'Thank you for this welcome. We're on stage tonight and a lot of people thought that was impossible. And I for one feel very fortunate to be standing on this stage with my three best friends...'
Two months and twenty two shows after U2360 opened up again in 2010, the European leg ended in the grand setting of the Olympic Stadium in Rome tonight and the Italian U2 community - that's u2place.com in particular - made it a real night to remember. Volunteers were in the venue early to create an extraordinary set of choreographed flags - we've never had a more impressive one.
'Still Haven't Found' brought us the reveal - a dazzling Irish flag, Italian flag and the word 'ONE' in red on white. A breathtaking visual moment, for the band, as much as everyone else:'Viva Italia!'
That segued into another great moment with a rare appearance for 'Bad' and, even more unusually on this tour, a snatch of 'All I Want Is You'(...unless you know different, the first time we've heard that on U2360). And then came 'Mercy' one of the six new and unreleased tracks that the band have surprised us with in Europe this summer.
Dallas Schoo got a special shout-out before Bono thanked everyone on the crew ahead of In A Little While. This audience was pumped all night long, delighted to hear Bono speaking so often in Italian. 'I wanna thank all the people who helped us build this dream of ours...'
As this summer European tour came to a close all the phones came out and the stadium 'turned into a beautiful piece of jewellery.' Everyone in the house felt just as fortunate as the singer to be here tonight...
Were you at the show ? Let us know what your own highlight was - or if you took part in making the flags? What was the moment you'll never surrender, the memory you'll keep for ever? Add them below and upload your photos.