By Kevin Rutherford
Saturday Night Live is known for breaking up each episode with a brief foray out of comedy and into the world of music, generally twice per show: once around midnight and again shortly before 1 a.m.
But when Prince was announced as musical guest for the Nov. 1 episode of SNL with Chris Rock as host, it was billed as a unique performance: for the first time, an artist would perform once for an extended period of time, without commercial interruption.
Prince and his backing band, 3RDEYEGIRL, made good on that promise as the clock struck midnight. The rocker performed a medley of tunes from his pair of new albums, ARTOFFICIALAGE and PLECTRUMELECTRUM, which came out last September, showing off new material while exhibiting the form and stage presence that made him a star from the start.
Related: Kendrick Lamar to Guest on ‘Saturday Night Live’
The rollicking set began with “Clouds,” performed as a duet with Lianne La Havas. The performance opened with a shot of clouds, taking the song quite literally, before the camera lowered onto Prince, donning his three-lensed sunglasses for which he’s come to expected with the promotion of the new records due to its inclusion on the cover of ARTOFFICIALAGE.
Though “Clouds” was a fitting intro, the rocker contributing funky keyboards, title track “Plectrumelectrum” saw Prince plug in his electric guitar and give what the fans came for: some muscly riffs, the cloud backdrop giving way to brilliant blue lighting as he took center stage, trading guitar solos with his backing band. On “Marz,” he tossed the peculiar glasses aside, staring down the audience as he led his band through the short, high-energy track.
Finally there was “Anotherlove,” including an extended outro of balls-to-the-wall guitar soloing from Prince and his fellow 3RDEYEGIRL guitarists.
You don’t see musical guests on the show take a bow too often, but after the four-song jaunt through his recent discography, he took one anyway – and the audience, naturally, took no issue.
Later in the episode, the show aired a brief pre-taged segment for the new project Swiftamine. Ever hear a Taylor Swift song and become conflicted – you don’t want to love it, but you find yourself dancing along? That’s what the drug helps its user do: embrace their love for Swift, regardless of walk of life or predisposition to liking the pop-star-of-the-now’s music. Courtesy Dr. David Doctor.
SNL will return Nov. 15 with host Woody Harrelson and musical guest Kendrick Lamar.
from Radio.com http://ift.tt/13u1I2H
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