I'm sure many of you saw Super Bowl LIII this past Sunday, with the Rams taking on the Patriots. Or at least you've heard about it. You pretty much couldn't avoid it. Many go to Superbowl parties, and some partake in pools where if you match the last digit of the score, you win some money.
And then there's the halftime show, where one or many recording artists take a stab and being "over the top" and try to outdo past shows. Finally, there's the commercials, which pretty much try and do the same thing.
Sometimes they're exciting to watch all three, but this year, it seems all three were bore fests. The game was a defensive battle, and it wasn't until the last quarter that a team actually scored a touchdown. The party that I went to, which is always a blast, lost half the people before the 4th quarter. As for the commercials, there were a couple good ones (namely the NFL's 100-years spot), but again, decades after we realized that this was the big part of watching the game, it left us numb and the ability to shock isn't what it used to be.
But, this isn't a football blog, nor is it a Madison Avenue tablet, either. It is a music blog, and the performances pretty much sum up the average fan's (be it music or sports) take on a certain band or artist.
Maroon 5, featuring front man Adam Levine, took to the stage this year, in what was a controversial situation. It probably didn't matter, at least in this day and age, how they did, since people have preconceived notions on how it would go.
In the last quarter of a century the halftime show at the Superbowl has been an extravaganza of sorts. But it was pretty much born out of necessity. During roughly the first twenty-five years or so, its was pretty much marching bands, drill teams and troupes such as "Up with People". Pretty much stuff for the older generations It got to the point where other networks, namely MTV, countered programming with more cooler material suited for younger people.
That pretty much ended when in 1993, superstar Michael Jackson commanded the halftime show and brought the experience to a whole new level. From that point on, the shows featured elaborate stage settings, pyrotechnics, and other vivid displays to go along with the music. Since then, a series of name acts and genre themes have dominated the shows, until 2004 when the infamous "wardrobe malfunction" during a Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake set. The show reverted to "classic rock" acts, such as the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Prince, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and The Who. In 2011, the show reverted back to current name acts.
And that brings us to Super Bowl LIII. In case you've been under a rock (or if you purposely didn't give a damn), there has been an ongoing controversy centered on quarterback Colin Kaepernick's decision to kneel during the playing of the National Anthem, apparently to protest police brutality against African-Americans. Subsequent rules put in place by the NFL forbade anyone to make such a protest, causing some outcry. Some fans were turned off by all this and many of them stopped watching and following the NFL. This was especially apparent during the 2017 and 2018, but as the latter wore on, many fans returned, as the issue pretty much was put on the backburner.
Of course, the big name artists act as a lightning rod for these social issues, and two of the acts that were asked to perform, R&B singer Rihanna, and rapper Cardi B, refused to do so, in support of Kaepernick. Seeing the void, Maroon 5 stepped in to perform, but, knowing the sensitivity involved, kept a low profile in doing so, even refusing to grant pre-game interviews.
So, what about the performance? You have to be wondering if many of these people were seeing the same show. Scanning many of the comments on Facebook, there seemed to be four groups: There's the groups that point out that a pure pop (re: all white) band took the place of African-American performers (especially since the city of Atlanta which has a rich history in Hip-Hop, which was ignored), and thus were able to find flaws with the performance. There's those that simply said the show sucked, probably because their belief that any "rock" band that existed after 1992 doesn't deserve a listen; those are probably the same people would love to hear "Stairway to Heaven" for the 1300th time. There's the actual fans of the band who thought it wasn't up to snuff because it wasn't "over the top" enough, in keeping the spirit of past shows. And finally there were the Adam Levine fans who loved the performance (although I suspect, it was mostly because he gradually took off layers of shirt until he exposed his tatt-laden upper body).
In a Facebook post that I wrote after the game, I mentioned that Maroon 5's performance was 'uninspired" and it tried to accomplish too much while also at the same time made sure it didn't want to offend. The band stuck to mostly its early hits like "This Love", "She Will Be Loved" and "Harder to Breathe", although they also did their "comeback" top 20 SNS song "Moves Like Jagger" and their recent Billboard #1 "Girls Like You". Travis Scott and the only tie to the local area, rapper Big Boi, joined Adam and the crew for a couple songs as well.
To be honest, I don't know if it was because the concept of the "larger than life" halftime show has numbed me (and the ability to "shock" or "dazzle" me) has, like Adam's "love", taken its toll on me, but it seems like all halftime shows are the same. That may be because today's pop stars leave much to be desired, anyway...or hey, perhaps, I'm just getting old. In my opinion, it wasn't as much a bad performance as it was a "tired one".
