On October 11, 1987, U2 brought The Joshua Tree Tour to Silver Stadium, the old ballpark on Norton Street, two nights after the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, and a sold-out crowd of 30,000 sat through a cold Sunday to hear them, with Los Lobos and Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul opening. Bono, hoarse and performing with his arm in a sling from a stage accident earlier in the tour, led the band from “Where the Streets Have No Name” through “Bullet the Blue Sky” and “With or Without You” to a closing “40,” and pulled a young fan named Chris onstage to play guitar on “People Get Ready.” The next morning’s Democrat and Chronicle review ran under the headline “Sold-out crowd of 30,000 braves cold to hear U2,” and that crowd stands among the biggest the ballpark ever drew. Thirty-nine years on, the night still ranks No. 7 on our list of the greatest concerts in Rochester history.
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