More than 2.5m people are thought to have watched the U2's Sunday show at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. -- the first concert to be streamed in its entirety live on the video sharing website YouTube.

The gig, part of the band's 360° tour which wraps up for 2009 this week, was free to view on the site.

People in 16 countries, including the UK, were able to watch the performance, which took place in front of a crowd of 90,000, the Sun reported.

Thousands of fans left messages thanking the band for the free internet gig.


The band bow out for this year with Wednesday's show in Vancouver, but on Monday announced a string of dates in North America for 2010.

The US and Canadian dates take place ahead of more shows in Europe, which include U2's first shows in Russia and Turkey, and other shows in Germany, Denmark, Greece, Austria, Spain and Portugal, among other countries.