ARLINGTON, Texas — Enough with the concerts.

This time the sweat here wasn’t ruining anyone’s stage makeup. On Sunday, the paying customers were blowing plastic horns and wearing face paint.
The referee’s whistle blew, and a real, live game began. And this part of North Texas will never again be the same.
By the second game of Sunday’s soccer doubleheader, there were officially 82,252 sitting in the seats, standing on the ramps and drinking cervezas in the end zone concourses at the new place in town, Cowboys Stadium.
Most of them came to cheer for Team Mexico, the flesh-and-blood heroes — and 4-0 victors over Haiti — of this first-ever day of sports competition at the new stadium.
But the real star of the afternoon was the building itself, filled to the ductwork and then some.
As architectural wonders go, the modern curves of the Cowboys’ new home will never make people forget the Roman Colosseum or the Taj Mahal. And it has been convincingly suggested that the Walmart across the street blends into the neighborhood better.
But once inside the stadium, prepare to be awed.
Broad concourses. Marble amenities. Parties in each end zone.
Most of all, The Screen.
The gianter-than-giant Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Vision screen snatches your attention as soon as you enter the seating areas. And it doesn’t go away.
Three minutes into Sunday’s opening CONCACAF Gold Cup game, Costa Rica’s Celso Borges beautifully bicycle-kicked home the first goal of any kind, any sport, at the new stadium.
About 10,000 sets of eyes — the stadium wasn’t filled yet — immediately looked up to the The Screen, which I have decided to call Big Jerry. Pass it along.
Borges appeared to be as big as Mount Rushmore. We were still looking up 10 minutes later, staring at Big Jerry showing the Costa Ricans dashing down Team Guadeloupe’s left flanks, when I realized, “Hey, stupid! Watch the real game!”
In a stadium laden with first-class touches — carpeted hallways abound — the video board steals the show. It’s indulgent. It measures 180 feet long and 50 feet tall. And for you HD aficionados, it’s 1080p.
The press box is located in the curve of the north end zone, and it’s eye-level to Big Jerry. The effect is hypnotic. The constant simulcast almost makes it seem alive.
Clearly, as the real Jerry Jones has explained, this was a stadium built for the video age. There are smaller, 48-foot-wide Mitsubishi screens mounted at each end of the big board, so that fans in the end zones can see.
There are also Sony high-definition TVs scattered throughout every level and corner of the stadium. There’s an HD Sony above every line of every concession stand. You won’t miss a touchdown.
The stadium’s Cowboys Club level features more TVs and full-service bars. The seats in that level practically have the video board in their laps.
Ticket holders enter at the street level, which is about the middle of the stadium. There are elevators, escalators and stairs to get spectators to the other levels.
Once reaching the upper concourse, you could have to climb another 20 or so rows to your seat. The vantage point is staggeringly high — higher than you could have imagined. But you do have the video screen.
The Cowboys have said that they hope to sell standing-room tickets on the end zone concourses for some home games. Picture a Billy Bob’s in each end zone.
It was the standing room tickets that swelled Sunday’s crowd past the 80,000 mark. The end zone ramps are designed to hold standing spectators, as are the areas behind the three levels of end zone seats.
The old stadium leaked. This one is designed to rock. Jones has built party areas on almost all the levels.
As teams enter the playing field, for example, they pass by the field level suites. It’s like watching a football game from behind the benches, if that’s your thing.
After games, field level box holders can gather in a separate lounge and, through a glass wall, watch everything that’s said and happening in the post-game interview room.
Mexico coach Javier Aguirre, whose team basked in the adulation of the highly partisan crowd, said, “It was a marvelous atmosphere, so many people. It’s a great, precious stadium.”
This part of Texas, let me suggest, will never be the same.