Undoubtedly, this year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show was one of the best in HT history. Coldplay hosted the show, featuring former HT stars Beyoncé and Bruno Mars.
Stage:
Chris Martin did not start the performance on the stage in any grand way. He started singing his hit “Yellow” whilst kneeling among audience members who then ran across the field to the stage. Chris then followed them onto the extremely impressive and well-imagined setup. Key features of the stage were its openness (everyone could see it no matter where they were in the stadium), the video screen floor, and the walkways.
Performance:
The performance itself was incredible. The band played perfectly and, despite the effective mashup of songs, everything flowed together. Nothing was confusing, and certainly nothing was boring. Chris Martin was high energy and spirits. He was jumping and dancing to the point where he had a hard time singing at some parts, but still managed. Bruno Mars and Beyoncé, probably affected by Chris’ happy energy, seemed to be having a hell of a good time. Some performers at the HT shows can take the show too seriously and lose the point of the actual show – to raise people’s spirits and to give people a great break. These performers did not take anything too seriously and were emitting an energy that the audience couldn’t help but feed off of.
Cultural Appropriation and Racial Debate:
Much of the media coverage of the event was focused around Coldplay’s use of Devanagari script on their equipment. Inspired by their trip to India to film their gorgeous music video for “Hymn for the Weekend”, Coldplay has been using bright colours and a lot of Indian fashion (and now language) to market their new single. Many argue that this is cultural appropriation, especially because what they wrote in Devanagari script was nothing more than their band name. Responses to this were typically angry, arguing that they missed a rare opportunity to publicize something important about India or Indian traditions.
Beyoncé’s performance of her brilliant new song “Formation” had both extreme reactions. Many people are impressed by how powerful the song is, and, given that it is Black History Month, how culturally proud the performance was. However, other people were afraid that this was some kind of protest piece. Beyoncé demonstrated her black pride in front of millions of people; that in itself should be a celebration, not a debate.
50th Anniversary Celebration:
At first the video screen floor was just an aesthetically pleasing addition of colour and light to the performance, but to commemorate the Super Bowl’s 50th anniversary, Coldplay mashed up videos of the other HT shows, including Bruce Springsteen, Katy Perry, Paul McCartney, and even the original marching bands that we’ve clearly outgrown. This was an amazing little piece to celebrate how far America’s come, not only as a football-watching nation, but also as a nation that celebrates massively whenever it gets together.
Additional Performers:
Beyoncé and Bruno Mars seemed to overpower the Coldplay performance due to the complete shift in music genre. Coldplay, a typically Pop Rock and Alternative band, sort of clashed with the Hip Hop of the two other performers. However, it added a kind of mini-show as the two battled off their hits “Formation” and “Uptown Funk” and then came together in the end. The whole theme of the HT show was unity, and this powerful collaboration definitely emulated that. But let’s face it… no one could ever outshine Beyoncé. Ever.
Theme:
As mentioned before, the theme of the whole performance was unity – unity of races, of cultures, of generations, of music genres, and of football fans. Playing on U2’s 2002 performance with hearts and the theme of love, remembering the lost victims of the 9/11 attacks, this year’s HT show was an opportunity to unite so many different people despite the wars and other catastrophes going on in the world today. The audience spelled out the world “Love” and the show closed with a unifying anthem. All in all, Coldplay was a rather humble headliner, but they did what bands always had the responsibility to do – bringing people together.