Why U2 is the only band worth $100+

They're nowhere near my favorite band. They're not even my favorite among the shrinking pool of music stars able to fill stadiums anymore. Still, whenever anybody asks who in the concert business is really worth paying $100 to $250 to see from Sec. 214, Row Y, my one and only answer is always U2.

OK, so I personally don't pay for most of my concert tickets these days. Any print journalist circa 2011 is well aware of the value of a dollar, though. More important, anybody who sees 100-plus concerts a year undoubtedly has a higher standard for what makes a quality show.

U2 excels in every arena.

When you see U2, you're actually getting U2, the same four lads who met as fluffy-haired Dublin teenagers, who have stayed alive and remained friends despite many odds and at least one ego. You aren't getting Bono and the Edge with John Bonham's son and the Replacements' bassist, plus a troop of backup singers to cover Bono's missed notes.

That's not the only reason U2 is worth the big bucks over the Rolling Stones or the Who (who actually are two of my all-time favorites). Both of those legendary bands put out classic albums for two decades but have since issued lots of forgettable rubbish. U2 has remained fairly consistent. There are five or six songs from 2009's underrated "No Line on the Horizon" that I would like to hear Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium. Even U2's worst record, "Pop," had three songs on it worth hearing live.

"Pop" is also a good example of how U2 always makes its shows interesting, even if the public is disinterested in its latest album. The accompanying PopMart tour in 1997 was bloated, gaudy and damn silly — and it was a blast.

Most of today's top touring acts can't think beyond adding more pyro or dancers to offer a bigger concert production. U2, however, always seems to come up with something inventive. It often does so at its own expense: 1992's Zoo TV trek was famously a financial boondoggle; the 360° Tour has eaten through a lot of cash, too.

From the moment U2 started playing to massive audiences, it created a fervency up to the nosebleed sections. The band's anthemic sound and rally-cry songs play a big role in that. So does Bono, who knows how to work a room. He charmed Bill Clinton into helping end the Bosnian war and George W. Bush into curbing the African AIDS epidemic, after all.

With all that said about U2's worth, here's the really surprising thing about the band: Its concerts are relative bargains.

The average price for a ticket on its current tour is $88, according to concert journal Pollstar.com, compared with $126 for Roger Waters and $93 for Bon Jovi. Yes, there are $250 seats for U2, but there are a lot more between $30 and $95. In that regard, the Irish quartet is a lot like blue-collar heroes Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam, the only other acts that consistently work big venues so well.

Springsteen and Pearl Jam, though, don't rise out of mirror-ball lemons or captain mega-claw spaceships at their concerts. Borrr-ing!