It seems every era of U2’s career can be marked by an enduring image: U2 in the desert during The Joshua Tree era, Bono and his fly shades in the early 90s, the PopMart arch, Bono’s flag-strewn jacket at the Super Bowl performance, and so on. For many fans, the enduring image of U2’s early days will be the band’s June 5, 1983 concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre — the show made famous on the Under a Blood Red Sky video release and featured on the album.
U2 at Red Rocks is clearly one of the great events of U2’s career, and @U2 is proud to present an exclusive collection of photosfrom the Red Rocks concert June 5, 1983, and the Boulder, CO, one night later. Most of these photos have never been seen before … anywhere. They are presented here with the permission and cooperation of Greg Wigler, one of only two photographers given permission to shoot these shows.
Greg Wigler got the chance thanks to his previous work with Feyline Productions, Barry Fey’s Denver-based concert and event promotion company. Feyline promoted many shows in the area, and in 1983 the company promoted U2’s show at Red Rocks. Wigler was a staff photographer for Road Home Productions of Denver and a frequent contributor to Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) magazine, which used one of his Red Rocks photos for its coverage of the concert. He has shot many LP and CD covers, three magazine covers and contributed to two books, with pictures of many artists from Barry McGuire, Richie Furay, Roger McGuinn, Stryper, B.J. Thomas, Andrae Crouch, Big Country, Kansas, and others.
On behalf of everyone at @U2, our thanks to Greg Wigler for contacting us with an offer to share these photographs. We ask you to please respect the copyright on these photographs, and not re-post them on your web site or use them in any way without Greg’s permission. You may contact Greg via email if you are interested in purchasing any color or black and white prints for your own collection.
Note to Larry fans: sorry, but you’ll only find one photo of your favorite drummer. As Greg says, “Drummers are notoriously hard to photograph with all the equipment around them!”
Exclusive photography by Greg Wigler.