# Springsteen and Super Bowl halftime.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-and-super-bowl-halftime/484060
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [February 2, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-and-super-bowl-halftime/484060 "2009-02-02T01:29:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-and-super-bowl-halftime/484060/1 "2009-02-02T01:29:49Z")
What a bunch of total crap. How does this guy get anything?
Shouting into a microphone isn’t singing.
A career built on a drummer that has about 3 variations of nothing else but heavy backbeats??? Pathetic.
Same songs just tweak the lyrics.
A poor imitation of Bob Seger.
If you have to use fireworks to make your music sound good you are shit.
I’ll leave it someone else to write the more eloquent definitive pit of this phony.
To Dante’s hell with Brucie and the Super Bowl halftime.
Bonus: The [Flowers.com](http://Flowers.com) (or whatever it was) commercial was totally disgusting. Anybody that had anything to do with that should be hung on the Capital Mall in prime time.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-and-super-bowl-halftime/484060/2 "2009-02-02T01:37:08Z")
> [@Spartydog](#):
>
> A poor imitation of Bob Seger.
BWA-HA-HA!
Oh, my. That’s the funniest thing I’ve read in quite a long time. You _have_ to extend my compliments to your dealer. That’s some primo shit he sold you.
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### Author:  [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-and-super-bowl-halftime/484060/3 "2009-02-02T01:40:08Z")
While I like his music a lot - an awful lot - if that’s what he’s like in concert, I’m just as glad I’ve passed.
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### Author:  [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-and-super-bowl-halftime/484060/4 "2009-02-02T01:54:48Z")
I haven’t seen Springsteen in concert, but he’s supposed to be one hell of a showman.
The goal of the Super Bowl halftime show is to get a big-name act to keep people tuned in in case the game’s a blowout at the half. The act must stick to material the audience knows, which means that the show is going to be on autopilot.
It sucks, but there it is.
Robin
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### Author:  [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-and-super-bowl-halftime/484060/5 "2009-02-02T02:00:00Z")
Right. Super Bowl Halftime material (specially after Miss Jackson & Mr. Timberlake’s antics) is supposed to be a family-safe mass-market Reader’s Digest version of the chosen performer’s act.
And time does not pass without an effect.
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### Author:  [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-and-super-bowl-halftime/484060/6 "2009-02-02T02:09:04Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> BWA-HA-HA!
>
> Oh, my. That’s the funniest thing I’ve read in quite a long time. You _have_ to extend my compliments to your dealer. That’s some primo shit he sold you.
FYI, Seger was doing his stuff long before anybody heard of, or knew of, Springshit. Not that Seger is such a great musician but for some imitator to rip him off and make a multi-decade career of it (and doing Super Bowl halftime in 2009) is incomprehensible.
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### Author:  [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-and-super-bowl-halftime/484060/7 "2009-02-02T02:12:05Z")
I only saw a bit of the halftime show, but I thought Bruce’s voice was not in good shape at all, and he was pretty much walking through the set.
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### Author:  [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-and-super-bowl-halftime/484060/8 "2009-02-02T02:12:54Z")
> [@Spartydog](#):
>
> FYI, Seger was doing his stuff long before anybody heard of, or knew of, Springshit. Not that Seger is such a great musician but for some imitator to rip him off and make a multi-decade career of it (and doing Super Bowl halftime in 2009) is incomprehensible.
What in the world gives you the idea that Bruce Springsteen is ripping off Bob Seger?
Seriously, what?
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### Author:  [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-and-super-bowl-halftime/484060/9 "2009-02-02T02:39:37Z")
Is it even possible to rip off someone far less talented than yourself?
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### Author:  [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-and-super-bowl-halftime/484060/10 "2009-02-02T02:41:00Z")
> [@Spartydog](#):
>
> FYI, Seger was doing his stuff long before anybody heard of, or knew of, Springshit. Not that Seger is such a great musician but for some imitator to rip him off and make a multi-decade career of it (and doing Super Bowl halftime in 2009) is incomprehensible.
You’re trying to argue that Bob Seger is better than Bruce Springsteen.
