1/31/2024 0 Comments U2 red rocks“One person remarked that it was a religious experience, and it was,” said Greg Wigler, one of three professional photographers at the show. “This song is ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday.’ ” The band’s 6-minute take on their beloved anthem was capped with Bono planting a white flag of truce in the crowd, and it’s one of the most iconic moments in rock history. “This song is not a rebel song,” he said at one point, wearing a sleeveless shirt and looking like an ’80s movie star. Alternating between a little girl’s skip and a soldier’s march, Bono had never looked stronger. The Edge still had hair, and you could hear his towering backup vocals waver as he nervously looked down at his guitar. The band couldn’t have purchased those kinds of special effects: The sleety mist softened all the edges, and the steam coming out of Bono’s mouth with each word gave the footage an otherworldly feel.Īnd they were just kids. Looking back at the 25-year-old footage, it’s amazing how powerful it remains. And everybody knew Red Rocks because of that video.” “When I went to Los Angeles to work for Dick Clark, everybody knew that video. that I worked at Red Rocks, people would always say, ‘Did you see the U2 video?’ ” said May, now a production manager for the Denver Performing Arts Center. The venue has never looked more mystical, alluring. Red Rocks, which holds nearly 10,000 people, was about half-full with 4,400 in attendance. Morris and Fey arrived, and Bono called a Denver radio station, telling his fans that the Red Rocks show would go on - but there would also be another indoor show the following night at the CU Field House in Boulder for those who didn’t want to brave the elements.Īnd after a short introduction from Fey, the show was on. The day progressed, and the weather worsened. He was out there chatting over tea with 10 or 20 people, and we were like, ‘Wow.’ I’d never seen a rock star do that in all those years.” Can we get these people some coffee and tea?’ I said sure, and we made it up, and then Bono went out and served the fans some coffee and tea. “(Bono) was suddenly in the food room, and he said, ‘It’s really cold out there. A group of 15 or 20 hard-core fans sat in the front rows at Red Rocks under their ponchos, and around 10 or 11 a.m., Bono found his way to the catering room backstage, where he met Nancy May, who was running errands for Fey at the time. Until the morning of the show, when the weather was so foul. Years later, McGuinness was sitting in Fey’s office, setting up a partnership with the band, the promoter and the label, Island Records, to shoot a live video at Red Rocks. We walked down to the stage, and they were, like, ‘Oh my God, this is the greatest place we’ve ever seen.’ ” But their second record wasn’t doing that well, even though it got great reviews, and they weren’t so sure. “I told them they were going to play there some day. “I took them up to Red Rocks so they could see it,” Morris said. The day after the Rainbow show, promoter Morris, working with Fey at the time, loaded the band in his Jeep for a field trip. In the summer of 1981, U2 played two shows in Colorado, at Fort Collins’ Lincoln Center and Denver’s Rainbow Music Hall. “Then Paul McGuinness, their manager, got on the phone, and then Bono got on the phone, and then Chuck (Morris) and I headed home to change out of our sunny California gear into something much heavier before heading up to Red Rocks.”Īs fans, local and abroad, mark the 25th anniversary of the legendary show - captured dramatically on video and record under the title “Under the Blood Red Sky” - record companies will also use the occasion as their opportunity to remaster the music on a CD (with a bonus disc), due in stores June 24, and finally release the remarkable performance on DVD, due in August. “I asked them why they didn’t call me, and the people said, ‘The band wouldn’t let us, because they knew you’d want to move the show,’ ” retired promoter Barry Fey remembered. The weather bordered on sleet and rain all day - hardly idyllic conditions for a video shoot that included countless cameras and three giant torches sitting atop the rocks.The promoters were in California until the afternoon of the show, and when they flew into a blustery Stapleton Airport, they called the mountain amphitheater’s backstage to see where the show had been moved.īut the band wasn’t about to move the concert. U2’s now-legendary Red Rocks show on June 5, 1983, had all the makings for a classic disaster. Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close Menu
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