Bono causes U2 fans to panic with 'we're going away now' comment at Berlin show

It seems highly unlikely the band are planning to split or retire anytime soon

U2 perform at the O2 Arena in London (PA)

U2 fans are in uproar after Bono ended the final show of their Experience + Innocence tour by apparently saying: "We're going away now."

The band performed their last gig of the tour in Berlin last night (Tuesday 13 November), and Twitter account @U2gigs – which frequently provides updates, news and coverage of the band's shows – was first to report the frontman's comment.

"We've been on the road for quite some time, just going on 40 years, and this last four years have been really something very special for us," Bono reportedly said. "We're going away now..."

However, the same Twitter account was quick to try and reassure worried fans that it's likely Bono just meant the band were taking a rest.

"Every tour I've covered, right back to Vertigo, every final gig is the same: mass panic that this is the last gig," they wrote. "Ten bucks says I'll be covering another gig with you folks sometime down the track."

They added: "I will concede that this is the first time the mass panic has at least seemed plausible... U2 won't sit still and they won't break up, and they've got enough years ahead of them to fit in more gigs!"

At an earlier show in Berlin, Bono had a scare after suffering a "complete loss of voice". He was later cleared by a doctor and told fans "we can't wait to get back there" for the tour's closing date.

In an interview with The Times in October, the Irish rocker admitted this tour has been "particularly demanding".

"I can't do as much as I used to," he said. "On previous tours, I could meet a hundred lawmakers in between shows and now I know I can't do that."

Asked if another tour was on the horizon he said: "I don't know. I don't take anything for granted. Its OK to acknowledge work you've done and give it respect, but if it's the best we can do, then we're not an ongoing concern."