Super Bowl LIII: A Half Time Show that Should Have Been More

The Super Bowl is the most watched and talked about event on television and one of the staples of the event is the live halftime concert.  

Two months prior to the Super Bowl was set to air, the NFL announced that Maroon 5 would be the primary performer. Backlash came pouring in almost immediately due to the fact the Super Bowl was in Atlanta and the city is known for its immense presence of rap. The mainstream pop band was considered a disappointment compared to some of the better names that represent Atlanta. 

 Texas native Travis Scott would later be confirmed to perform and the NFL resolved its prior issue by having Atlanta-based rapper Big Boi perform as well. 

 Maroon 5 opened the show with two classic songs before what might be considered the best part of the evening. People on social media went as far as to start petitions for the Halftime Show to simply be the iconic performing of “Sweet Victory” from an early episode of Spongebob Squarepants. A clip from the the episode was shown but only for mere seconds before Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode” started playing.  

 Frontman Adam Levine reappears and transitions into the band’s latest hit “Girls Like You” which features Cardi B, but she did not make an appearance due to the Colin Kaepernick controversy. Levine then goes down in the crowd to a stand alone stage and performs the groups 2005 hit “She Will Be Loved” with the crowd holding paper lanterns and drones forming words behind Levine. 

 The pyrotechnics and lighting are what made this performance one worth watching. Soon after Big Boi entered in a convertible Cadillac to represent Outkast. Joined by singer Sleepy Brown, they dove right in to performing some of the duo’s biggest hits of the early 2000s. The band put on a light show that included stunning colors and patterns. 

 The show closes with a wide shot of the Mercedes Benz Stadium shooting an immaculate display of fireworks. Did the band make the most of the fourteen minutes? Yes. It was a typical Maroon 5 performance and Adam Levine gave the people a standard pop concert.  

 With viewings and ratings dropping in recent years the NFL needed everything about the Super Bowl to be glamorous, especially the Halftime Show. What resulted was the least-viewed Super Bowl in over a decade.