U2 Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky (also known simply as U2 Live at Red Rocks or Under a Blood Red Sky) is a concert film by Irish rock band U2. It was recorded on 5 June 1983 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, United States on the group's War Tour. Originally released in 1984 on videocassette, U2 Live at Red Rocks was the band's first video release. It accompanied a 1983 live album entitled Under a Blood Red Sky, on which two tracks from the film appear. The video was directed by Gavin Taylor and produced by Rick Wurpel and Doug Stewart.
The film was arranged by U2 management to showcase the band's live act and promote them to American audiences. It depicts the band's performance at Red Rocks on a rain-soaked evening. The weather threatened to cancel the concert, but the band had invested in the filming with Island Records and concert promoter Barry Fey and wished to proceed with the gig. The rain and the torch-lit natural beauty of the surroundings combined to dramatise U2's performance. Segments of U2 Live at Red Rocks were shown in regular rotation on MTV, in addition to broadcasts on other television networks.
Critics praised the concert and the video, and it subsequently became a best-seller. The video, along with Under a Blood Red Sky, helped establish U2's reputation as remarkable live performers, and it boosted Red Rocks' stature as a live venue in the US. A remastered edition of U2 Live at Red Rocks was released on DVD in September 2008, featuring previously unreleased tracks. This coincided with a remastered edition of Under a Blood Red Sky. Rolling Stone selected the film's performance of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" as one of the "50 Moments that Changed the History of Rock and Roll".
Read more about U2 Live At Red Rocks: Under A Blood Red Sky: Reception, Legacy, Track Listing, Personnel, References
Famous quotes containing the words live, red, blood and/or sky:
“You don’t merely give over your creativity to making a film—you give over your life! In theatre, by contrast, you live these two rather strange lives simultaneously; you have no option but to confront the mould on last night’s washing-up.”
—Daniel Day Lewis (b. 1957)
“Thou art not fair, for all thy red and white,
For all those rosy ornaments in thee.
Thou art not sweet, though made of mere delight”
—Thomas Campion (1567–1620)
“The stars move still, time runs, the clock will strike,
The devil will come, and Faustus must be damned.
O I’ll leap up to my God: who pulls me down?
See, see, where Christ’s blood streams in the firmament.
One drop would save my soul, half a drop, ah my Christ.”
—Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593)
“The sky is silent too,
Hard as granite and as fixed as fate.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)