For people who gambled hundreds of dollars hoping that a series of area House of Blues concerts for mystery act The M+Ms would actually feature Britney Spears's triumphant return to live performance—some good news, and some bad. First the good: As San Diegans in attendance can attest, it was indeed the troubled pop star who had taken to the stage a mere two hours late (despite the best efforts of a speeding tour bus driver), where, accompanied by a quartet of background-dancing skankettes, she gyrated to familiar hits with a shapely figure that bore only a fleshy hint of her recently acquired rehab fifteen. Now the bad news:

Her entire set lasted a mere 14 minutes and consisted only of past hits, nothing new. [...]

"She left us wanting more," added...Christie Fritchel, 29 and also a hairstylist. "It was a great comeback."

We suppose that after patiently waiting hours for an audience with the object of their unwavering affections, wanting more than just 14 minutes of face time with the singer would be a natural response—something to which both of her young children would surely attest if they were old enough to voice such concerns. Perhaps it's not the length of the performance that Craigslist-combing ticket-seekers for tomorrow night's "secret" show on the Sunset Strip are concerned about, however, or even the tonal quality of the piped-in vocals, or precision of the group-lapdance choreography. Rather, we suspect this has more to do with having a front row to history, and being able to tell future generations "I was there when" the derailed pop princess—seen here, modestly covered by indigenous flora, seeming at once both happy and at peace—took her first baby steps back to the top of the charts.

• Britney back onstage, but is she back on track? [USAToday.com]