My friend Gail Bradley, who is one of the few people that follow current music, loved the performance. In response to my post, she commented that some people thrive on the shock value and "just love controversy. Adam is not like that at all".
You probably won't hear it in the mainstream media, but Levine and Travis Scott donated half a million dollars to the Children's Cancer fund, so they should be applauded for that at least. And Levine answered his critics after the game, saying that if one is in the music business, they have to be prepared to handle any controversy. He even thanked the critics for pushing him and his band to do better. His positivity is overwhelming, evening spelling "one love" in lights above. Good for him.
While perhaps I wasn't overwhelmed by the performance, I applaud Maroon 5 for stepping up and doing this show even though the current NFL environment has been surrounded in controversy. And, like the band or not, they have been around for quite a long time. Their debut song was released back in 2002, and sixteen years later, they are still on top, with "Girls Like You", becoming the first non hip-hop song to top Billboard's Hot 100 in about nine months.
Back then, it was hard to describe Maroon 5's music. It was sort of a "funky pop" concoction and not considered "rock", which I still don't. They seemed to have faded out by the end of the 2000's, but perhaps Adam's involvement in the competition show The Voice as revitalized this career. Of course, the nay-sayers have brought up the fact that "who are the other members in the band" (and most of the time on the halftime show, you could only see Adam). "Moves Like Jagger" in particular brought them success, even to the point that the band Train, which had been a pure rock outfit back in the "Meet Virginia" days, went pop to compete with Maroon 5 and found some success that way.
In the blog era, Maroon 5 has placed many songs on my playlist chart. They've made my top 20 five times. And yes, they topped my chart once: With a very obscure song that was inspired by the movie The Hunger Games, "Come Away to the Water" in 2012, a nice, rather experimental song that I wish they'd do more of. But, of course, it wasn't "commercial enough" in this day and age.
Regardless whether you like them or not, they are keeping traditional pop's hope alive in this sea of sparse pop and "auto-tuned" songs. While in my opinion they're halftime performance could be better, they did the right thing by showing up.
No discussion on the Super Bowl would be complete without mentioning the awesome performance of the National Anthem by the legendary Gladys Knight. The 74-year old leader of the Pips, rocked it, adding a fresh take on the Star Spangled Banner. Of course you'd think it would be controversy-free, but of course not. Apparently the same groups that criticized Maroon 5, Big Boi and Travis Scott was unhappy that she agreed to perform. These groups should really pick on current artists if they want to push their agenda. Knight, who was born in the Atlanta area (therefore silencing those critics about no hometown representation) and whose first single was released in 1958, and first hit, "Every Beat of My Heart" came in 1961, no doubt faced discrimination is that turbulent pre-Civil Rights era, one in which there was real racism more than that Kaepernick could ever imagine. Knight's response to the criticism was that she understood his concern but to kneel during the Anthem was not the way to protest it. I totally agree there. There are better ways to get your point across.
JAMMIN' ON THE MOUNTAIN: Last week, I had talked about various festivals in response to the announcement that there will be two "Woodstocks" on this, the 50th anniversary of the original three day peace and lovefest. I had mentioned SXSW and Coachellathe prominent yearly festivals in the 2010's, but noted there were many others. One such annual event is Mountain Jam, traditionally held in June at New York State's Hunter Mountain Ski Area.
The festival, which started in 2005, attracts many indie and alternative rock acts of various sub-genres, is getting a new home in 2019. Yeah, you guessed it; none other than Bethel Woods, the original Woodstock site. That place will be very busy this summer.
As for some of the artists slated to appear? Headliners Willie Nelson, Gov't Mule and The Avett Brothers, plus some SNS favorites like The Revivalists and The Big Takeover. Many other artists will be on the bill and no doubt others will be added as time goes by.
The festival takes place for four days, June 13th through the 16th.
