Apple II Bits

Steve Wozniak is many things: a technical genius, an entertaining speaker, a movie character, a wax figure. But one of his many accomplishments is often overlooked: music festival organizer.

In 1982, Woz created the Us Festival, a counter to the previous decade’s "me"generation. It was designed to bring people together and inspire them with some of the greatest musical names of that era, such as The Grateful Dead, Fleetwood Mac, The Police, The B-52’s, and more. The event was even livestreamed to Russia, despite the ongoing Cold War. The event recurred just months later in 1983, archival footage of which is now available on iTunes.

But what prompted Woz, a known inventor and prankster, to bring his fame and fortune to bear on the music industry? Attending or watching the concerts won’t tell you; for that, you need to go behind the scenes. And that’s what filmmaker Glenn Aveni plans to do with his documentary, The US Festival 1982, now on Kickstarter.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1900037279/the-us-festival-1982-a-feature-length-documentary

This project is looking to crowdfund $60,000 by December 20, and it’s on track to do so: at the time of this writing, it’s more than halfway there. The funds will be used to procure rights to even more archival clips and finish production of the film, which includes interviews with many of the concert’s surviving musicians.

I’ll support almost anything Woz does. Not only is backing this documentary a way to belatedly support his concert, but Woz himself was interviewed for Aveni’s movie. I look forward to hearing tales I haven’t heard before about this side of Woz!

(Hat tip to Chris Torrence)