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It was a night to do a Midwestern boy's heart good. There was Indianapolis squaring off against Chicago, of course. But in the end--or rather at the half--it was Minneapolis who tore up the field. When CBS announced Prince as the Super Bowl halftime act, I worried it meant that the wizard of Paisley Park had been officially neutered. No such problem. Prince may have been chosen because his nipples didn't pose a danger, but his music still does.
It's true, of course, that Prince relied mainly on familiar '80s picks for his originals--Let's Go Crazy, Purple Rain. But unlike recent geriatric performers (The Stones, Paul McCartney), Prince didn't just show up on stage to collect a gold watch. His set was a raging argument for his place in pop music history, especially when he ripped through covers of Dylan (All Along the Watchtower), Creedence (Proud Mary) and Foo Fighters (The Best of You). And although he stuck to well-known hits, come on--if you have Purple Rain in your arsenal, you're going to use it, and his show-closing performance had an intensity and grandeur that could not be undercut even by having a marching band play along.
Any competent act can play a Super Bowl and show the crowd a good time. Prince transcended the setting by taking it seriously, using his set to remind us of his mastery, playing for himself as much as for us. If that makes him sound arrogant, that's what his performance was, in the best way. It was a proud, transgenerational, irrefutable assertion that he is the once and future Prince.
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1
I too, had questions of how Prince was going to "fit" in with the Superbowl,but to his credit, I felt like I was watching a "true artist" that fully understands what he does best, and boy did he show it !
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2
Yes. Prince was the best choice for the halftime show. He preformed with his usual mastery and showed the world that he is the true "King Of Pop." I am emensly estatic to have been privy to the genious that is Prince. One of, if not the, most dominate preformer in this era. Kudos CBS and Prince.
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3
Are you kidding me? Prince gave one of the worst performances I've ever seen. It looked like he was almost certainly faking playing guitar - the first song had whammy bar moves, and there wasn't even a whammy bar on his guitar at that point! The whole event looked extremely choreographed to me. And he almost certainly would've been electrocuted playing with electronic gear like that in the rain. Also, why did he even agree to play at halftime? Prince declared himself a "slave" in the 80's because of the stipulations in his recording contract - because it put him at risk of doing sideshow-type things, which I would consider the Super Bowl halftime show to be. Maybe artistic credibility and integrity doesn't matter as much to him anymore.
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4
Ben,
Wow. How about you learn how to love life for a change. Try to discover what it's like to enjoy yourself sometime. Find the positive and pleasurable side of things because if you found nothing fun and entertaining at all about the Super Bowl halftime show then you are a serious danger to yourself and others who have to put up with you hating on the good stuff in life. Please, please seek help. -
5
Snore. I was not impressed. How was he playing a bunch of electrical equipment in a rainstorm?
The halftime show is only there because years ago some suit decided going to buy more beer wasn't enough to do while the players took a break. It's over-rated, and it's really unnecessary.
- poniewozik Loved the season. Mrs Tuned In wd have put u on the main list RT @boredtodeath Thank u for incl us in Time's Top 10. We'll take hon mention. - 3 hours ago
- poniewozik @carr2n Virgin is the best, LAX-JFK - 4 hours ago
- poniewozik Did NPR interview abt multiscreen multitasking. After, automatically reached for iPhone in pocket. Like don draper wd have for cigarettes. - 5 hours ago
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