Prince always plays by his own rules. So when he was invited to perform on "Saturday Night Live" for a third time, he didn't do the usual two-performance routine that other acts do.

Instead, in an unprecedented move on "SNL," he played one eight-minute medley about 35 minutes into the show Saturday night, mixing songs from his two new albums, "Art Official Age" and "Plectrum Electrum."

After a video snippet of wispy white clouds on a brilliant blue sky, Prince opened with "Clouds." He was wearing sunglasses with three lenses (as he does on the cover of "Art Official Age") and accompanied by British soul singer Lianne La Havas. Before long he segued into "Plectrum Electrum," a heavy rock-funk instrumental with his band, 3rdEyeGirl.

Performing in an intimate space framed by tight walls, Prince and his band (including Josh Welton on keyboards) also delivered the rocker "Marz" and the "Anotherlove," more of a slow jam. During the segment, there was plenty of opportunity for guitar fireworks by both Prince, 3rdEye shades removed by now, and Donna Grantis, sporting a necklace with the big gold pendant declaring "ELECTRIC."

At the end, Prince smiled and bowed.

The eight-minute performance was a fast and furious demonstration of Prince's potency as a performer, somewhat reminiscent of his knockout halftime performance at the Super Bowl in 2007. The difference, though, was at the Super Bowl he was playing familiar songs and on "SNL," this was all new material from the two albums he released in late September.

Host Chris Rock, known for doing impressions of Prince, had requested that Prince be the musical guest. However, the comic played it straight and did no Prince sendups during the 90-minute show. The Purple One did not join Rock and the "SNL" cast for the traditional good-night wave at the end. But 3rdEyeGirl and La Havas showed up, and Rock even thanked La Havas by name.

Jon Bream • 612-673-1719