At an R. Kelly concert, one would almost be disappointed if nothing deeply weird happened. And he lived up to his reputation Thanksgiving night at the Prudential Center in Newark. He saved his biggest head-scratchers for late in the evening.

First, there was a long video segment devoted to footage of him playing pranks on sleeping members of his road crew.

Then he re-emerged, resplendent in an all-white suit. He released two white birds, which flew around the arena, then mimicked the moves of a classical conductor as a tape of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony played, lights flashed, and fireworks went off in time with the music.

Then came the grand finale. Kelly sang his hits “Step In the Name of Love” and “Happy People” as their dance beats and mirror balls, spinning overhead, turned the arena into a giant disco. Female fans danced onstage, and confetti fell. Inexplicably, he inserted the theme song to the ’70s TV show, “Welcome Back, Kotter,” into “Happy People.”

Kelly, 40, has the résumé as well as the vocal chops to justify the title he used to describe himself in the song, “I’m a Flirt”: “The King of R&B.”