Rock Band U2 began their first world tour in three years on Tuesday in Barcelona. Over 90,000 fans thronged to witness the concert by the Dublin-based band. The U2 360 tour will be held across 31 cities in North America and Europe to enthral an estimated 3 million fans. Further dates will be announced in 2010. 

Fans gathered at Nou Camp Stadium in Barcelona in large numbers. Bono said that the world is going through difficult economic times and he thanked the audience for coming back to the band time and again. The quartet started the show with “Breathe” from the new album “No Line on the Horizon”, bringing the crowd to life immediately.

U2 played old and new songs like "Beautiful Day" and "Sunday Bloody Sunday" along with "Angel of Harlem", which they dedicated in memory of pop legend Michael Jackson, who died last week. Bono said that the song was written for Billie Holiday, but they were going to dedicate it to Jackson. Mid way through the concert, U2 was linked up to the International Space Station by video.

One astronaut said it was nice to hear them. When asked by Bono whether the astronaut could see Barcelona, he got a reply that the most beautiful sight in the cosmos is Earth. The tour is expected to be the band’s priciest until now, amounting to an estimated $100 million. Billboard, music industry publication, believes that U2 360 tour could become one of the highest grosser ever maybe surpassing the band’s 2005-06 Vertigo Tour, which grossed $389 million.