Tom Petty’s half-time show at Superbowl 42 is probably the best I’ve ever seen – maybe the only one I’ve ever liked at all. This is in part because Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are just tremendously talented musicians. It’s also because this is probably the least pretentious half-time show I’ve seen. And Petty is one of the least pretentious musicians out there, as far as I can tell. Video after the leap…
All of this is obviously inspired by Mark’s post on a much worse half-time show from days-gone-by.
Have you forgotten Prince’s recent show? Is there nothing more football than his guitar-as-phallus solo projected upon a billowing sheet? Watch it here – http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/music/watch/v389304XGYhx25k
Seriously, though, the only performances like these that I value are those that tear through the artifice of the whole thing, which are almost uniformly panned as inappropriate. I also loved Nipplegate, Kanye V. Bush, Kanye V. Swift, and various appearances by Bjork and Norm MacDonald. Of course, you can screw this up, too (cf anyone making out at a music awards show, 90s-vintage Drew Barrymore doing anything, etc). Sadly, as things are becoming more digitized/pre-recorded and necessarily more rehearsed (and probably tangled in legal agreements), this rarely happens on a big stage anymore.Report
Zach, props for pointing out Prince’s halftime show. I remember it actually started to rain as “Purple Rain” climaxed with Prince playing that ridiculous guitar behind a billowing sheet. What a freaking spectacle. And what an absolutely awesome performance.Report