Super Bowl Sunday has come and gone which means there is another halftime performance for the pop-culture obsessed masses on the Internet to critique. This year’s entertianment was Madonna and say what you will about the NFL’s decision to have the Material Girl perform at halftime of the biggest game in the world, there’s no denying it was an impressive spectacle filled with not only Madonna’s hits but also some amazingly high production values that helped it live up to the hype.
But despite the set’s success there was plenty of post-performance criticism of Madge’s show. Some argued Madonna was too old to appeal to the Super Bowl crowd (an excellent appeal to that argument can be found here) and others complained about the use of backing vocals but overall it was one of the best and flashiest halftime shows in recent memory.
However, it did have one major flaw and that was of course MIA flipping off 152 million viewers on live television. Since the NFL isn’t a fan of supporting controversy on national TV it is likely that the NFL will be searching for something a bit more conservative and traditional for Super Bowl XLVII’s halftime entertainment. So who could fit the bill for next year’s Super Bowl entertainment?
Pearl Jam.
That’s right, Pearl Jam. The notoriously anti-corporate group of grungers who recently celebrated 20 years together as a band.
They’re a band that has scoffed at selling out and playing the halftime show would more or less be the biggest corporate statement the band has ever made. So would Pearl Jam even consider taking the NFL’s call?
Well, consider that in the past 10 years The Who, Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen have all performed at halftime. Anyone with knowledge of Pearl Jam knows the band holds those three artists in high regards. And while Pearl Jam has never really sold out so to speak, they do know how to market the daylights out of themselves to their fans. Case and point: the large number of ways you could spend your money on the band during the celebration that was Pearl Jam 20. A set on Super Sunday is about as good as a marketing device as possible.
Nostalgia for the 90s combined with a highly recognizable canon of material makes Pearl Jam a pretty good choice for the shortlist of halftime performers. Imagine a set of “Even Flow,” “Alive” and “The Fixer,” all songs the general Super Bowl loving public should be familiar with thanks to radioplay and Target ads. Throw in whatever new single the band is promoting and a closer of “Rockn’ in the Free World” with Neil Young and you’ve got yourself a solid halftime show. Not to mention that playing halftime would be one helluva way to spark interest in a new album and rekindle interest in the band’s back catalog, which would be incentive enough to play halftime for free.
And while it could be argued that Pearl Jam isn’t a big enough commercial name to attract ratings but a rare, televised performance by Pearl Jam would no doubt be a big draw for the NFL. Also, it’s pretty much a given that people will watch the halftime show regardless of who is performing so the NFL and network television shouldn’t need to care much about their precious ratings.
Sure there are plenty of classic rock acts that could appeal to the masses (AC/DC, The Eagles, Van Halen) and even some modern rock acts that could fit the bill (Green Day, Weezer and Red Hot Chili Peppers come to mind, although watch out for what’s in RHCP’s socks), but Pearl Jam should at least enter the conversation.
