Last week, I spent many dollars and traveled many miles to see U2 play Giants’ Stadium. And what did I get for my time and money? I got U2- all that is good and bad about them. I admit, while waiting for the big show to arrive, I talked myself into believing the current 360 tour would be nothing but two straight hours of uninterrupted sheer jaw-dropping, tear-jerking awesomeness. Where this idea came from, I’m not sure. U2 has always been an imperfect band, both live and in the studio. Every tour I’ve seen has had moments I felt stuck in rather than relished. With the exception of two, every album has a song or three that I don’t care for, that leaves me wondering who thought it sounded good. And so this show was everything the band has been to me over the 24 years I’ve been a fan: exhilarating, elusive, inspiring, and disappointing, an experience that simultaneously defies, surpasses, and falls short of my expectations.

On the down side, Bono made mistakes on at least four songs and seemed at various times like he really wanted not to inspire hearts and souls, but to punch the shit out of someone. Best as I could tell, his in-ear monitors kept malfunctioning - all night. He fiddled with them all night, taking them out, putting them back in both during and in between songs. At one point, he winced so bad in obvious physical pain that the Edge rushed in his direction. I’ve played enough gigs to recognize the actions and mistakes of a singer out of touch with the rest of the band. Someone in the sound crew may be looking for new job this week. Along with the sound difficulties, the crowd was pretty friggin’ lame for the first few numbers. I was let down. But then watching Bono earn his pay for a night became not only fun but strangely compelling. And he did work it. He really attacked the songs and the crowd like a young kid trying to make his name. He covered every inch of stage, every bridge and runner, front, back and sides.  And when he was on, he was really something else - he absolutely destroyed “Ultraviolet” and “With or Without You.” And so after living these past few years with Preacher Bono and Preener Bono, I dug seeing Playing for Drunks in a Club With Shitty Sound Bono. The guy really seems to want your heart in his hands, and he’s not afraid to punch through your ribcage to get at it.

As has always been true of the band, when they do hit it, they hit huge. There is still nothing in the world like the opening of “Streets” wafting through a stadium. Same for the signature riff in “With or Without You.” The new stuff plays really well live, especially “No Line on the Horizon” and “Magnificent,” which is a good thing because they play more than half of the new album in this show. “Unknown Caller,” by far my least fave on the new album, worked really well. They rocked it up a bit and did a kind of stadium kareoke for the sing-along parts. In what I thought was a bold move, more than half the set was from the last three albums, “Vertigo” and “City of Blinding Lights” were two of the night’s best songs. “Unforgettable Fire,” one of the throwbacks, was stunning, haunted by distorted electric piano. I love the song, but I feel betrayed that “One” is now rolled out as a political anthem. I like it much better as a furious break-up song. The dance remix (?) of “I’ll Go Crazy” was outstanding. That’s the thing with this band, the move that strikes me as an obvious mistake, turning the new single, a guitar-driven rocker, into a disco song works out as one of the best songs of the night. So, despite going out with an obscenely high-tech and enormous show, (the visuals will absolutely blow your mind) the band seems determined to take chances and not rest on their impressive laurels. They could go out and fill stadiums playing “U2 18″ every night, not play a song from after 1993, and they’re not, which I respect. I mean, no “Pride” but a major encore production of an obscure “Achtung” track? I like it. I hope I have some semblance of artistic balls that size as far into my career as U2.