When it was announced that The Artist Formerly Known as Prince would play the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas Memorial Day weekend, it was with less than 2 weeks notice. A fact which the former Prince addressed during the show by explaining that sometimes the best things arrive with the least notice. While the show might not have been the best, for fans aching to hear old Prince hits it was pretty damn good.

Playing only his second official gig of 1999, The Artist brought along Larry Graham to open Saturday's Jam of the Year encore performance. Playing his standard set of Sly and the Family Stone material as well as tracks from his recently released GCS2000, Graham and crew revved up the crowd. Joined twice by The Artist on guitar, Graham thumped away on his bass with the fury of a headliner.

While always entertaining, Graham's set hasn't changed much in the two plus years he's been playing with The Artist. In fact, between Graham's Sly Stone era material and Prince's classic hits, the entire show had the surreal quality of a packaged R&B oldies show.

The Artist's set started on a high note with the guitar driven fury of Sign O' The Times, but quickly the gig turned into a crowd-pleasing greatest hits retrospective. Let's Work, Delirious, 1999, Purple Rain, Let's Go Crazy, U Got The Look, Take Me With You and Raspberry Beret were all present, much to the delight of the 3/4 capacity house.

While The Artist's set was tight and well honed, and his on-stage antics were as energetic as always, it seemed like the easy way out. Prince has never been one to so readily give crowds what they want, instead he has a long tradition of jamming, dropping songs in and out of rotation and featuring new material.

Missing from the night was any sign of his three disc Emancipation set, which was featured prominently on his 1997 tour. Also MIA, with the exception of Come On during the encore, was his most recent New Power Generation album, New Power Soul.

As it turns out, some of this material was featured during a more intimate show at MGM's Studio 54 nightclub the next evening, seeming to prove the point that Prince isn't taking risks anymore with his large-scale performances.

The level of talent that Prince brings to the table virtually ensures a good show, but the question for any one who has seen Prince before is: Where is the thrill of experimentation and the unknown that are so critical to a majestic Prince performance?

When he used to hit the stage one never knew what to expect. Now it seems to be a predictable concoction of greatest hits, obsessive Jesus talk and constant complaining about a record deal, which he signed! Did it ever occur to Prince that not everyone is as inspired by the details of Jesus' crucifixion and as sympathetic to his label problems as he thinks?

It seems clear that Prince wants to please his paying audience by playing the material they expect to hear. The only problem is that ''real'' Prince fans don't expect to hear all hits, they expect to hear what Prince wants to play. Whether that means covers of Santana or George Clinton tunes, or new material from a yet to be released album, fans of The Artist expect more.

At this point, it looks like Prince has willingly conceded his role as a relevant musician. Even though the show was truly entertaining, for Prince it seemed like picking up a paycheck. Sell tickets, get on stage, play the old hits..it couldn't be any easier. If things are going to get this predictable in the Prince camp, maybe there's a slot for him on HBO's next Sinbad Soul Music Festival. Larry Graham's already done it, so he can show Prince the ropes.