Music Super Bowl

Did anyone watch the halftime show?

What did Bruce play?

didn't watch that - don't like springsteen - but j hud's national anthem was wonderful.

Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, Born to Run, Working On A Dream, Glory Days (with cornball sports reference swap)

I'm not a huge Springsteen fan but I actually got chills during Born to Run

Thanks for the info. I hope I can catch it online tomorrow.

I'm not a huge Springsteen fan but I actually got chills during Born to Run.

I am a huge Springsteen fan, but I kept thinking there had to be much more inspired choices for the halftime show.

I was still bummed by that final play before halftime, tho; maybe it just soured my worldview.

"i hate the NFL"

o_0

My 9th grade son wants to know if they will ever have a performer under 50 doing the halftime show again.

the halftime show is in the gutter imo

Is that good or bad? What are you expecting or what did it once offer?Didn't they just have marching bands way back when, like at college games? Prince was good.

i mean yeah but you think about it, they get great performers (janet, prince, bruce), but they're all at least 20 years past their primes. their audience is old dudes, and the game itself isnt exactly desperately reaching for relevancy; it's like the most watched event in the world. expect more of the same i guess

xp

i am kidding btw

I am a huge Springsteen fan, but I kept thinking there had to be much more inspired choices for the halftime show.

otm

im white btw

Washington state (Olympia and Seattle -- enough said)?

lol

lol remember this

http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/img/daily/582/britney_l.jpg

RIP

I'm not a huge Springsteen fan but I actually got chills during Born to Run

?????

i know right!

like i've heard it 10 billion times and i kinda hate it a little

but that shit about "the highway's littered with broken heroes" always does it to me

Clarence Clemens looked exactly like the legend he is.

death trappin a hoos

When I finally saw Springsteen a few years ago, not only did they shine the stage lights bright white out over the crowd when they played Born to Run, but turned on the house lights in the arena too. It was a big dance party for five minutes.

could he be any cornier? he reminds me of Billy Mays hawking Clean Shower

haterz

could he be any cornier? he reminds me of Billy Mays hawking Clean Shower

― smurfherder, Monday, February 2, 2009 5:48 AM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

yes he could. perhaps if you tune in next year they will have a less corny performer or perhaps a more corny performer during the SUPER BOWL HALF TIME SHOW

i'm just saying, he really played to the crowd and even weirder the camera. i mean, c'mon. he was more carnival barker than rocker. it felt embarrassing. i remember fans explaining to me how the Boss was so much better than his imitators like Meat Loaf because Bruce knew where to draw the line. I think he's crossed that line many times...why isn't Neil Diamond in the Hall of Fame? Because he's considered too "show biz"? What I just saw tonight looked like something from a Disney movie...I know, I know, it's the superbowl...but at least Jagger tried to make a dead man come....

STARTING with "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" ?? FUCK YES.

I know it's a dream but wouldn't it have been amazing if he'd come out and done "My Hometown," "Lost in the Flood" and "Roulette"? Or "Atlantic City," "Murder Inc" and "Walk Like A Man."

Born to Run was the best of the lot...but Glory Days, man....

10th Ave could be a great tune but not with that rhythm section..

I know it's a dream but wouldn't it have been amazing if he'd come out and done "My Hometown," "Lost in the Flood" and "Roulette"? Or "Atlantic City," "Murder Inc" and "Walk Like A Man."
That would have been awful!

man, I dunno Smurfherder, you are holding the dude to a seriously tough standard. not sure how many halftimes you've watched but this is typically how it goes. Fact that the dude busted out "10th Ave" to START, is actually kind of wild -- dude is only allowed like 12 minutes. Sent chills up my spine anyway, you are free to kvetch...

i will say if he had done atlantic city i would have lost my shit

i'm not really into the boss and i liked it. i like glory days is that the sellout tune or something? good energetic entertainment. between this and esp. prince's set i think we've been treated to our share of best case scenarios for halftime shows.

