As we all sat down to watch Super Bowl XLVIII, I thought it would be the most grand time to head to Boylston’s rather crowded Trader Joes for pineapple salsa and a few other snacks. An annual occurrence I usually do not care too much for had the ability to capture my artsy interest by inviting one of my favorite bands to reunite on the field of Metlife Stadium in New Jersey. Bruno Mars, once a music producer and now a featured performer, would take the stage with ease.
After a peaceful shopping trip, I was able to bring lemon crisp cookies with chocolate drizzled on top to my friends already comfortably seated on my living room floor staring at the 22-0 score on the television. Exceeding my expectation, the game was duller than I had anticipated. After grabbing a few cookies and squeezing onto a spot on the couch, I was surprised to find my feet tapping to Bruno Mars’ 1950’s meets Austin Powers’ Goldmember ultimate jam session. Earlier in the day my dad had shared with me that when Mars was a young one he was an Elvis impersonator, following this performance I called him immediately to deliver kudos on his prediction of Hollywood history coming to life for Super Bowl XLVIII.
Mars showed the audience of the widely watched football game that a Halftime performance can go absolutely well when the performer is a true talent, gracing the stage in their intense “all-eyes-on-me” type of act. As he danced and sang around the largely lit stage, he gave a taste of a rocker tune during his song “Treasure,” giving a small tease to introduce his Los Angeles natives as guests to his act.
Mars dances across the stage as his nine-man band plays, the energy is apparent as Mars and the members of his band start to sing “Give it away.. Give it away now..”
The Red Hot Chili Peppers grace the stage almost as if they infiltrate the scene. Singer Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea both jump onto the scene shirtless. Jumping around the stage as if it were any other type of gig, mainly not Super Bowl XLVIII – the band seemed to enjoy its five minutes of headline as they sang along to their hit song “Give It Away” with R&B star Bruno Mars.
To generalize the Super Bowl XLVIII – live music is awesome! This short contribution to the halftime performance that I had been looking forward to for days only will seem to continue my excessive day dreams of seeing The Red Hot Chili Peppers play at a house party off Fairfax somewhere. Following Diana Ross exiting her Super Bowl XLVIII performance in a helicopter, this Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers collaboration is the best performance to date.
Even though it was apparent members of the long-running Los Angeles band did not even have their instruments plugged into amps, I truly am all right with that – I’m fully convinced these men know how to play their songs live.
Also it probably takes the cake for the only performance that stole the show away from the game and commercials itself. My hat goes off to the producers of this year’s Super Bowl.
