A high point for the band was a support slot on a Squeeze tour which culminated in a gig at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan.
However the single, written by O'Neill in the Fingerprintz days and was about the Irish Troubles, did not receive much airplay in UK.
[citation needed] During the late 1980s, The Silencers opened for David Bowie and U2 as well as touring for 4 months with Simple Minds.
[2] Burns was once described by fellow band member Jimme O'Neill as "a dark, smouldering presence, rocking slowly back and forwards on his heels, caressing jagged, bittersweet melodies from his black Les Paul."
On that night Burns had regained enough strength to play with original band members and those from subsequent line-ups.