Some people may question the need for a 100-foot-high golden arch and a 35-foot-high mirrored lemon at a rock n’ roll concert.

But when Irish rockers U2 came to the Trans World Dome in St. Louis Saturday for a stop in their gigantic, flashy Pop Mart Tour, band frontman Bono said the props are as important in keeping the audience in touch with the band as is the music itself.

The only way (the lemon and arch) work in a place like this is if you stay close to the songs, he said. And we want to get closer to you.

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At this point, U2 guitarist, The Edge, compared St. Louis’ Arch with their crazy yellow stage prop.

Thanks for loaning us your arch, he told the crowd just before the band ripped into Last Night. Now we want to take you shopping.

Bono, The Edge, drummer Larry Mullen Jr. and bassist Adam Clayton ended up ripping through 22 songs of past and present audio bliss with all the energy, lights, effects and on-screen imagery like no other band has done since U2’s own Zoo TV Tour in 1992-93.

The band has been criticized for its gigantic stage set-up and for turning from anti-commercial rockers to the ultimate rock n’ roll sell-outs. This has caused fans to split between those who understand the band’s irony and the reason for such an extravagant stage show, and those who scream for another album and tour like the classic The Joshua Tree.

The band catered to both types of fans Saturday night by playing old fan favorites like With or Without You, New Year’s Day and Pride as well as eight songs from its new album Pop.

As the lights went down at the beginning of the show, the band strolled through the crowd like a professional boxing procession on its way to the ring, and rushed the stage for the opening song Mofo.

From there, the show launched into the stratosphere backed by the massive video screen behind the band that offered such U2-ian images as man’s evolution from ape to shopping cart.

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For the band’s encore, the giant lemon that had been dormant the entire night shed its yellow skin to reveal a new, glittery disco ball texture. The lemon rolled from its position at the side of the main stage out to the extended side stage, where it blossomed to reveal the four band members.

People may wonder what all the dazzling flash and embracing of rock clichs has to do with true rock n’ roll. But the ones who saw U2 Saturday night saw a band unafraid to put on an immense show with stellar music, which is what stadium rock n’ roll is all about.

Third Eye Blind opened the show, and much to its credit was able to play songs from its album Semi-Charmed Life without sounding as if they were intimidated by the extravagance of the massive stage set-up which considering U2’s stage standard likely is not easy.