The legendary Heatwave Festival happened 40 years ago this weekend: August 23 1980. 100,000 people turned up for the Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, The Pretenders, The B-52s, Rockpile, Teenage Head & more (but not the no-show headliners, The Clash).
It was not only my first fest and one of the best single-day bills I would ever see, it was the centerpiece of an insane long weekend adventure that saw me stranded and broke in the middle of nowhere on Sunday morning after two days of partying and mass-imbibing.
For Episode 10 and on the occasion of the festival’s 40th anniversary, I not only discuss the series of brilliant, energetic, & breathtaking sets performed by some of the key artists of the day at their peak, including the Talking Heads’ first-ever performance as an expanded unit and the public debut of the material released two months later as “Remain In Light,” but also relate how I eventually made it back to my home three hours away. There is also the ramp-up parking lot party the night before and the morning’s beer-for-breakfast cotillion of debauchery before noon even hits or the music starts.
Sit back, listen, and join me on one of the best and wildest concert/festival weekends I ever had.
And when are we ever going to get to hear the original master tapes? A Heatwave box set, please.
Read the original four-part blog entry written in 2010 on the mylifeinconcert.com website.
NEXT PODCASTS (Coming in September):
Episodes 11 A&B will look back at the 20 Acts from the Past I Wish I’d Seen
Episode 12 (no.004) This Is the Modern World: The Jam with The Dwight Twilley Band, Rex Danforth Theatre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Tuesday April 10, 1979 (Get a sneak preview by reading the original 2011 blog entry here.)
mylifeinconcert.com