Though slumping record sales have forced a number of veteran rappers – Jay-Z, Nas, Wu-Tang Clan and Snoop Dogg among them – into the same sort of heavy touring regimens that their rock peers have long endured, one big name has been missing from that list. After a long hiatus, seminal Queens duo Mobb Deep seem set to establish their live bona fides, playing a warm-up show to the packed House of Blues on Saturday in advance of a summer slot on the Rock the Bells stadium tour. But the Mobb’s comeback trail could be rockier than most.

 Of all the acts to emerge during gangsta rap’s 1990s golden age, Mobb Deep were among the best, and certainly among the most influential. Nonetheless, their acceptance into the hip-hop pantheon has been a slow one, with the group’s Pierre Boulez-like stubbornness largely to blame. While most West Coast gangsta rappers delivered their gritty narratives with a breezy, top-down insouciance, and fellow East Coasters were savvy enough to temper their malevolence with radio-friendly odes to the good life, Deep’s music is forever shot through with a bleak, uncompromising sense of sadness.  

Such darkness can make for an awkward transition to the stage – especially in a genre that still values party-starting in its live shows above all else – and though they had the good sense to skip mood-killers like “Party Over,” Mobb Deep’s 70-minute set studiously avoided any out-of-character frivolity. Turning recorded soliloquys into two-part routines while a DJ punctuated each song transition with gunshot effects, rappers Prodigy and Havoc offered as straightforward and old-school a rap show as 2011 audiences are likely to find.

Fresh off a three-year prison stint, and promoting new memoir, “My Infamous Life” (which took the place of t-shirts and CDs at the merch table), flagship MC Prodigy looked just as moody and sullen as ever. Boasting a bulging new set of muscles on his formerly slight frame – his childhood struggles with sickle-cell anemia are documented in strangely heartbreaking detail in his book – the rapper huddled in close to his partner for a kinetic rendition of “Eye for an Eye (Your Beef is Mines)” and slowly stalked the stage with sleepy-eyed confidence. 

If the duo’s lyrical chemistry was at a high, the instrumental backline of their music got the short shrift. While the ominous synths of “G.O.D. Pt. III” and buzzsaw alarm peals of “Shook Ones Pt. II” startled the aud into hysterics, the creaky, cobwebby subtleties that distinguish some of their most famous productions were largely absent, absorbed into the booming live mix. More straightforward tracks like “Keep It Thoro” and “Quiet Storm” fared better, but these are issues that could only be exacerbated when the group takes to bigger stages.

Longtime group associate Big Noyd emerged onstage early on and stayed until the end, with his hyperactive gestures providing a nice counterpoint to the low-key menace of the two headliners. Otherwise, the show was largely free of stage-cluttering guests, save for an appearance from Lakers star Ron Artest – who hails from the same housing project as the duo – to recreate one of his more memorable post-game interviews.

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Variety's own Stuart Oldham reports from the 11th Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona.

BY STUART OLDHAM

The Primavera Sound music festival celebrated its 11th anniversary this past weekend in Barcelona, Spain, with an energetic reunion show from Pulp, one of the most influential bands of the ‘90s.

"What have you been up to the past 15 years?" frontman Jarvis Cocker wryly asked the audience. 

The British pop group, who split up in 1996, kicked off their two-hour set at the Parc del Forum with "Do You Remember the First Time?" before launching into fan favorites "Disco 2000," "This is Hardcore" and "Common People."

Pulp's Cocker even gave one audience member a chance to propose to his girlfriend in the first few rows before letting the possible bride-to-be "think about it" and leaping back onstage to perform "Underwear."

Other headlining acts on the San Miguel Stage included Animal Collective, Fleet Foxes, PJ Harvey, The Flaming Lips, Belle and Sebastian and Grinderman, although it’s difficult to characterize any stage at the eclectic Primavera fest as the “main stage,” with each one nestled uniquely along the ocean or underneath a sprawling solar panel. 

