Half time show = This is Spinal Tap archived

Bruce should have just sung instead of trying to be Mick Jagger. That slide was scary.

I miss Up With People.

Hey, anyone who can get me up and dancing gets a thumbs up. I thought he gave some giant winks to the self-consciousness of it all - his last comment - "I'm goin' to Disneyworld." - included.

I'm with you Jeff. When they opened with that silhouette shot where he was holding a guitar he wasn't even going to play in the first song, I sensed trouble.

Posted By: jefflThat slide was scary.

I bet his 'little boys' were screaming...

That had to hurt...

At least his voice didn't change...

Posted By: jefflBruce should have just sung instead of trying to be Mick Jagger. That slide was scary.

Jeff is just PO'ed that Sting didn't get the gig ...

Sting? I thought jeffl wanted Norah Jones for the halftime performance.

By the way, no one will top Up With People's four Super Bowl halftime appearances.

I miss Elvis Presto.

Posted By: hankzona

Sting? I thought jeffl wanted Norah Jones for the halftime performance.

By the way, no one will top Up With People's four Super Bowl halftime appearances.

I miss Elvis Presto.

No, no ... Norah Jones will sing the National Athem after Richie Haven's performance on the pre-game show ... Sadly, Jeff will be watching this all on a 19" tube television, having donated his 42" flat screen job to a good cause ...

you know Soul 29, I heard somewhere that if you position them the right way, your neighbors across the street can even watch what's on those 42" puppies!

Posted By: hankzona

I miss Up With People.

:rolling:

My dream halftime show: Herbie Hancock with Sting, Christina Aguilera, and Aretha. One song a piece. And James Taylor does the national anthem. On my 42" TV. With chicken wings.

Was anyone else laughing at the HTS? I thought it was a riot.

James Taylor??? How about a poetry reading at half instead? Same effect.

Not JT for halftime. Just the national anthem. Will you go for that?

Born To Run and Glory Days....oy vey. Very blase show, I thought. Who was the other woman strumming a guitar alongside Patti Scialfa? Give me the Hawthorne Caballeros. Football needs marching bands, that what I say!!!! Heck, I'd take Fleetwood Mac doing Tusk with the USC band!

(alternate theory: with the length of the SB halftime show, why not just show the new episode of The Office THEN!)

Wasn't that Soozie Tyrell? She's been playing with the band for years already.

I was surprised (but not shocked) to hear Born to Run, but I totally called 10th Avenue Freeze-Out. Would not have expected Bruce to go deep for a Superbowl halftime performance - consider the audience here.

And, I liked the show. Aside from the silly yellow flag maneuver, it was entertaining and pure adrenaline. Not bad for four songs.

Yeah, the slide was a bit much, but otherwise I thought it was terrific and a lot of fun ...

I thought it was a very solid performance and, yes, I think Bruce was winking at the spectacle of it all. Winking all the way to the bank!

I'll also say that I would rank Prince (1), U2 (2) and Tom Petty's (3) recent half-time shows above it ... But making the Top 4 in the last 43 years ain't bad and Springsteen was much better than the Rolling Stones or Paul McCartney ... And don't forget 1997's Blues Brothers Bash! Dan Aykroyd, John Goodman and Jim Belushi, with ZZ Top and James Brown ... James must've needed the dough!

Oh, Jeff, by the way, your boy Sting DID play the Super Bowl in 2003. The show concluded with Gwen Stefani joining Sting for the last verse of "Message in a Bottle" ... Gag me with a spoon.

And James Taylor has sung the National Athem at a couple of sporting events, but, yeah, I'd sign-off on that ...

Posted By: Soul 29And don't forget 1997's Blues Brothers Bash! Dan Aykroyd, John Goodman and Jim Belushi, with ZZ Top and James Brown ...

That is, actually, better off forgotten.

It was a great halftime show, because it started with that huge wink to the television audience. "Put the chicken fingers DOWN!!"

That was a variation on his classic way of dealing with live performances. Early in his career, one of his concerts was being broadcast over a local radio station. During one song, he addressed the radio audience, telling them to "Wake up the neighbors" by opening the windows, going over to the radio, and turning "that motherf*cker up as loud as she'll go". When he did his first "MTV Unplugged" (which turned out to be "plugged"), he did a bit where he addressed the television audience, telling them: "I want you to put the popcorn down, go over to your TV set, turn it up real loud, and the I want you to take ALL your clothes off ...", ending with that same question he asked at the Super Bowl - "But what I want to know, is there anybody alive out there?"

