“It’s America; we commercialize everything,” said Chris Rock in his opening monologue for “Saturday Night Live.” That would be the cynical take on the episode’s carefully hyped musical performance: a mid-show appearance by Prince. Booked for the show at Mr. Rock’s request, Prince departed from longstanding “S.N.L.” custom for musical guests; instead of two brief, single-song performances, he played an eight-minute mini-set.
It was a first for the show, which is now in its 40th season, but of course, not a stretch of any kind for Prince, who has earned his reputation for marathon throwdowns, rampaging not only through his own catalog but also through unexpected cover tunes. (Surely you recall his ecstatic Super Bowl halftime show in 2007. Creedence? Foo Fighters?)
Here Prince was focused in the extreme — on point, and on the clock. Taking the stage at 12:06 a.m. with the power trio 3rdEyeGirl — Donna Grantis on guitar, Ida Nielsen on bass and Hannah Ford Welton on drums — he struck up a medley of songs from “PlectrumElectrum,” one of his two new albums. Released in late September along with an R&B-steeped concept album, “Art Official Age,” it puts Prince forward accurately as a guitar hero and a rock eclectic, with 3rdEyeGirl as his sturdy backing band.
The limitations of the “S.N.L.” time slot meant that Prince could go one of two ways, either stretching far out on a single song, or shuffling quickly from one to the next. He chose the second approach, starting with “Clouds,” a mid-tempo funk tune with lyrics that push a seduction ritual as the ultimate pushback to our harried technological era. Lianne La Havas turned up, as on the album, to shadow Prince’s singing in a higher octave, and to croon the bridge, which includes this open question: “When life’s a stage, in this brand new age / How do we engage?”
Prince, whose appearance echoed the cover illustration of “Art Official Age” — metallic jacket, Afro, three-eyed sunglasses — then steered the band into the title track to “PlectrumElectrum,” a power-riff number that knowingly calls Led Zeppelin to mind. It gave him a chance to trade frenetic guitar solos with Ms. Grantis, but after one minute they were on to “Marz,” a disaffected but catchy burst of roadhouse punk. That one, too, lasted only a minute; what came next (and last) was “Anotherlove,” a barbed slow jam with lyrics full of indignant romantic hurt.
For all of its quick-change pacing, the performance was sharp and rousing, as much a credit to 3rdEyeGirl’s professionalism as it was to Prince’s star power. Especially considering the shaky footing of this season’s other musical guests (Iggy Azalea was the previous booking, and Hozier the one before), it was a welcome demonstration of virtuosity, or at least something a notch or two above competency. He didn’t push any boundaries, but Prince succeeded in pushing an agenda. And when his time was up, precisely, he cued a final downbeat and executed a formal bow.