Veteran synth punkers Suicide performed their entire 1997 self-titled album to the delight of fans and artists at the Ray Ban stage on Thursday night, while indie darlings The National, Girl Talk, Deerhunter and Warpaint wowed auds at the Llevant Stage (Girl Talk's set didn't start until 4:30AM Friday).

Pitchfork's stage along the Balearic Sea featured several of the site's most-written about indie acts, including L.A. rap outfit Odd Future, pop hearthrob James Blake and Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti Tour.

Co-founded by Alberto Guijarro and Gabi Ruiz, Primavera Sound was attended by more than an estimated 100,000 people this past weekend. The festival, which also is looking to expand to the U.S. sometime in the next few years, is one of the more organized fests you'll ever go to. On Saturday night, fans decked out in FC Barcelona jerseys were able to come and go as they pleased to watch their famous soccer club defeat Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League final. A fitting celebration to a magical weekend, indeed. 

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The Prince camp has identified the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip as the location of his L.A. three shows he's performing tonight — actually make that tonight spilling into tomorrow morning. They're labeled "Music Hall" (doors 7 p.m.; show 8 p.m.); "Jazz Café at the Porch Restaurant" (doors at 10 p.m.; show at 11 p.m.; and a private event in the club's Foundation Room (doors at 12 a.m.; show at 1: am)     

Since tickets went on sale yesterday at noon, and the last time Prince played a small venue, the Troubadour earlier this month, he sold out in less than an hour, it's anybody's guess as to whether tickets are still available. To check, go to Ticketmaster.com and/or LiveNation.com.

Prince continues to fortify his 21-night stand at the Forum with appearances at smaller venues around L.A., where his fans seemingly must be on alert lest the Purple One decides he’s going to play someplace like the Troubadour (he did), frustrating many of them when the tickets sell out faster than they can log onto to Ticketmaster with credit cards at the ready, often with less than a day’s notice.

This time tickets are going on sale for today at noon for three shows at an "intimate" venue tomorrow, May 25. This should drive many followers to distraction who couldn’t get into the Forum shows, and haven’t experienced the thrill of seeing Prince at a smaller club (I have). As the L.A. Times’ Jeff Weiss put it, "Prince is the sort of performer you cancel plans for; he’s the sort of performer you cancel wedding anniversaries for..."

The three performances on Wednesday, at a venue to be determined, are being labeled "Late Night Jam," "Jazz Cafe" and "Private Charity Event" — a testament to Prince’s versatility and a reflection of the breadth of styles he delivered at that Troubadour show May 11.

Those hoping to get their foot in the door must visit Ticketmaster.com or LiveNation.com. You might have better luck buying a lottery ticket...

Sandwiched between a Tuesday-night appearance on ABC’s "Dancing With the Stars" and tonight’s scheduled performance on NBC’s "Tonight Show With Jay Leno," Priscilla Ahn charmed an intimate gathering at the storied Village recording studio in West Los Angeles on Wednesday night in support of her second release on Blue Note, "When You Grow Up."

Possessed with a girlish giggle and an angelic voice, Ahn is cut from a decidedly different cloth from many of today’s vampish up-and-comers — all homespun innocence and emo sensitivity. At one point she complained that the black tea she was drinking had given her "cotton mouth," and was so moved by the beauty of the dancer she accompanied an "Stars" that "she wanted to cry."

That both her low-tech album and live performance rely on good, old-fashioned instrumentation (acoustic guitar, simple drum kit, a mellotron here and an auto harp there) is a tribute to the kind of down-to-earth musicianship that is enjoying a healthy resurgence among her twentysometing peers.

Some of the material on "When You Grow Up," such as the title tune and "Ooh La La," both of which she performed on Wednesday, might be too precious by half, but her pristine, elastic vocals — somewhat reminiscent of the Cowboy Junkies’ Margo Timmins’ whispery purr and Aimee Mann’s unadorned delivery — underscore the value of elocution in conveying a story clearly combined with a dramatic pitch that is at once ethereal and conversational.

One song on the new album, "One Day I Will Do," conveys the everyday longing for love and self-fulfilment that we all share with such heartbreaking beauty that it puts a lump in your throat.