Former Scorpions drummer Herman Rarebell recently shared his memories of the US Festival performance in an interview with Metal Mayhem ROC.
“I remember in the US festival we started with ‘Can’t Get Enough,'” Rarebell said. “So everybody went completely nuts from that moment.”
“And as you remember Van Halen’s David Lee Roth was completely drunk that night for our advantage,” he continued. “So we took over. We got fantastic critics from that day and basically got both the bands in America on that level.”
The US Festival performance became a pivotal moment for Scorpions in America. This event set the stage for their continued rise in the rock scene.
Historical records from Albums That Should Exist revealed the performance took place on May 29, 1983. The event was known as “Heavy Metal Sunday” at the US Festival.
The festival unfolded at Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino, California. Documentation from Setlist.fm shows the lineup featured rock’s biggest names, including Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, and Judas Priest.
Reports from The Rush Forum indicated Heavy Metal Sunday drew an estimated crowd of 500,000 attendees. This attendance made it one of the largest single-day gatherings in rock history.
The festival ran from May 28 to May 30, 1983. It became a landmark event in hard rock history, with Scorpions delivering one of the day’s standout performances.
