NEW YORK (AFP) - U2 guitarist The Edge apparently did not see the part of the stage that is his own namesake as he tumbled on the first night of the veteran Irish rockers' tour.

A fan's video that made the rounds online showed The Edge strumming to I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For on Thursday night as he paced toward a stage set up in the centre of the arena in Vancouver.

Then he suddenly tumbled off the right of the walkway, to gasps from the audience, as Bono's voice could still be heard singing the song's chorus.

The 53-year-old guitarist, whose real name is Dave Evans, later posted a picture of a scraped right arm on Facebook, saying: "Didn't see the edge, I'm OK!!"

It was the latest mishap for U2, who were one of the most influential bands in the 1980s with albums such as The Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum.

In November, Bono fell while riding his bicycle in New York's Central Park, injuring his hand, shoulder, elbow and face.

The singer required hours of intensive surgery and months of rest and rehabilitation before launching the tour.

Vancouver opened U2's first tour since 2009-2011, which was the highest-grossing in history with 110 concerts around the world, largely in stadiums.

The latest tour, called "Innocence and Experience", is a notch smaller in scope, with 70 shows scheduled around North America and Europe, although the band could add more dates.

Instead of stadiums, U2 is playing arenas and emphasising effects, including a fence-like divider on the walkway that shows images of the band and other visuals.

The tour is supporting Songs Of Innocence, U2's 13th studio album which was controversially distributed for free in October to the world's half billion iTunes users as part of a promotion for Apple.

With no conventional metrics to test the album's popularity, U2 nonetheless performed seven tracks off Songs Of Innocence in Vancouver on Thursday along with many of the band's older hits.