Though we bill ourselves as "Rock 'n' Roll, Politics and Life" here at the Bar & Grill, we could probably use more rock 'n' roll. Couldn't everyone? Well, U2 may be on the brink of providing us with some.
June 6, 2008 marked a significant day in rock: the 25th anniversary of U2's concert at Red Rocks amphitheater in Colorado. This is the show that became the Under a Blood Red Sky home video and album. It aired on cable several times, creating legions of U2 fans around the world. Now it's being re-released as a remastered deluxe digipack CD and DVD next Tuesday, September 30th.
This is the first time Under a Blood Red Sky has been released on DVD. There are various theories why it hasn't happened earlier. They range from ownership of the original tapes (a Denver production company did the shooting) to U2 not wanting to release it because the bright lights caused streaks in the 1980's video cameras (did anyone really give a shit?).
The release of this is going to be the biggest day for me since Led Zeppelin's 2003 DVD came out. That's because back in 1986 I was one of the lads impressed by Under a Blood Red Sky. I was 15 and my first rock concert was still a couple of years away. David Lee Roth was out of Van Halen, leaving us with the pop-slop Van Hagar. Led Zeppelin was not on my radar yet. Someone had to fill this hole.
I turned on WTBS' Night Flight show, which was the 1980's YouTube, a mish-mash of every kind of off-the-radar youth culture video that was available. One night in 1986 the feature was Under a Blood Red Sky. Before the music even began I started up the VCR, for this was going to be a glimpse into the world of rock concerts! From the foggy opening aerial shots of Red Rocks amphitheater I was entranced. Bono rushed center stage in his chained boots and the Edge was there rocking with the black Stratocaster. I was sold.
The next day I asked my friend David if he had seen it. He had, and he was sold, too. We both rushed out to buy the whole U2 collection, which at that time consisted of the first four albums, plus I found a three-song EP called Boy-Girl. No one else at my hick high school had any awareness of U2, so David and I became our own cult. I tried to get a mullet like Bono's but instead wound up with something like a weird mohawk that caused lots of "did you get in a fight with a lawnmower?" questions.
David went to another high school that was hipper than mine, so I followed his lead in trying to find more bands like U2. Unfortunately David landed in the Goth scene before it was called that, and he became one of those people who made a hobby of cutting himself with razor blades. That was way too weird for me, so instead of cutting myself I cut ties with David. Then The Joshua Tree disappointed me because U2 abandoned their original image and sound. Soon even Bon Jovi fans were into U2, so I dispensed with them just as I had David.
A few years ago I revisited those first albums on CD, though, and found they were as good as I remembered. So I'm very, very exicted about this Under a Blood Red Sky DVD release. I can relive that happy musical discovery. If you haven't already, maybe you can make the discovery, too!
Though we bill ourselves as "Rock 'n' Roll, Politics and Life" here at the Bar & Grill, we could probably use more rock 'n' roll. Couldn't everyone? Well, U2 may be on the brink of providing us with some.
I turned on WTBS' 
