. Two major headliners will almost never share the same stage on the same day (Rock/Roll, not Country). We sought an Eagles reunion unsuccessfully, and managed to establish the idea of paying outrageous amounts. In the end, 33 groups were comparing themselves to each other and almost all got several times what they've ever gotten for one performance in their lives (they look at it as perhaps five southern California concert dates sacrificed). We decided to go ahead anyway, since a great deal of planning had gone into our Memorial Day show.

Having listened to country/western music for the last seven years, I had to trust the experts hired to book the finest concert possible this year. After losing confidence, ("trust us Woz, we're the experts, we know what to do" ), I decided to educate myself . Everyone knows that high school and college kids who listen to music KNOW who the finest groups are. But they are never included in multimillion dollar decisions. I had no problem at all sampling a few schools in southern and northern California early this year for the lists we should be pursuing. I think the knowledgeable enthusiasts should be more seriously consulted in such matters. With a few unobtainable exceptions, we were able to book the finest new-wave, new-music ,heavy metal and heavy-nylon groups of the day (thanks to MTV too).

Everything worked so well last year that we decided to change nothing, only upgrade or scale up. The sound system was left unchanged with the same sound companies installing and operating it, for example. About the only change was in simplifying the business arrangements with concessions to eliminate a lot of paperwork. Of course, Candi and I don't plan a baby the first day of this year. The US Festival will be remembered largely because of all the consideration for comfort and pleasure of the audience first, and maximal financial success second. Those who are there can judge for themselves how pure to the consumer's interests we've been. I hope it's the incredible event of my life that no one else is likely to do for me. If we're successful this year, there will likely be more than one around the country next year, and the US Festival will be established as the historic 'Superbowl of Rock Concerts.' In fact, groups are already calling us now to see what we've got upcoming !