Bruce Springsteen's Super Bowl XLIII halftime show

[brewcrewreview]

So what did everyone think about the Springsteen halftime show? I'm not a huge Springsteen fan, but I thought it was one of the best Halftime shows I can remember. It was a little hokey at times, but that is part of a live Springsteen performance. In fact, I liked the show so much that I switched my avatar.

[Gobias Industries]

Nice avatar.

 

Definitely the best since U2. Tom Petty was about as lifeless as you could get last year, so I think that made it seem much better as well. For a 12 minute concert, it was very entertaining.

[Godspeed]

I watched the interview Springsteen did with Bob Costas prior to the game. He was either extremely nervous or extremely insane, either way it was bizarre.

 

I'm not a huge Springsteen fan so I found all the fanfare to be a bit contrived, but I prefer him immensely over the Britney Spears/N-Sync/Aerosmith crap-collage or Janet Jackson w/ Justin Timberlake shows or the semi-recent past. (Not sure why the NFL thought that the average people who watch football would give a crap about those acts.)

 

With that in mind, it was a solid choice and a solid performance, but I'd much rather see a good old fashioned marching band be given the airtime. There would probably be less damage done to the field if that were the case and infinitely less cliched pyrotechnics.

 

EDIT: spelling

[davego]

I'm bias. Been a fan for about 25-30 years. It was neat to see him and the energy the show had. About another hour would have been great.

[fstorm1]

Thought it was very good, albeit not as good as U2 many years ago. And that avatars is coolness. Funniest thing I saw all night, including the commercials.

[OglivieHomePerm]

We switched the television to split screen during halftime and played Wii until the game started back up...so we had the sound off the halftime show. Personally, I wish that halftime for the Super Bowl was 12 minutes long....just like during the regular season.

[JoeHova]

I'm not a huge Springsteen fan so I found all the fanfare to be a bit contrived, but I prefer him immensely over the Britney Spears/N-Sync/Aerosmith crap-collage or Janet Jackson w/ Justin Timberlake shows or the semi-recent past. (Not sure why the NFL thought that the average people who watch football would give a crap about those acts.)

 

Aerosmith: 67 million albums sold in the US

N-Sync: 32 million albums in the US

Britney Spears: 31 million albums sold in the US

Janet Jackson: 26 million albums sold in the US

Justin Timberlake: 7 million albums sold in the US

 

Those acts might all suck, but their lack of appeal to "average people" isn't the reason.

[Godspeed]

Aerosmith: 67 million albums sold in the US

N-Sync: 32 million albums in the US

Britney Spears: 31 million albums sold in the US

Janet Jackson: 26 million albums sold in the US

Justin Timberlake: 7 million albums sold in the US

 

Those acts might all suck, but their lack of appeal to "average people" isn't the reason.

I was referring to the average football fan, hence the clumsily-stated reference to "average people who watch football".

 

Do you really think said group really gives a crap about N-Sync, Britney Spears, and Janet Jackson (and an over-the-hill Aerosmith for anything other than pure nostalgia purposes)? I don't think teenage girls were the right demographic the NFL should have been targeting.

[hawing]

My dumb question about Super Bowl halftime shows has always been this: Who do they get to populate the "concert crowd" (people going nuts in front of the stage) at these events? Are they hired revelers? I'm guessing they don't also have tickets to the football game.

 

That's just always bugged me, slightly - but just once a year, when I see the Super Bowl halftime show.

[Bikeage77]

This is what I found, don't know if this includes the crowd as well, or just the stage crew, or if you do crew, then watch, then do crew again? How about ON THE FIELD at Raymond James Stadium for the Super Bowl XLIII Pregame and Halftime shows?? We are looking for approximately 600 men and women to be a part of our Pregame and Halftime Stage Crews for the massive production. The crews will assist in moving on to the field and assembling the modular rolling units that make up the stages and lighting rigs for the show. No previous staging experience or special skills are necessary. Just the desire to be a part of Super Bowl and Tampa HISTORY!

 

Also, Springsteen rocked. My friend who's a big Boss fan was going nuts, it was a pretty enjoyable time. The little schtick Steve and Bruce had about goin into overtime, I bought it. I thought they'd close with Dancing In The Dark. Great time.

[Beerambassador]

The Boss has always laid the cheese on thick. Just watch any concert video of his. But he's a pro and still one of the best in the business. He's slowed down a little, but he still puts on a great show and is still recording some great material. Great choice.

