Under a Red Blood Sky (Part 1)

Surely among the U2-related things that brought aobut 2008 the release on DVD of "Live at Red Rocks" together with the lauching of U23D was to be highlighted.

Here is our review of the famous concert in Denver,Colorado,US,5ht June,1983.


"In the shadows, boy meets man".That line from "Twilight" on U2´s 1980 debut album, "Boy"captures so much about the mstery and intensit of U2´s early years.
Viewing the seventeen performances on"U2 LIve from Red Rocks", which was filmed on June 5, 1983, one can see a band straining beyond everything it had previously achieved to propel itself to a new ,unexplored place.

The words of Anthony De Curtis in the DVD booklet, was already an indicaiton of what awaited me when I bought the "Red Rocks" DVD. The first time I had an idea of this particular concert (before reading it in depth in U2 By U2) was the music video "Sunday Bloody Sunday" on the U218 Singles DVD.
When I read that the concert,previously released on VHS, (remember those?), would be re-mastered and released on DVD, I held my breath,hoping that I, living in the southern tip of Africa, would be able to buy it.
The DVD starts with a little documentary (aprox. 3-5 minutes long) showing air shots of Denver, Colorado, and Bono talking about he found Red Rocks a beautiful place, a place to make a statement...how righ he was! The camera shows what the amphitheatre looked like amidst the drizzly rain and fog...absolutely stunning!The fans were very optimistic, saying that the band should feel comfortable in the weather conditions, so much like Ireland.
The band was introduced, “good evening, a warm Red Rocks to a band from Dublin, Ireland … U2!” They ran onto stage, something I’ve never seen them do before! They start off the concert with a song from the ‘Boy’ album, ‘Out of control’, and immediately, I was captivated & drawn into their energetic performance willingly … the atmosphere was one of excitement and expectation, just waiting to see what U2 would come up with next. Bono rushed to the microphone, a huge smile on his face, and greeted the crowd with, “Good evening!” During the performance of this song, Bono & Edge move to the front part of the stage, and Bono asks the crowd: “Do you know who this is? This is The Edge!”