Last month, U2 released the new single "Ahimsa," a collaboration with the great Bollywood composer A.R. Rahman. The song's title is named after the doctrine of doing no harm and respecting all living things. Last night, U2, on the final date of their long global Joshua Tree anniversary tour, came to Mumbai's D.Y. Patil Stadium. This was U2's first-ever show in India. They played "Ahimsa" live for the first time, and they had help.
Before playing "Ahimsa," Bono claimed that India was the inspiration for the song, and he referred to the doctrine as ahimsa as "the most powerful force in history, India's greatest gift to the world." The band performed it with A.R. Rahman and his three daughters.
Rahman wasn't the show's only guest. When U2 had gotten done with the whole of The Joshua Tree, Bono also introduced Noel Gallagher, saying some kind words about how Oasis were U2's competition in the '90s. Together with Gallagher on acoustic guitar, U2 played their 1988 anthem "Desire." At the end of the show, they also did the 1991 monster ballad "One" with Gallagher and Rahman. Watch videos of those performances below.
"Ahimsa" is out now on Island.
