During the performance, Bono jokingly said, 'I usually make up my own words to Bob Dylan songs. On 20 April, following a performance of I Shall Be Released in Los Angeles, the band surprised the audience by bringing out Dylan himself for a performance of Knockin' on Heaven's Door. As another sign of the group's confidence, they also covered The Beatles' heretofore untouchable ' Helter Skelter', declaring 'This is a song Charles Manson stole from the Beatles we're stealin' it back.' Other notable covers from the tour included Eddie Cochran's ' C'mon Everybody', Peggy Seeger's 'The Ballad of Springhill', Neil Young's ' Southern Man', Curtis Mayfield's ' People Get Ready' (during which Bono would invite a fan to play guitar on the song) and numerous Bob Dylan covers including ' Maggie's Farm' and ' I Shall Be Released'. The back of the most common T-shirt from the Joshua Tree Tour's first leg.ДЄt Wembley Stadium in London, Bono sang The Beatles' ' Help!', dedicating it to those in the audience who were dreading another five years of the recently re-elected Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. In total, the tour grossed US$40В million and drew 3В million attendees. The 79 North American shows on the tour sold 2,035,539 tickets and grossed US$35 million. The new level of fame, exposure and the frantic nature of the tour put the U2 organisation under a large amount of stress. The house lights would then stay up for ' Pride (In the Name of Love)', only going off at the end of it the rest of the set list would be consequently scrambled from the norm. All but the last night would begin in conventional concert fashion with the rousing pair of ' Where the Streets Have No Name' into ' I Will Follow', but the last night in each city would begin with the house lights fully up and the band performing the early 1960s classic ' Stand By Me', with The Edge singing one verse, all intended as a friendly, informal opening. These multiple-night stands also featured an unusual set list twist. coasts, with only a very few dates in the middle of the country. That first leg was also organised around multiple-night stands in centres of U2 fandom along the two U.S. Tickets for shows were often very hard to get, especially on the first American leg when they only played in arenas. The Joshua Tree and its singles had become huge hits and the band had reached a new height in their popularity. The Joshua Tree Tour sold out stadiums around the world, the first time the band had consistently played venues of that size. so the back half of the stadium could better see the band, and screens were used at most stadium shows for the rest of the tour. A video screen was installed behind the lighting tower at the 20 September show at the RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. U2 production manager, Willie Williams, recalls the debate within the band about the use of screens and whether they would divide the audience's attention between the stage and the screen. While the show's reviews were positive, they said that a video screen is necessary for people at the back. On 30 April, the band played the Pontiac Silverdome, their first headlining stadium show in the United States.

The tour ended on 20 December back where it started in Tempe, Arizona, but this time at Sun Devil Stadium.

The third leg returned to American and Canadian arenas and stadiums in the autumn. The final show of the European leg is at PГЎirc UГ Chaoimh in Cork on 8 August. The second leg in European arenas and outdoor stadiums ran from late May through to early August, starting at the Stadio Flaminio in Rome on 27 May. The first leg finished with 5 concerts at the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford between 11 and 16 May. 1,063 tickets from Las Vegas remained unsold equating to a 99.77% sellout for the 1st American leg. The 29 concerts generated US$7,501,329 with a total of 465,452 tickets sold. The first leg took place in American indoor arenas during April and May. He had fully regained his voice for the second of the two shows at the arena on 4 April. At the time, it was explained by their publicists in a press release that it was due to the week of rehearsals the band held at A.S.U.'s Activity Center and he had over rehearsed his voice. He asked the audience to help him sing the majority of the set, which they were happy to do.

Bono had partially lost his voice as a result. The day before the opening night, Bono fell onto a spotlight he was carrying during a rendition of 'Bullet the Blue Sky', cutting open his chin. This tour's opening night was 2 April at Arizona State University's Activity Center in Tempe, Arizona. Fans waiting for U2 outside Hartford Civic Center May 1987

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