those songs are all great but don't have the super bowl halftime bombast. I was hoping for badlands, hungry heart, dancing in the dark or an obama-themed born in the usa.

nah the "sellout tune" was dancing in the dark i believe

xp um ok apparently "born to run" does not have super bowl bombast will take note

the "Obama" moment was when Dan Rooney first thanked "President Obama", which was just.... unprecedented, unbelievable, never-seen-anything-like-it, etc.......

um was referring to the "My Hometown," "Lost in the Flood" suggestions

xp - yeah, & "Glory Days" is lacking a certain "oomph" quality..

o ok nevermind sorry

I guess my problem is that it's like the entire Bruce experience is so extreme that it's bi-polar. I'm incredibly moved by certain songs and horrified by others. I can't reconcile it. It's like "The River" or nearly the entire "Tunnel of Love" album obsesses me and then there's this other stuff where it's like the guy's filter is shut off and he's hamming it up like he's Henny Youngman or something...it's like watching Bono try and crack a joke. The intention is there and he has a sense of humor but he has an aura of pomposity that makes it hard to really laugh...I guess you can't win playing the superbowl,but that schtick with the ref and the sliding into the camera was just so over the top...

as for Glory Days, that riff's just always sounded like nails on a chalkboard to me... but that always seems to be the way. Start Me Up is the one tune that everyone knows, but one of the last I would choose to represent the Stones and yet I understand why they do it, I just wish they wouldn't.

I like the new album because it presents Bruce's lighter side without losing his intensity...though the title track is too solemn for me. But Kingdom of Days and Surprise, Surprise struck a nice balance....

I've been trying to convert friends to Bruce for years and they just see him as this Fred Flinstone character and tonight did NOTHING to help me convince them otherwise. I'll have to lock them in a room with Darkness and Nebraska and TOL and work from there...

I just find it weird that there are a lot of Springsteen fans who don't NOTICE when he's being that corny. What other rocker can come off like someone's dad trying to prove he's still got it? It'd be like Lou Reed coming out and asking us all to hold hands or something...it'd be funny but you'd be looking at your friends wondering if you'd stepped into the twilight zone...

ok maybe I'm insane...to each their own, but my girlfriend did say he looked like his next stop would be QVC to hawk more copies of the new album...

and come on, how great would it be for Bruce to force an entire stadium to slow down and listen to My Hometown? With these economic times? Only thing better would be if he decided to tribute Nick Drake and perform side one of Pink Moon. Everyone would've made a mad dash for the bathroom and the network would've been even more depressed....

he's a showman and he gives the peoples what they want...which is the "boss" shtick. he is (imo) pretty clearly aware of the difference between being an artist and being a showman and being a normal person and he seems to know when to do what. he isn't gonna refer to himself in third person as 'the boss' when he's not on stage.

I just find it weird that there are a lot of Springsteen fans who don't NOTICE when he's being that corny

it's just...who cares. the tunes are good, he's having a good time, everyone seemed to be happy but you. i appreciate you putting a whole lot of thought into this but you're really overthinking things here. he didnt sign up to play the super bowl to make a statement or impress a dude on ILM; he did it because he's the most famous musician in the world and a lot of people, fans and critics alike, like his music and he wanted to put on a good show.

totally valid to talk shit about the boss, he's far from unassailable

k3vin, as usual, OTM (Philadelphia breeds good people :P). Bruce is a huge showman, and I imagine a century ago he'd be touring around small towns selling his shtick on stage. A friend of mine did a paper on CSNY (I think?) and Medicine Man shows, and I think Springsteen definitely fits that paradigm. When I've seen him live, I'm just been thrilled by his energy and his stories and his excitement which was totally contagious. So I wasn't disappointed tonight, and he honestly looked like he was having a great time. And also, my living room full of eastcoasters sang along at the time of our lungs to Tenth Avenue Freeze Out.

yeah i was expecting something more portentous or god forbid political and got a refreshing blast of energy and good tunes and ham. i'm good, can't please everybody.

fair enough. Lots of people love Andrew Lloyd and I don't get him either. So, sure. I wouldn't say everyone was happy but me. I know a couple of hardcore Springsteen fans who just shake their head at this kind of thing. I'm sure there are others.

