U2 has come a very long way in 24 years. Bono and the boys made their first trip to Dallas in 1981 and performed for about 30 onlookers at The Bijou, a restaurant-club that had double-billed the band with a wet T-shirt contest.

Said contest is no longer needed. U2 played to a full house at the American Airlines Center on Saturday night. The concert was everything people have come to expect from U2, which means it was an inspiring and exhilarating night of rock.

The air was electric as the group opened the set with “City of Blinding Lights,” from its most recent album, “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb,” to an enthusiastic and awed crowd. As U2 emerged, the elliptical stage was shrouded in confetti and curtains of what appeared to be light bulbs woven together with video screen fabric.

Noise from the audience rapidly went from enthusiastic to deafening as U2 trotted out its most recent “rock out” songs, “Vertigo” and “Elevation.” It then felt no need to adhere to conventional concert standards and dug way back in the archives to play “The Electric Co.,” from its 1980 debut “Boy,” “The Ocean” and other such classics. The band tended to bleed one song into another, a motif that would continue throughout the night.

The hits continued as U2 played “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” “Beautiful Day,” “Miracle Drug,” which Bono dedicated to “all of the doctors and nurses – especially the nurses,” and “Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own.”

The band again and again solidified itself as one of rock’s most versatile groups, as Bono played various instruments throughout the night, including the drums during “Love and Peace or Else” and the guitar during “One.” Guitarist The Edge even played piano during “Miss Sarajevo,” a song that included the articles of the U.S. Constitution scrolling on video screens behind the band in a “Declaration of Human Rights.”

Fan favorites “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” “Bullet the Blue Sky,” dedicated to the U.S. military, “Pride” and “Where the Streets Have No Name” were played to an appreciative crowd, followed by a brief snippet of “Ol’ Man River,” a tribute to the volunteers in the Mississippi area.

U2 came back for two encores, which included “The First Time,” a beautiful acoustic version of “Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of,” an audience involved rendition of “Angel of Harlem,” “With or Without You,” “All Because of You,” an acoustic “Yahweh” and “40.”

Throughout the set, Bono once again proved himself as arguably the greatest front man of this generation. He occasionally stepped off the stage into the crowd and was repeatedly offered gifts, ranging from T-shirts to Irish flags, from nearby audience members. True to form, Bono infused the show with religious and political messages. He urged the audience to join via cell phone the One Campaign to Make Poverty History, and he pulled a young boy onto the stage during “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” calling him a son of Abraham, as various religious symbols merged on the video screens behind him.

While it is blatantly obvious that Bono is the leader, he never takes the spotlight from the rest of the band, including famed guitarist The Edge, drummer Larry Mullen Jr. and bassist Adam Clayton. The band was in top form Saturday night, delivering its usual best.

The visual effects were stunning without managing to overshadow the band or its music. The large video screens impressively split screened the four band members so that audiences could see a close-up shot of each one at any given time. The stage was lit up more often than not, usually in colors that underscored the tone of the song.

Overall, it was a night of awareness and intense entertainment, as U2 loudly brought the house down at the American Airlines Center.