On Saturday night, I went to check out the second night of Prince's opening weekend in Vegas. One note if you are thinking of going: While doors opened at 10 p.m., Prince did not go on stage at 3121 until midnight. I am told this will likely be the case in the future. As with all things Prince, no one will talk on the record and everyone says that with Prince the facts on the ground are always subject to change.

So far, a night in Vegas at 3121 with Prince appears to offer a hits-heavy and focused set, not the meandering jamming that infuriates the less dedicated. One person connected to 3121 summarized the reaction to the project so far as falling into two schools: "Some people think Prince has classed up the Rio and others are shocked his career has sunk to this point."

While both these views have a grain of truth, after checking out the 3121 vibe, I don't think that either is really accurate. The Rio is a nice looking property, yet the competition has improved and Rio is certainly overdue for an upgrade. Despite its location between the Palms and the Strip, except for Penn & Teller and the once-popular Voodoo Lounge, there is no reason to recommend the Rio.

Still, Harrah's, which owns the property, has been focused on marquee property Caesars, as well as expanding its chain of center Strip casinos (Flamingo, Harrah's, Imperial Palace, O'Sheas). Now, the company is facing a buyout offer and considering building a megaresort out of all that land it has acquired on the Strip. So, the Prince deal seems to have been more a target of opportunity than part of an elaborate plan by Harrah's to revamp the Rio.

Meanwhile, Prince could have done a lot better for himself if he was only interested in making money in Vegas. He still can. There is no such thing as a has-been in Vegas. He has a lot of hits that span a few generations of gamblers, um, tourists. Prince is a major star by all the ways Vegas measures these things. Yet, on the resort side, Prince seems to have chosen something like a rental arrangement (in partnership with a live events company) — at least, that's what I've heard. I've also been told rent is not the right word though no one has yet told me the right word. Prince apparently didn't shop himself around town at all. He also didn't want to work with Harrah's to build a major show that matched his brand name. There were not months and months of negotiations. It seems he just set up shop. Everything about this project screams casual: the small room, low-key production values, light promotion and the vague "months" length of his commitment.

I think, for lack of a better way to put it, Prince seems to be toying with the possibility of making Vegas a sort of home base. He has in essence moved his Glam Slam club of the '90s in Minneapolis to Vegas to see if it will fly in 2006. And this isn't a charity project. These shows are generating a huge amount of buzz and excitement while the stage production has had little invested in it and the band is small. These were all good choices. Watching the concert, it's clear that Prince is neither diminished by the venue or the lack of two dozen dancers onstage with him: Prince is all the excitement he needs.

The show comes off like a major star having a mellow test run to see if this sort of work interests him. Prince gives himself a job interview. As long as the word keeps coming out about how hot and hit-heavy these shows are, my guess is that 3121 will also result in a really good and steady revenue stream for Prince. Meanwhile Prince gets to hang in a city that keeps his hours, features corporate types who know how to suck up to demanding eccentrics, and has audiences that are already showing up at other casinos to see impersonators do him.