I look at this as kicking around the football. But I am surprised to hear you say you think he didn't sign up to impress a dude on ILM. Don't you think he should? I don't want to come off as too self-important here, but I know if I was sitting there trying to decide on my next career move, I'd be VERY concerned with this board's approval. I'd run a poll and stick to it. And I think that's something that ALL ILMers can get behind...If we don't believe in ourselves, who will?

And to suggest I'm overthinking things? That's sadly only the tip of it. As you see, I can also overwrite as well...sorry!

dude never trust an ILM poll

wouldn't that just result in him doing a cover of faust arp?

and what would be wrong about a cover of Faust Arp? I thought we were here to save America and its music.

i always trust what I read on the internet. now would anyone like to buy my condo in Florida?

no florida sucks

well, let's take a poll on that first, sir and let the people decide.

He should have showed his tit

Steve should've taken off his headwrap!

and they should've done Kumbaya!

Early on, he was laying on the ground with the mic stand between his legs. Prince caught flack for making boner moves, we'll see if racism about phallic symbolism is afoot.

Springsteen was embarrassing to watch. My friend and I were discussing what the UK equivalent of Bruce would be and we were leaning towards the concept of Billy Bragg meets some sort of Britpop nationalistic hysteria rammed to eleven. It seems as long as you vote for Obama you can spend the rest of your time making millions pretending to be righteous for hanging with the Joe the Plumbers of the world.

yeah that definitely sounds like what springsteen does with his free time

When McCain writes a campaign around "Joe the Plumber" we laugh, when Bruce writes a bathetic album for/about him we cry.

so should the american lower class just be off-limits for songwriters?

I got a job working plumbing for the imaginary Company
But lately there ain't been much work on account of I ain't got no license.
Now if I made 250 thousand
They'd probably make me pay taxes.
Now I just act like I don't remember
I ain't paid my child support checks.

*sax solo*

1) It was the Super Bowl. Bummer-Bruce was benched.
2) He was totally hyper-aware of the corn. Catch the rim-shot and grin when he altered the words to "Glory Days" to be about football. But the corn was heightened by the lack of Bummer-Bruce.
3) Corn has always been a part of what he's done. It's a throwback to the rock and soul revues he grew up loving (I was hoping for an airing of the "Detroit Medley" last night, though I actually got the other three plus a new one line-up right!).
4) Springsteen is 59, flexible, and having fun. In the New York Times, he claims to feel no different on stage than he did in 1985.

It was fun, and rock and roll is rarely fun these days. Just look at the P&J winners — some great music but not much of it makes me smile. Sure it was corn ball, but it fit.
And seriously, who the hell wants to hear "Atlantic City" in front of the boob tube over nachos?

just watched this and it was awesome. super cheesy, cartoonesque but sentimental and fun. I don't think a Super Bowl deserves anything else. :)

Josh you predicted 10th Ave? (also, we need to hang out again sometime (this is rob) also are you going to the UC show? i am seriously considering it now, even though he recent stuff seems to blow)

Yeah, proud to say I totally called it (esp. once I heard there'd be horns). I dunno about the UC show, though. He always seems off in Chicago (yet great in Milwaukee!), though I rarely pass up a chance to catch him. Last summer in Milwaukee for the Harley fest was probably the best I'd seen him and the band.

i totally predicted the corny sport lyric swap on "glory days!" except i predicted it would go:

i had a friend he was a big football plyer
back in high school
he could throw a perfect spiral
make you look like a fool boy

close!

Halftime show sucked....

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