That's a long way of saying that the halftime show might of been the Super Bowl, but it was just another day at a Springsteen concert (even though it was a mini-concert). All the schtick was there - jump on the piano, work the crowd, joke with Steve, pose with the Big Man, and make it a party.

And about the slide - he was doing that last summer, and it's one of those "trademarks" that I guess he had to put in the show. I assume that he didn't get enough practice time with that stage, so he misjudged the distance.

On the other hand, the slide pretty much showed why so many people are fans. There he is, with the biggest audience of his life watching him, and he crashes into the camera guy. He gets up, leans over to grin apologetically at him (and everyone else), and jumps back into the song. Hey, we should all deal with life's "crashes" as well as that.

[Edited to add said "crash"]

Posted By: nohero "But what I want to know, is there anybody alive out there?"

That's actually a line from "Radio Nowhere". :smile:

I loved your post!

Posted By: essThat's actually a line from "Radio Nowhere".

It is a line from the song, but he's been using it in concert for a long time. Guess it finally found its way into a lyric.

Nohero pretty much said it all. That's a Bruce show, compressed into 12 minutes. If you don't love it, you don't love it. But if you're a fan, it's pretty much standard Bruce. The ref bit was a little much, but he's a showman, and every once in awhile he pushes it too far. I recall one of the Vote For Change shows where he trotted out his brother-in-law as a republican who had decided to change his vote. I don't think the audience quite got it that night either.

Damn, now I REALLY want to see his upcoming shows.

Bruce used that line/set-up years ago when I saw him sing "Raise Your Hand"

for people who think the referee schtick was too silly -- does anyone remember guy in the bear suit on the BITUSA tour?

silly schtick is also "standard Bruce"

Schtick is schtick. Either you like it or you don't. Count me in the "don't" category. I thought it was hokey; belong on local access TV.

Posted By: jonsel

Posted By: essThat's actually a line from "Radio Nowhere".

It is a line from the song, but he's been using it in concert for a long time. Guess it finally found its way into a lyric.

Yes - I more aptly should have said, "That line was included in 'Radio Nowhere'". :shamed:

Carry on.

First of all, why was Jeff L listening to Jethro Tull "Thick As A Brick (Edit No 1)" on la la recently ...

Springsteen schtick history ... Some years back, at the Holiday Shows, there'd always be folks dressed up like Santa and reindeers and such ... And there was the BIG HAT for Cadillac Ranch some years back ... On the Tunnel of Love tour there was carnival barkers and stuff ...

But my favorite is, back in the day, Springsteen would have a group of non-musicians playing Monopoly on the stage ... So these guys could tell people they were in a band ... "Q. What do you play? A. Monopoly" ...

Boys and girls: It's only rock 'n' roll ... I'll take wink of the eye schtick over the self-importance of a lot of performers ...

Posted By: Soul 29Boys and girls: It's only rock 'n' roll ... I'll take wink of the eye schtick over the self-importance of a lot of performers ...

Couldn't have been said any better. My feeling remains, however, that "Born To Run" was a boring choice, and I've thought "Glory Days" was a crappy song from the first time I ever heard it (although maybe it was his painfully unathletic pitching motion in the video!). Not like I expect him to do "Mary Queen of Arkansas" for the Super Bowl halftime....I just was very underwhelmed by those two particular choices.

I hope you're not suggesting MQoA is the pinnacle of Springsteen songs...

I myself would have loved a 12 minute Prove It All Night, but I think he played the appropriate songs.

I don't even really like Springsteen (do like Little Steven, though), but I thought it was fun and they put on a good show.

Posted By: jonselI hope you're not suggesting MQoA is the pinnacle of Springsteen songs...

Oh no no no. Not by any means. I just mean that I'm not suggesting he should've pulled out some obscurity from the archives as if this was his own show and not the Super Bowl. I think you're right, he probably did play the appropriate songs for the masses. As an old-school Bruce fan, I myself just got nothing out of his doing BTR and especially GD. 'Tis all. (If, when Bruce was first announced to be doing the Super Bowl halftime, they would've said up front that he definitely plans to do Born to Run and Glory Days, would you have been just as psyched?)

I'm always waiting for Steve to pull off the bandana and have the Sylvio hair (and sneer) on. Now THAT would've been good television!!