Performance broadcast live on BBC Radio 2

By Mark Sutherland, Billboard

LONDON -- U2 stopped the traffic in central London on Friday as it performed a short set on the roof of the BBC's Broadcasting House.

Bono and company performed four songs as about 5,000 fans thronged the streets below -- "Get on Your Boots" and "Magnificent" from new album "No Line on the Horizon" (Island/Universal), plus hits "Vertigo" and "Beautiful Day."

With the band being squeezed into a tiny area several stories up, Bono balanced precariously on the edge of the roof at times. The singer also thanked the crowd "for sticking with us over the years -- or if you just turned up for the first time, we're not going away any time soon."

The set was broadcast live on BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans' drivetime show and is also available online and on BBC television through its digital interactive "red button" service. U2 received blanket coverage on BBC services throughout the day, prompting Bono to declare: "What a city you have! What a broadcasting corporation!"