[1992casey]

I'm not a huge Springsteen fan so I found all the fanfare to be a bit contrived...

 

I could have done without the silly hyperactive emcee who spent about a minute introducing him.

[Invader3K]

It was a pretty good performance. I thought the audio mix could have been a bit more "aggressive", but it was light years better than that horrible Rolling Stones one a couple years back.

[bjkrautk]

Yet another example that SB marketers continue to target the halftime show at someone 20-30 years older than I am.

Generally tolerant of his music, but the political edge to his recent public appearances left me disinterested; I started to watch the game while it was in progress (thank you, TiVo), and got caught up by skipping most of the halftime show.

 

I commented in the LL.net in-game thread about the added level of irony of a guy singing "glory days" at the biggest event of the sporting world, considering he was already past his when the song was recorded about 20 years ago.

 

Didn't watch the VH1 pre-game concert either (Rhianna, Fall Out Boy, etc.) but that seemed more like a show that I would have made a point to watch rather than just skip over.

[thebruce44]

Me and my friends all went to get food at halftime since none of us can stand Springsteen. We are all 27-29. I thought I would be the only one who hates him (it is seriously like nails on a chalkboard to me) but oddly enough it was a collective opinion.

[Team Canada]

Maybe it's just cuz we're not fans, but our party was pretty "meh" about it. Then again I wasn't sure where everyone who thought Prince was the best show ever was coming from either, so who knows.

 

It's probably safe to say that if you're a fan, you're going to think it was awesome, otherwise 12 min. of someone you don't really care about isn't going to leave that much of an impression.

[JoeHova]

Is there anybody they could have picked that would appeal to everybody? I doubt it, music is so subjective that nobody feels the same way about various acts. No matter who they pick, a bunch of people will complain, so why be so harsh about their choice? It's just a halftime show. The bigger question is whether doing a Super Bowl halftime show makes you a sell-out. I tend to think "yes", but I could be convinced otherwise. Also, most guys have sold out so many times that once more doesn't make any difference.

[nate82]

It was a rather dull half time show.

[trwi7]

Big Springsteen fan, so I loved it. Glory Days to finish it off was great.

[danzig6767]

It was a rather dull half time show.

Aren't they all, even when a random boob flops out?

 

Besides that, i've never really understood the huge popularity of the music Springsteen has made. To each their own i guess.

[blatzlight]

Thought it was the best halftime show I have ever seen. Bruce seemed a little rushed but it was a good tune up for May 12th in Chicago.

 

Edit: As a side note, I would like to state I am 29. I never understood the argument the Bruce is "old people music". If you go to his shows there is a very large group of 20 and 30 somethings and a lot of kids too.

[Invader3K]

Depends which Springsteen you're talking about. He has a pretty vast body of work at this point in his career.

[Patrick425]

I'm not a huge Springsteen fan, but I enjoy his music and thought it was one of the better SB half time shows. If you were between the ages of 15 and 35 during the late 70's and into the 80's it was very hard not to like his music and stage presence. It also helped if you were a male. For whatever reason females never seemed to like him as much. I had friends in high school and college who just thought we was the greatest thing to ever happen to music.

I definitely prefer his earlier music. He's a bit to folksy for me now.

edit: Ever notice (my best Andy Rooney impersonation) when some one says "I'm not a huge 'fill in the blank' fan" or "I'm not a huge fan of 'fill in the blank'", it sounds like they hate 'fill in the blank'. All they have stated is that they are not a HUGE fan. That doesn't mean they are not a fan.

[Beerambassador]

Jon Stewart said "Do you like joy? Bliss? Go see Bruce Springsteen."

 

That pretty much nails it.

[Teatoe993]

Next to seeing the Who, Springsteen has put on the best arena show I have ever seen. But seriously, what does one expect from him when he has 12 minutes to work with performing in front of hired fans? The sound mix is terrible, and you gotta cut your hits to 1 verse and 1 chorus. It's a total circus and he has to try to please 90,000,000 people watching. The majority of them who barely know who he is, let alone know his music. Think about the last few years of performers, Petty, Prince, Stones, McCartney, etc. These are all legends. And even their performances were mediocre at best. Some say U2s performance was great. But take into consideration, that U2 had 9/11 on their side. Take away 9/11 and their set would have been as much a circus as the rest. I promise you that we'll see the exact same whining about next years performance.