The beats, the band, the voice, the moves. Those dimples and that smile. Bruno Mars has it all. He lit up Xcel Energy Center on Saturday night like no other performer this year.
At 31, he may be the best all-around talent to come along in pop music since Prince. Except Mars is missing the originality and the vision it takes to make the talent last for a generation.
Saturday's supremely entertaining show was the most consistent of Mars' three performances at the X.
A sensation since his 2010 debut album, the songwriter/producer/singer/multi-instrumentalist involves his band, the Hooligans, in his concert more successfully than any other pop star. They are an integral part of his show, singing, dancing and playing their instruments in step — often literally — with the bandleader.
To signify their essentialness, they wear the same baseball-and-track outfits as Mars does (in a different color). Plus, when he introduced each of the eight Hooligans, he did so with a genuine smile and palpable slap-on-the-back camaraderie. These dudes matter to him; they are key parts of the team.
Mars played more guitar this time around, though his chops suggest that he hasn't yet graduated to the upper division at the Carlos Santana School of Guitar.
The consummate showman, he danced enough steps to suggest dazzle but seldom dazzled enough. He smiled enough to turn on the charisma, but that didn't compensate for his lack of banter with the crowd.
He never mentioned Prince, one of his idols, or having been to the late icon's Paisley Park studios earlier in the day (or acknowledging Prince's brother Omarr Baker sitting in the front row). Instead, he merely pointed to heaven during his hit "Marry You" and played a snippet of Prince's "Purple Rain" on guitar.
