For some time now, the football powers that be have been determined to force awkward concerts down our throat. However, those efforts seemed totally ramped up in 2018, as nationally televised football games without a shitty concert or musical performance squeezed in there became few and far between.
While the effort to make advertising more interesting is appreciated, there’s just something about football concerts — whether it be the crowd, the cameras, or the general lack of energy — that seem forced and awkward. Especially this past year.
There was ESPN’s Monday Night Football Hyundai Genesis launch musical ‘Monday Night Football’ halftime show, that featured a commercial free “performance” from a contemporary artist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9Kobq1KfZY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQvVdirUnow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8PkJec_Buc
(Okay, the Gwen Stefani one isn’t that bad)
Then, there was the College Football Playoff Championship pregame concert featuring … Keith Urban.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI8tG7NnuGk
Then, of course, there was coup de gras … the College Football Playoff Championship halftime concert featuring … Lil Wayne and Imagine Dragons?!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAmbnjCJHM4
And if that onslaught wasn’t enough, it was recently announced that the NFL had locked in Maroon 5, Travis Scott, and Big Boi (hopefully, this means Outkast straight up, because “Roses” would BANG at a halftime show) as the halftime acts.
As we all know, Super Bowl halftime shows have quite a precarious track record over the last 20 years or so. Whether it be the Janet Jackson incident, the six years of “elder” acts that followed (including performances from 1970’s stalwarts such as Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and The Who), or the odd combination of Katy Perry, Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott — the NFL is very hit and miss when it comes to their concerts.
However, there is finally a band read to save us from the pains of prior performances: the Foo Fighters, who will be performing with Run The Jewels at DirecTV’s annual Super Saturday Night event.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8LeYu2uybU
DirecTV’s Super Saturday Night concert takes place on Saturday, February 2 at Atlantic Station in Atlanta, and will be streamed on the Foo Fighters website at 11 p.m. EST.
