Review: Super Bowl XL Music

Okay, I know the Super Bowl isn’t about the music. It’s about the commercials. But so much fanfare surrounded the pre-game and halftime musical “events” at Super Bowl XL, it seems only fitting to take a look at whether they lived up to their billing.

In order of pre-game hype:

Halftime Show
Rolling Stones
“Start Me Up”
“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
“Rough Justice”

The kindest word I can think of is lackluster. Or ho-hum. Or what. As in, “What exactly is the purpose of a bunch of people in a tongue-shaped mosh pit waving their hands in the air like so many marionettes suddenly abandoned during a wind storm?” Yes, it was a clever use of the Stones' trademark tongue, but an unnecessary one nonetheless.

I realize that there is a limit to the number and complexity of special effects and pyrotechnics that can be deployed when there is less than 15 minutes in which to stage the entire set, but I just don’t see why it was deemed necessary to manufacture a crowd beyond the 68,000 or so already in the stands.

The opening song in the set, “Start Me Up,” didn’t. It would be reasonable to expect a mechanical rendition of a song the Stones have performed thousands of times, and in that regard, this performance did not disappoint. It wasn’t so much how they sounded, which was passable, as it was how they looked, which was reminiscent of those old monkeys-playing-cymbals windup toys. The performance wasn’t aided by the fact that it took about half the song to fix the audio mix that had vocals too hot in relation to instruments. Did somebody sleep through sound check?

It’s curious that the NFL censors felt it necessary to utilize their five-second delay feature to cut what they deemed offending words from “Rough Justice” and “Start Me Up.” Aren’t these the same people who approved the set list to begin with?

That Mick Jagger keeps himself in excellent physical condition was evident from his agility at moving around the stage, something that doesn’t seem to have diminished at all over the past 40 years.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, take ‘em or leave ‘em, you still have to respect this band’s ability to endure, and to continue amassing new generations of fans. I fully expect to see them performing at Super Bowl L.

National Anthem
Aretha Franklin
Aaron Neville
Dr. John
150 unidentified people in choir robes

When it was announced that Aretha Franklin and Aaron Neville would sing the national anthem, I just assumed that meant they would be singing together. As it turned out, what we got was two completely unrelated solo performances that just happened to be on the same stage.

Neville’s solo, which was tentative at best, came first. When he finished, Aretha took over, accompanied for the last line or so by the anonymous choir. I really like Aaron Neville, and I was sorry that his performance wasn’t as strong as I know it could have been. Aretha gave me goose bumps. Her performance made it clear that this lady is still THE QUEEN!

Pre-Game Show
Medley of Stevie Wonder’s hits
Stevie Wonder
India.Arie
Joss Stone
John Legend

This had the potential to be at least as good as the halftime show, but it was way overdone. There were too many people on the stage, too many microphone malfunctions, too many rushed snippets of too many songs, and downright tacky interludes like brightly costumed dancers pretending to fight one another during what is perhaps Wonder’s darkest-themed social commentary, “Livin’ for the City.”

Okay, so none of the musical performances at Super Bowl XL lived up to their billing, but that’s okay. The streaking sheep and the office chimps and jackasses made up for it.

(Photo credits: Rolling Stones © 2003 PhotoFlashbacks - The Doug Hartley Collection; Aretha Franklin courtesy Atlantic Records; Stevie Wonder courtesy PR Newswire Photo Service/Black Entertainment Television)