By Adam Graham The Detroit News

AUBURN HILLS -- No one goes to a U2 concert expecting an evening free of political soapboxing. Peace, unity, yada, yada, yada -- but hey, you're still going to play "Where the Streets Have No Name," right?

Even so, the Dublin quartet took its message of "Love and Peace or Else" to the edge -- pun intended -- Monday night at the band's sold-out show at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

During a mid-show stretch through the band's most political material, including "Sunday Bloody Sunday," "Bullet the Blue Sky" and "Pride (In the Name of Love)," U2 frontman Bono fell to his knees and crossed his arms above his head while pulling a bandana with the message "Coexist" -- decorated with the Islamic crescent moon, the Jewish star of David and the Christian cross -- over his eyes, while images of war planes flickered on a wall of lights above his head.

Things were breezier at the onset of the 135-minute, 20-plus song show, with Bono appearing as if out of thin air at the tip of the stage's ellipse-shaped catwalk, in front of more than 20,000 mostly thirty-something fans.

Confetti already raining from the ceiling, Bono shrugged his shoulders and casually strutted to the stage while the band played "City of Blinding Lights," the most timeless track on their current album "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb."

The band elegantly powered through "Vertigo" and "Elevation" before dipping into its catalog for a trio of songs -- "I Will Follow," "The Electric Co.," and "The Ocean" -- from 1980's "Boy."

Driven with confidence and precision by ace drummer Larry Mullen Jr., bassist Adam Clayton and the Edge's jangly, effects-laden guitars, U2 hit its stride while muscling through its new material, most notably the soaring "Miracle Drug" and "All Because Of You."

But Bono wasn't entirely on his game Monday.

Acting slightly tepid, he stuck a little too closely to his home base on the main stage, only venturing out onto the stage's massive catwalk -- surrounded by fans on either side -- a handful of times.

Audience response suffered as a result, but when he finally clicked with the crowd, who turned from receptive to rapturous during "Where the Streets Have No Name," he made sure to make note of it. "Wow," he said as the crowd roared, "this is a Monday night in Detroit? You can change the world with a sound like that."

Earlier in the evening, Bono, who did something he rarely does -- take off his sunglasses -- during the tender "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" -- remarked, "This feels not at all like a Monday night. This feels like a Saturday night."

Still, for the poor saps sitting behind the stage, it might as well have been Sunday afternoon; despite the filled seats, the band paid very little attention to the fans in back.

Worst of all was the guy who kept holding up a sign that read "I've waited 20 years for this day!!!" Fella, was it worth it just to look at U2's backs?

No matter where you were sitting, U2's stirring and surprising inclusion of "Miss Sarajevo" -- recorded with Luciano Pavarotti, under the pseudonym the Passengers, in the mid-'90s -- in the set was a revelation, especially with Bono capably filling in Pavarotti's vocal duties.

For as much noise as they made during the show, the band -- who plays again tonight at The Palace, and best believe they'll have something to say about the late civil rights legend Rosa Parks -- closed quietly with the religous-themed "Yahweh" and "'40,'" from "Atomic Bomb" and "War," respectively.

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