U2 Live at Red Rocks: 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 to promote them to American audiences. It depicts the band's performance at Red Rocks on a rain-soaked evening. The concert was almost cancelled because of the inclement weather, 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 atmosphere of the surroundings made U2's performance dramatic. Segments of U2 Live at Red Rocks were shown in regular rotation on MTV, and were also broadcast 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 boosted Red Rocks' stature as a live venue. A remastered edition of U2 Live at Red Rocks was released on DVD in September 2008 with previously unreleased tracks, coinciding 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".
Production
Planning and organization
In 1981, U2 were on their Boy Tour to promote their debut album, Boy. Following their 11 May concert at Rainbow Music Hall in Denver, concert promoter Chuck Morris took the band to the nearby Red Rocks Amphitheatre—a natural amphitheatre located between sandstone cliffs in the Rocky Mountains. Bassist Adam Clayton said, "From the moment we saw it, we were thinking, 'Some day we will play here'. It was very photogenic." U2's manager Paul McGuinness had long wanted to film the group for a concert video to highlight their success as a live act and to promote them to American audiences still unfamiliar with the Irish band. Concert promoter Barry Fey, who presented U2's shows in the southwestern United States, saw the group's potential and successfully lobbied for them to perform at Red Rocks.
In early 1983, McGuinness contacted Malcolm Gerrie, producer of the British television series The Tube, about shooting a video of U2 at Red Rocks and possibly featuring it on The Tube. Gerrie initially assumed McGuinness was interested in creating a video of a single song; however, McGuinness was hoping to create an hour-long special. Because The Tube was not a "one-band show", Gerrie said he would have to sell the idea to Channel 4 television, but McGuinness insisted on giving Gerrie the rights to the video and letting Channel 4 broadcast the video without payment.
Filming costs were estimated at , which included the illumination of the cliffs, a mobile sound recording unit, and a helicopter to film aerial footage. With U2 only able to invest $30,000, Fey agreed to help finance the project, along with Island Records. A joint production company called "U2 at Red Rocks Associates" was subsequently established to fund the filming; the three parties split costs and shared profits from television rights and video sales. The radio rights were sold to American radio network NBC for inclusion in its concert series The Source. Throughout the United States leg of their War Tour, U2 filled venues with capacities similar to that of Red Rocks, leading the band to anticipate that the filming would take place before a sold-out audience and that the concert's revenues would help to offset production costs.
Fey's corporation, Feyline Productions, coordinated with his production company, TTS, to manage the videotaping. Director Gavin Taylor and Gerrie were selected as director and production associate, respectively. It was Taylor's first visit to the United States, and it was the first time he filmed a major outdoor rock concert. Local producers Rick Wurpel and Doug Stewart were also on the staff. Taylor's and McGuinness' original plans were to feature the video on The Tube, but trade unions objected to their limited representation on the concert crew. However, a compromise was reached, allowing 15 minutes of the concert to be broadcast on The Tube.
