U2 world tour debuts with Jackson tribute
2009-07-01

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BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) - Irish rock megastars U2 launched their world tour on a vast stage in Barcelona before some 90,000 fans with a show that included a linkup with the International Space Station and a tribute to Michael Jackson.

In a reflection of lead singer Bono's work as a human rights activist, masks of detained Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi were also distributed around the Camp Nou stadium.

The show was held on an immense stage that took up half the field at the Camp Nou, home to the Barcelona football team, and which was surrounded by spectators on the grass.

Above it was a massive metal structure, nicknamed "The Claw" by fans and which resembled a giant four-legged spider or a creature from outer-space, 50 metres (150 feet) across and weighing 390 tonnes.

"We want to do something which has never been done before," Bono said recently of the innovative stage.

The veteran band took the stage at around 10:00 pm (2000 MT) on a hot summer night to kick off its "360 degrees" tour, after a warm-up act by Scottish band Snow Patrol.

Bono held a live video linkup with the International Space Station during the two-hour performance, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing and to deliver a message of peace and environmental awareness.

He also delivered a message from for South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu on the fight against AIDS and malaria.

And he dedicated the song "Angel of Harlem" to the late Michael Jackson, "a great talent."

Part of the rendition included excerpts from Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" and "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough," sung in the King of Pop's falsetto voice.

U2 played extracts from their new album, "No Line on the Horizon", which came out in February.

But the stadium really came alight when the group performed its best-known songs such as "Where the Streets Have No Name," "Pride (in the Name of Love)", "Beautiful Day" and "Sunday Bloody Sunday."

Late in the show Bono changed from his traditional black into a Barcelona football shirt with his name on the back.

The 90,000 tickets for the concert sold out in just 54 minutes on March 25, for between 30 and 150 euros (40 and 200 dollars) each. A second concert is scheduled in Barcelona for Thursday.

A few hundred of the fans had even spent Monday night outside the stadium to ensure a good spot on the grass.

After Barcelona, the tour moves to Milan's San Siro stadium on July 7 and then to France, Germany and the Netherlands.

The band returns home on July 24 to play Croke Park in Dublin before heading for Sweden, Poland and Croatia and then five gigs in Britain.

They then head over the Atlantic, with their first show in the US and Canada leg of the tour at Chicago's Soldier Field on September 12.

Their last tour in 2005 and 2006 drew some 4.5 million fans at 127 shows, all sold out.

U2, founded in Dublin in 1978, has sold around 100 million albums.