-
1 of 10
-
2 of 10
-
3 of 10
-
4 of 10
-
5 of 10
-
6 of 10
-
7 of 10
-
8 of 10
-
9 of 10
-
10 of 10
Super Bowl Halftime: The Arbiter Culture Report
Archive
Comments
Story
Between commercials of abusive flowers (which sounds exactly how it is) and Chester the cheetah being devious (which sounds exactly like it isn’t) we got a glimpse at regularly-aging rocker Bruce Springsteen. While at certain moments the performance reminded one why The Hold Steady might be the most overrated band in America, it also reminded of how out of hand rock concerts can be. We waded through the Scylla and Charybdis of half time for you, bringing you play-by-play coverage of the event.
1) Really-into-it Guy
Not sure, but a bunch of people in the front rows seemed to be wearing similar T-shirts. This guy, a possibly-product-placed bro, knew exactly when to pump his hand in front of the camera.
2) Struggling-to-stay-fresh-in-a-suit Bro
There’s nothing like wearing your latest from The Men’s Wearhouse to a high-energy Bruce Springsteen show. Struggling against the surging crowd behind you while keeping your Windsor knot tight is just a ton of fun.
3) Bruce slams his crotch into America
What really troubled us here was the cameraman; later in the performance, they cut back to him and he seemed to be struggling.
4) Bouncy Gal
Oh, there just happens to be a camera on this buxom young lass.
5) The Saxophone Warlock
Not sure if this is the same guy from the “Dancing in the Dark” music video, but it looks an awful lot like him.
6) Double-broken-wrists Gal
At least she got these sweet pink casts. I hope she doesn’t get knocked over by Really-into-it Guy.
7) Max Weinberg possibly brings along the horn section from Late Night
This can’t be verified at the moment, but we see the trademark baldhead of Mark Pender and hat of LaBamba.
Bruce’s windmill arms
I am worried about his shoulder, though (old joke).
9) Way-too-into Gal
I’m almost afraid to tell her there were forty-two Super Bowls before this one. She did know every word, though.
10) “Lighters” appearing at the same moment as a choir
Not sure if these were trigged on wirelessly at a certain moment, or if the audience was instructed to wave them at a certain moment, but it was as planned as Bruce’s initial guitar toss. We pretty much tuned out by this point.
11) Bruce and Steve “fight”
This was the end of the show for us.
DALE W. EISINGER
Culture Editor