Superbowl Halftime show

[JoeyBTL]

Overall, I think it was better than past years. I think Bruno Mars is pretty good and puts on a good show, sounds great etc. But when RHCP came on their playing seemed a little too good and with their guitarist going apeshit yet pulling it off perfectly, I had a feeling something was up.

Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea played air bass, was unplugged (Photo) - FanSided - Sports News, Entertainment, Lifestyle & Technology - 240+ Sites

 

[wankerness]

So does that mean no one on the stage was actually playing what we heard? I figured as much with the horn players for Bruno Mars. But vocalists too?

Oh well, it's the super bowl halftime show, I dunno what I expected.

 

[sezna]

Nobody is ever 100% performing during the super bowl. There's no way that the broadcasting companies would take a chance on the possibility of a mistake, and the bands don't really have a say in it. But who would say no to the super bowl? So here we are, with overdubbed music. Either way, great performances.

 

[Randyrhoads123]

Why is this a news story every year? The super bowl performances have always been pre-recorded to my knowledge, at least in modern history.

 

[Andrew]

didn't flea use an internal wireless system of some sort? he was really unplugged?

 

[Stresspill]

didn't flea use an internal wireless system of some sort? he was really unplugged?

Who do you think he is, Ben Weinman?

 

[Señor Voorhees]

I find it ....ing weird that performers who can actually play, mime their stuff. I don't really care for RHCP, but he can play his own tunes very well. Perhaps it has to do with the way half time shows are set up, though I can't imagine why you'd HAVE to mime your stuff. Perhaps because they want to regulate it as much as possible? I don't know.

As far as I can tell it's not an internal wireless thing either. There are pictures floating around from the night before where he's playing the same bass with an external wireless unit. I don't think flea should really be picked on for this, as I don't think it was his doing.

edit: I think sezna pretty much hit the nail on the head.

 

[Nats]

Any self respecting band that has to play air guitar to their own songs to please the networks should just pull a Nirvana from their Top of the Pops rendition of Smells Like Teen Spirit as seen here:

 

[asher]

Any self respecting band that has to play air guitar to their own songs to please the networks should just pull a Nirvana from their Top of the Pops rendition of Smells Like Teen Spirit as seen here:

Or that clip of Muse doing a TV spot where they couldn't get out of using a recording, so they all switched instruments and hammed it the .... up.

 

[ghostred7]

A friend of mine here locally played w/ Travis Tritt when the bowl was in Atlanta and he was unplugged, too. He said the whole show was canned/pre-recorded.

 

[GunpointMetal]

booo to prerecorded shows......BOOOOOO!

 

[Forkface]

lol, since we're talking about corporations not letting bands play for real...


best lipsync ever.

 

[mike0]

we'll never actually know unless we get a rundown of rhcp showing they have internal wireless setups in their instruments, or they make a statement saying they weren't plugged in at all. it could go either way, but i personally don't know why everyone would make a big to do about it. the superbowl is arguably the biggest event a band could play, and probably the only time i wouldn't think less of anyone for faking the performance.

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

Come on, at least plug the bass into a dummy wireless unit so people like us won't notice

 

[sakeido]

well whatever but did Bruno Mars actually play his drum solo? Thought he did a great job and the James Brown footwork was awesome too

 

[Wings of Obsidian]

I posted this awhile back on Facebook, and a buddy commented saying:

"It's actually just how Half Time Shows work. I don't agree with it, but they're basically TOLD to do this because it's a national TV event. They've been around 30 years, we can cut them some slack. And Klinghoffer kills live. It's not like they made an artistic decision to do this, lol.
[...]
Do you think that the massive media empire that has billions of dollars relying on the Super Bowl's marketing & entertainment would just go "Ok, we'll deal with that" if an act won't agree to their terms? They'll find one of hundreds of other viable acts out there that want to play the Super Bowl and will draw just as large a viewing audience."

I mean, perhaps the bands are told to do this?
One thing is for sure, Bruno Mars PLAYED LIVE.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers did NOT play live. (Chad was doing fills on drums when it was just a straight simple beat. Klinghoffer was going nuts on the guitar, without his hands even on the fretboard, for the solo. And Flea forgeo his dummy wireless unit.) Yeah...

 

[MoshJosh]

Never seen that nirvana clip before but it's pure gold!

 

[Señor Voorhees]

well whatever but did Bruno Mars actually play his drum solo? Thought he did a great job and the James Brown footwork was awesome too

For what it's worth, you don't need a superbowl half time show to tell you an artist is good or not. You can tell by watching a drummer if he's hitting what he should be, and even if they used a recording he performed it just fine. I'm not a big fan of his music either, but I'd be lying if I said Bruno Mars didn't have talent. Dude can sing like a mofo. It's a damn shame they have any of these artists mime their parts.

 

[Joose]

 

[Lasik124]

Winner for dealing with playing to overdubs.