Jerry Pompei as Bono
Lead Vocals
Jerry studied music theory, piano, and voice, auditioned and became the first lead singer in the acclaimed Sacramento-based group Tight Quarters. Their success gained a significant following. They were soon playing all the local clubs and early on had the pleasure of opening a show for blues rocker Elvin Bishop. They also did shows with Night Ranger and other Bay Area bands that came through town.
After Tight Quarters parted ways Jerry became lead singer of Secret Service, a very popular Sacramento Area band. The band included BRS Guitarist Kurt Spataro and a local favorite vocalist Kitty O’Neal. They enjoyed a lengthy run as one of the top bands in the Sacramento Area. Jerry then joined forces with innovative solo artist Harrison Price. The popular and much acclaimed band Numonix was born from that collaboration. The band performed with other local bands and also opened for touring acts such as Romeo Void, Tower Of Power, Peter Frampton, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
While working with these local favorites, Jerry’s career at Tower Records took off and he was able to take advantage of a unique opportunity to travel extensively throughout the world, to meet many musicians and stars and to visit many of the world’s great music cities. Jerry continues to collaborate with some of the best musicians in the Sacramento area.
In 2013, Jerry brought his experience and raw talent to the stage in Two20, playing a unique blend of cover rock and dance inspiring music. The group’s combined vocal power was unmatched in any Sacramento Area cover band. In 2014, Jerry also became the vocalist for the newly formed U2 tribute Blood Red Sky. Jerry found a home singing the incredible U2 music, and relished the opportunity to sing Bono’s inspiring lyrics. “I do my own thing, but take great inspiration from great performers like Bono, Freddie Mercury, Fee Waybill, and Tom Jones to name a few.” Jerry will do pretty much anything to entertain, and put smiles on faces.
“I play every gig like it’s my last… Know Music, Know Life.”
Kurt Spataro as The Edge
Guitar, Piano and Vocals
Kurt started playing guitar and performing at a very young age. He and some longtime friends played rock covers in Junior High School! He describes his degree in Humanities as merely a cover for his love for Music and the Culinary Arts. Kurt is a renowned area Chef and heads the Paragary Group of restaurants. His training took him to Europe and South America, where he always gleaned musical flavors from every stop. His study of Music Theory, Guitar, Keyboards, and Vocals were greatly influenced by this extensive travel.
As mentioned, Jerry, Kurt, and wife Kitty O’Neal teamed up in the wildly popular cover band Secret Service and have remained close friends ever since. In 2014, Kitty and Kurt joined Jerry (and Numonix) for a reunion performance as part of a retro show of area bands. Kurt and Kitty had been performing as a duet, but this night inspired them to perform in a full band again. Kurt is a huge U2 fan and has attended many U2 tours. Kurt and Jerry wanted to reunite and Blood Red Sky was born. Kurt’s desire to replicate the unique “Edge” guitar sound was a challenging undertaking, and he was up to the task. The “Poor Man’s Edge” provides a guitar tribute that is simply unsurpassed.
Robert LoRusso as Adam Clayton
Bass and Vocals
Robert began playing bass seriously later in life, inspired by his father, a lifelong Bay Area musician. He bounced around in area cover bands and found a home with Jerry in Numonix. That ended soon after, but the relationship with Jerry and then Kurt flourished! He was inspired by performing in big shows, and it was a no brainer to bring him on as our “Adam” in BRS. Robert works hard to emulate the bass sound that is essential for a U2 tribute. Robert also performs with Kurt and Kitty’s Indie-Alt band, Skyler’s Pool.
Gary Huntzinger as Larry Mullen, Jr.
Drums and Vocals
Gary got his first drum kit around age 8 after destroying his mother’s pots and pans pretending to be Peter Criss from KISS.
He was first introduced to the music of U2 while growing up in England, when they were nearly as baby faced as him. They remain the band he has seen live more often than any other. He has fond memories of camping out overnight with friends in the hopes of scoring front row tickets for The Joshua Tree tour, seeing them twice on that worldwide go-around.
After Bono notoriously spray painted “Stop The Traffic, Rock and Roll” on the Vaillancourt Fountain in San Francisco, Gary was at the infamous Oakland Coliseum show where sculptor Armand Vaillancourt was invited to paint graffiti on the stage backdrop. Surprisingly, he later met Armand, where he had the chance to speak to him about the event in somewhat broken French (his, not Armand’s).
At this same time, while still in high school, his band, Pacific Coast Jam, would attempt to pass off back-catalogue U2 songs, like “Stories for Boys” from Boy (1980), as their own.
Gary joined the Army out of high school, immediately married his high school sweetheart, Michaela, and eventually attended the University of California at Berkeley, where they started their family. He gave up the drums for over a decade before purchasing his dream kit, a DW Custom Exotic in Quilted Maple, that he mostly walked past and blew kisses at in its drum room before finally taking it out on the road.
Besides Larry, his drum idols include the usual suspects: Ginger Baker (more so his son, Kofi), John Bonham, Bill Buford, Stewart Copeland, Mick Fleetwood, Steve Gadd, Steve Jordan, Keith Moon, Ian Paice, Simon Phillips, Ringo Starr, and Bill Ward.
