Too little, too soon. Nearly three years after her last live performance, Britney Spears returned to the stage at the prestigious House of Blues in San Diego. The former entertainer was the lead girl in a group of Pussycat Dolls wannabes billing themselves as “the M&Ms,” who provided a little visual distraction as Brit gamely lip-synched her way through a three-song set that didn’t quite reach the 15-minute mark. The brief set, which started more than two hours late, drew a mixed reaction from fans, some of whom paid up to $500.00 for their tickets. And let’s face it: just being a Britney Spears fan at this point carries a pretty heavy social price tag all its own. However, “sources” still say there’ll be two more shows at other House of Blues locations, or possibly Applebee’s. So get your tickets now, y’all.

You can see lots more pics of the event at Just Jared, and TMZ has a video of Brit and her back-up sluts giving a lap dance to some guy from the audience who clearly feels like his ticket was well worth the price. However, the video is maybe a minute long, and right now demand for the thing is so heavy that you might find yourself waiting for slightly longer than a whole Britney Spears performance just to see it.

Question from phineas g.: why the hell is her band called “The M&M’s”? Wouldn’t the Cheeto’s have been much more fitting junk food for her to name a band after?