As Bruno Mars' back-up vocalists might sing: "Hot damn!"

Mohegan Sun wanted special, it got special. In ramping up its celebratory offerings in honor of its 20th anniversary, it pulled together a star-spangled slew of shows, but one was more exceptional than most: the Sun nabbed super-luminary Mars to perform his only concert of 2016 right there, in its 10,000-seat arena.

So, happy anniversary, Mohegan Sun! A Mars landing was a fine way to make it memorable.

It was a standout concert Friday, an act of sheer jubilation. Mars is a showman extraordinaire. (No wonder; he's been performing onstage since he was a child, back when he was a pint-sized Elvis imitator.) The charismatic charmer held the crowd's attention with every sliding dance step, with everything vocal nuance, with every look to this or that side of the arena.

And that band! Mars has the most fun-to-watch musicians around. They moved exultantly around the stage with Mars, as if they were his own personal traveling dance party. The camaraderie between Mars and his talented crew was endearing; it was a pleasure to watch as one of them would joke with Mars and cause him to break into his sunbeam smile.

Their part of the concert (the opening act, as it were, consisted of about 45 minutes of a DJ playing tunes) clocked in under an hour and a half; no Springsteenian marathon was this. But Mars and company made it a locomotive of upbeat energy.

Mars started things off where other artists might end it. His first number was the monster chart-topper "Uptown Funk," which he recorded and co-wrote with Mark Ronson and which basically owned radio for a good year after it was released at the end of 2014. I expected "Uptown Funk" to be saved for the encore, but it jumpstarted the night with a jolt of electricity, as the musicians gave it even more muscularity than it had on record.

Now, Mars has been quiet lately (besides that guest gig with Coldplay and Beyonce at the Super Bowl). He's been busy recording a new album, his first since 2012's "Unorthodox Jukebox." He just announced that that album, titled "24K Magic," will drop Nov. 18, and he released the title single and its video on Thursday, one day ahead of his Mohegan Sun gig. He ended the concert with that new tune, and it pops and fizzes and promises to be another hit, although it doesn't boast the kind of instantly infectious hook that so many of his other songs do. (On a staging note, the fireworks booms that punctuated the number at the Sun were overbearing.)

Mars busted out all the fan favorites in concert and presented them with enthusiasm, from "Locked Out of Heaven" to "Treasure." His voice was lithe and potent — angelic or ebullient or heartbreak personified, depending on the lyric. He let the ends of "Just the Way You Are" and "Grenade" spin out a bit, allowing himself room to do some runs and improv.

As for the visuals, the light show was rock-star flashy. The staging was fairly simple. The clothing was casual. Mars (who turned 31 Saturday, the day after his Sun concert) was dressed in shades of black and white — in a sports jersey with the number 86, shorts, Nike sneakers and a Gianni Versace baseball hat, all accented by some gold bling.

Here's the thing: The world would be a better, happier place if Mars just gave all of us Earthlings one concert a week. In the meantime, those at his only 2016 concert can live off the joyful vibe for a while.