By Jake Seaton, NBC17

RALEIGH — Irish mega group U2 hit the stage Saturday night at N.C. State’s Carter-Finley Stadium in front of more than 55,000 fans.

For some, the show was the long-awaited make up date for the band’s ill-fated stop during their PopMart Tour 12 years ago. For others, it was a concert performance 27 years in the making when U2 made a stop at Keenan Stadium on April 23, 1983 during its War Tour.

Regardless of when the band was — or was supposed to be — in the Triangle last, the U2 360° Tour is unlike any performance to date. The band, along with designer Willie Williams and architect Mark Fisher, created a stage that provides little view obstruction from any angle, and puts the band in the middle of its fans.

As frontman Bono explained, the set brings the band closer than ever to its fans. An experience rivaled only by intimate club shows.

Taking the stage about 30 minutes after the show’s scheduled start time, the electricity in the stadium surmounted as Larry Mullen, Adam Clayton, The Edge and finally Bono made their way to the front of the massive spider-like structure and launched into “Breathe.”

Largely the band’s set consisted of songs from their last three albums – which some may refer to as post-millennium U2. The three albums are some of the band’s most commercially successful affairs, especially after the dismal returns from their 1997 album Pop.

However, the October 2000 release of All That You Can’t Leave Behind – an album that launched the band back into the public and critical spotlight – marked a point that polarized fans. While some accept the post-millennium U2, others – especially Gen Y-ers – view the band as becoming more pedestrian and focusing more on international affairs than on music.

For that — being that the band brought its $750,000-per-day tour to a collegiate football stadium – perhaps the set should have focused more on U2’s earlier catalog. Despite nine of U2’s 12 albums being released pre-2000, only 10 of the set’s 23 songs came from those formative years.

But in the grand scheme that was U2 360°, the set list plays little into the fact that the self-professed “best band in the world” put on one hell of a show. Bono’s political musings were tastefully delivered, and the 150-foot stage quite literally wowed the audience.

If U2 was looking to give fans the ultimate live experience in a truly unique setting: mission accomplished.

And perhaps Gen Y-ers should give those post-millennium albums a second listen; because with 15 Grammy Awards and eight Platinum certifications, they’re far from pedestrian. If anything, U2 is on the top of their game.

Indie rock pacemaker blog Pitchfork has given Polvo’s In Prism, the band’s first album in 12 years, an 8.1 rating.

Here’s an excerpt of the review by Stuart Berman:

“Ten years of recording-technology advances also means that Polvo has never sounded more radiant; liberated from the murky, mid-fi production of the band’s older records, Ash Bowie emerges as a forceful, almost swaggering vocalist on In Prism’s blast-off opener “Right the Relation”, which, despite its cryptic allusions to Polvo’s history and ethos (”We see the beauty behind imperfection… I kill my creation to right the relation”) is the band’s most forthright, unfussy rocker to date.”

On a similar note, KEXP of Seattle also likes what it hears.

If you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, Merge Records has the album available for streaming. What are your thoughts on Polvo’s big return?

Many of today’s casual fans may not be too familiar with Ryan Adams’ tumultuous but highly influential past in the Triangle.

Sure Whiskeytown is a familiar moniker in Adams’ niche fan base, but names like The Lazy Stars and The Patty Duke Syndrome sound as foreign as his current alter egos DJ Reggie and WereWolph. But despite the lack of knowledge of either if these two outfits, they are as much a part of Adams’ ethos as Whiskeytown.

There was, of course, also Ryan’s brief stint in the hardcore punk band The Finger, but neither one of its two EP’s names are suitable for print, so we’ll just leave that one to your imagination. Regardless, chances are you’ll be hard pressed to find any of the band’s releases on the shelves at your local Best Buy. I just so happened to stumble upon a The Finger album at Chaz’s Bull City Records during my scavenger hunt for rare and imported Ryan vinyl.