Bruce Springsteen to perform at halftime of Super Bowl XLII

Cafe Society
1

Yeah, it should probably read Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, but there isn’t enough room in the title box.

Springsteen, Max, Little Steven, Nils, Patti, The Big Man and the rest of the gang will be performing during halftime of the 2008 Super Bowl which will be played in February in Scottsdale, Arizona.

According to NFL officials it came down to either Springsteen or Nora Jones.

Now, yes, Jones is popular, as her first album has sold more then 10,000,000 in the US alone, but she doesn’t have near the sales or overall prescance on the music scene that Springsteen carries.

Plus, her low key act really doesn’t work well with the current incarnation of the halftime show with all of it’s bright shiny noises etc. She’d work better doing a pre-game performance, maybe even the National Anthem.

Sadly, as is usually the case these days, there are the usual bunch of so-called “fans” who are screaming that by playing the halftime show Springsteen is selling out. :dubious:

'Course these are some of the same fans who called The Boss a sellout when he went from playing 200 seat clubs to 10,000 seat arenas and then they called him a sellout when he started playing 50-100,000 seat outdoor stadiums.

Personally I think Springsteen and the Super Bowl are the perfect match and he’ll put on the best halftime show since McCartney rocked Super Bowl XXXIX down in Jacksonville.

Oh yeah, while it seems that some NFL fans have been asking/pleading for a rap act to perform at halftime of the Super Bowl, league officials have said privately that they don’t see that happening for at least 10 years, the only possible exception being Will Smith and he’s much more interested in his film career then his music one. League officials don’t like and are uncomfortable with the violent and mysogynistic lyrics that dominate the current rap scene as well as the ever present use of what one league official calls, “That word.”

Thoughts, opinions?

2

How will he do five encores?

3

I can see it now- he’ll play “Glory Days,” which will be greeted with huge cheers, and will become the theme song of the winning team!

(Even though the whole point of the song is that our days as athletic heroes are fleeting, and before long we’ll all be boring old farts with nothing but pathetic memories of past glory!)

4

He can then follow it with “Born in the USA” !

5

What?

Bruce?

I am not sure how I feel about this.

6

Well, in my opinion, “Born to Run” is required at that performance :stuck_out_tongue:

So is “Part man, part monkey!” - runs

7

Christ, here we go, one of the so-called “fans” I mentioned in my OP.

What possible problem can you have with this? Are you seriously upset/enraged that Springsteen might be overexposed by this?

Sorry, but that boat sailed over 20 years ago, when Springsteen put out Born In The USA and started playing football stadiums for crowds of 50-125,000.

The only possible way that this could be seen as a sellout move by Springsteen is if he happened to release a new CD around that time, and in this day and age, to call that sort of thing selling out is laughable, it’s simply the way business is done in the entertainment industry. And I can’t really think of any new market that might be opened to Springsteen by playing the halftime show, except maybe the Chinese market, which he has never toured in.

8

The Super Bowl will be in Glendale, Arizona, not Scottsdale.

9

Eh, I knew it was one of the dale’s. :stuck_out_tongue: :smiley:

10

I think it sounds great…I also wonder “Norah Jones”…??? Hey, I like her, but at the SB??? :confused:

11

Nope. I merely said I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. A distinct *lack *of ranting was involved.

12

Well, it seems unlikely that there will be a wardrobe malfunction or phallic shadowplay at THIS halftime show, anyway…

13

Hell, it was my class song! I voted for it 'cause it was The Boss.

14

Well, I can certainly see her performing the National Anthem or giving one of the endless number of pre-game musical performances, but she just doesn’t have the “umph” to pull off the halftime show.

These days you either need The Hottest Act Of The Moment which is why you had Aerosmith/NSYNC/Britney Spears back in 2001 and Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake in 2004 or you get one of the All-Time greats, which gives you U2 in 2002, Paul McCartney in 2005, The Rolling Stones in 2006 and Prince this past February.

Looking back at what I’ve just written, Janet Jackson does seem a bit puzzling as she was on the downside of her career at that point, but IIRC, she had either just released a new album or had a new album coming out very soon, so the halftime show was supposed to be her big promo push. Instead it pretty much managed to kill her entire career.

As I said in my OP, I think this is a great choice and Springsteen will bring it as he does every night on tour.

15

In my opinion, if you don’t ‘get’ why some fans would be uneasy, you don’t get Bruce. I expect he’s uneasy about it himself. Since you referenced the popularity of BIUSA, do you happen to know the story behind Dancin’ in the Dark? Or have you heard the original version of the title track? This is not a man who is very comfortable with the establishment. And many fans have been devastated when he has compromised himself, because there’s a strong emotional connection there. (note: I’m not saying “upset/enraged”)

16

This just made me think of one of my favorite Lewis Black skits…something along the lines of “they shouldn’t even be in the same STATE, let alone show”, then something about tits, ass, tits, tits, tits, then sticking a pencil in his ear…love that guy.

17

Merry Christmas BABY!

No? Then how about Pink Cadillac?

18

Springsteen not very comfortable with the establishment?

Give me a fuc*ing break.

He’s been part of the establishment since he first signed with Columbia Records over 35 years ago.

Go and read Dave Marsh’s new book on Springsteen’s touring career, 'cause you obviously have no clue about the man.

Springsteen himself made peace with this terrifying establishment, whatever the hell that is, long ago. And as for Dancing In The Dark, what of it? Springsteen speaks quite fondly of it in the liner notes to his Greatest Hits album, in which he is thrilled to have a passle of Catholic School girls run up to him squealing with excitement and how he has achieved teen idol status at age 35 and how much he enjoyed it, and how he was only upset that Prince had prevented him from going to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
And yes I know all about how Springsteen reworks many of his songs. I saw both the Tom Joad and devils tour, plus I saw the Charlie Rose show where he "radically re-worked " Born In The USA and I have the Chimes Of Freedom EP with the acoustic version of Born To Run on it. What’s your point?

Please enlighten me as to how Springsteen has compromised himself? By moving from playing 200 seat clubs to 10,000 seat arenas when his fan base expanded? By playing 50-100,000+ seat stadiums when his fanbase expanded even more?

Springsteen didn’t do that because of the added money involved, he did it because there was no way that he could possibly play to everyone who wanted to see him if he had kept playing 200 seat clubs, unless he did something like 5 shows a day. And since Springsteen’s gigs average around 2 1/2 hours long, he’d be playing more then 12 hours a day, which would kill him.

Did Springsteen really want to play 50-100,000 seat football/baseball stadiums? According to Marsh’s new book, no. He was not keen on the idea at all, but it was more about his being able to give a performance which would reach and connect with the person sitting in the very last row of the stadium then anything else. That and keeping ticket prices to a sane level, and he wanted like any true artist, to expose as many people as possible to his art.

19

This is going to be pointless to argue further. I don’t think either of us is going to persuade the other. I’ll remain uneasy, and you can remain pissed off that I’m uneasy.

I agree with you that he will put on a terrific show. No need for either of us to psychologize about the cause or effect.

20

Just keep Justin Timberlake away from yanking at his shirt & all will be well…

(Oh - and no shadows of his guitar, either)…