You are fucking insane, hth.
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### Author:  [@Xan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xan)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-and-super-bowl-halftime/484060/11 "2009-02-02T02:49:34Z")
> [@Spartydog](#):
>
> Bonus: The [Flowers.com](http://Flowers.com) (or whatever it was) commercial was totally disgusting. Anybody that had anything to do with that should be hung on the Capital Mall in prime time.
disgusting how?
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### Author:  [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-and-super-bowl-halftime/484060/12 "2009-02-02T02:49:56Z")
> [@Spartydog](#):
>
> FYI, Seger was doing his stuff long before anybody heard of, or knew of, Springshit. Not that Seger is such a great musician but for some imitator to rip him off and make a multi-decade career of it (and doing Super Bowl halftime in 2009) is incomprehensible.
These guys started at the same time and broke nationally at the same time. There is a lot of parallelism in their careers. Rag on Springsteen all you want, but the Seger complaint is lame.
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### Author:  [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-and-super-bowl-halftime/484060/13 "2009-02-02T02:57:14Z")
Springsteen’s voice is ragged and rough in concert because 1) he isn’t lip-syncing and 2) he runs around and has a great time (and so does the audience) and 3) he is turning 60.
Maybe there are two kinds of people in the world: Springsteeners and non-Springsteeners. I’m the former.
He has an amazing body of work behind him at this point in his career, and he’s one of the artists I truly admire. He’s someone who I listened to and loved in high school, and spoke to me then, and he’s someone whose music and lyrics speak to me today, looking at the world through middle-aged eyes.
If he’s a little shouty in concert–fuck if I care. He’s The Boss and always will be.
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### Author:  [@The\_Falling\_Reverend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Falling_Reverend)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-and-super-bowl-halftime/484060/14 "2009-02-02T03:02:59Z")
Yeah it may have sucked, and Bruce may have been ripping off more than a few of his stage moves, but the look on his face the split second after he slid into the camera was priceless.
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### Author:  [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-and-super-bowl-halftime/484060/15 "2009-02-02T03:05:16Z")
I think 10th Ave. Freeze-Out was a lame choice. I know it’s a staple of his live shows, but it’s not universally known, and as an opener to an audience not all of whom are going to be fans, it was a bad choice. IMHO, of course.
I’m also tired of the act that goes along with that song. It’s become routine and predictable. The first time you experience it it can be pretty awesome, but the nth time around it starts to get tired.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan, but an abbreviated “best of live” show didn’t hold my interest.
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### Author:  [@Mithril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithril)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-and-super-bowl-halftime/484060/16 "2009-02-02T03:22:50Z")
I watched the halftime show, and it was the first time I have ever seen Springsteen. I thought it was great! Compare to years past, when they had Aerosmith, Britney Spears, and a boy-band du jour working together on ‘Walk This Way’, which Britney Spears had never heard before the rehearsals. Bad, bad, bad.
What do people want? Seriously, what would make a broad cross-section of Americans happy with the halftime show? I realy thought this would be it, but it apparently wasn’t.
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### Author:  [@Amulet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amulet)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-and-super-bowl-halftime/484060/17 "2009-02-02T03:29:10Z")
I could have gone my whole life without his crotch speeding at my face in hi-definition and been OK with it.
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### Author:  [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-and-super-bowl-halftime/484060/18 "2009-02-02T03:29:11Z")
> [@Mithril](#):
>
> What do people want? Seriously, what would make a broad cross-section of Americans happy with the halftime show? I realy thought this would be it, but it apparently wasn’t.
No two Americans are going to agree, so I think they should just say “fuck it” and get Leonard Cohen and the Eels next year, then see how good the players are when they have to play the entire second half mired in suicidal depression.
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### Author:  [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-and-super-bowl-halftime/484060/19 "2009-02-02T03:49:12Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#):
>
> Miss Jackson
You must be nasty. I always call her Janet.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2009, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/springsteen-and-super-bowl-halftime/484060/20 "2009-02-02T03:49:52Z")
> [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](#):
>
> You must be nasty. I always call her Janet.
Funny. I always call him Michael.
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