TO THE HERE AND NOW: A look at this week's SNS sets up a situation that next week may result in one new record set, and another tied. Plus this week, a record of sorts was equaled. The Revivalists are red hot as "You and I" holds for a second week at the top, still in a close battle with the #1 from two weeks ago, "High Hopes" by Panic at the Disco which is still dominating the Billboard alternative and adult top 40 charts and is still top 10 on the Hot 100. The two songs are still way ahead of the pack, however. Last week, three songs made big jumps into the top 5, but this week, only one of those, Kitten's "Pink Champagne" stays there, inching up a notch to #3. But the big action lies with another Revivalists song, "Change". Last week's Top Debut, it makes a hefty move from 35 to 4. If it makes even half a move next week, it'll become only the fourth song to make the top spot in just three weeks, joining The Killers' "I Feel It In My Bones", Fitz & the Tantrums' "Out of My League", and Adele's "Hello". The song moves up to #4 on the Triple-A survey, the only chart the song appears on (sadly). Even more importantly, next week could make the first time in the nearly eight and a half year history of the SNS 100 that one artists has the top two spots, a fete almost matched two years ago by Cold War Kids, but just fell short. Adele also held the #2 and #3 slots back in June of 2011.
With "All My Friends" still hanging inside the top 20 at #19, that gives the band three entries in the upper echelon. If my memory serves me correctly, only Adele also accomplished this feat as well. Next week, I will have more on this situation.
There are other giants movers on the list, most of them into the top 20. Foster the People, who have had quite a streak of their own with 12-for-12 in that top portion of the list, sees "Worst Nights" climb from 11 to 5 in pursuit of their fourth #1 on SNS. Elle King jumps 27-9 with "Baby Outlaw", she is going for her third chart-topper. Tennis, going for their fourth #1, advances 25--11 with "I Miss That Feelin'", they are perfect when it comes to top 20 songs as well. Finally, the Cranberries grab the Mover of the Week honors with their final effort, "All Over Now". It's their third (and presumably, last ) entry this decade on SNS, but unlike the other two, debuts on Billboard's Triple-A chart, so there might be an added catalyst for this one.
As far as the newbies, once again, I relied on the recent past to jump on a song, thanks to hearing it at the Super Bowl party I went to. "In the End", by STRFKR, is from their most recent album, 2016's Being No One, Going Nowhere. The band, around since 2007, hails from Portland, OR and appears here for the first time. Will it follow the likes of Nick Waterhouse or Kungs as a delayed success on my list? Time will tell. It borders on EDM but still squarely in the rock vein. In a strange coincidence, the song's title is the same as the above mentioned Cranberries set.
LOVELY LILLY: Aside from two other alt-rock entries, Lilly's "Toro" and the latest by lovelytheband, "Maybe I'm Afraid", I went with many of the pop artists this week which reside mainly on Billboard's Adult top 40 list. Lauren Daigle's "You Say" has been on the Hot 100 for half a year and I finally pick up on the song, her voice and style are reminiscent of Adele. Mark Ronson, the DJ/Producer who gave the world "Uptown Funk" which featured Bruno Mars, unleashes "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart", this time featuring Miley Cyrus. Cyrus, who reportedly is going back to more hip-hop--ish/ EDM stances of 2013's Bangerz set, delivers a straight-pop performance here, along the lines of her SNS monster hit from two years ago, "Malibu". Michael Bublé who has been missing in action for several years, makes a nice return with "Love You Anymore". He always had a retro feel to this music, much of that style has been taken over by Ed Sheeran, but Bublé is the real master of songs that recall the standards era. By the way, I got a kick out of his appearance in the commercial for "Bubly" which is a carbonated sparkling water beverage.
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100
February 3, 2019
| This Week | Last Week | ARTIST-Title | Weeks on List |
| 1 | 1 |
NUMBER ONE:
Album: Take Good Care
(2 weeks at #1)
|
8 |
| 2 | 2 | Panic at the Disco - High Hopes | 15 |
| 3 | 4 | Kitten - Pink Champagne | 11 |
| 4 | 35 |
TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
Album: Take Good Care
|
2 |
| 5 | 11 | Foster the People - Worst Nights | 5 |
| 6 | 3 | Sharon Van Etten - Comeback Kid | 10 |
| 7 | 5 | Marshmello & Bastille - Happier | 12 |
| 8 | 6 | Andrew McMahon In the Wilderness - Ohio | 9 |
| 9 | 27 | Elle King - Baby Outlaw | 3 |
| 10 | 9 | Trapdoor Social - Hold Me Down | 12 |
| 11 | 25 | Tennis- I Miss That Feelin' | 3 |
| 12 | 14 | Mumford and Sons - Guiding Light | 13 |
| 13 | 8 | Molly Burch- Torn To Pieces | 14 |
| 14 | 12 | Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats f. Lucius - Coolin' Out | 12 |
| 15 | 10 | Cayucas - Jessica WJ | 12 |
| 16 | 7 | Caroline Rose - Jeannie Becomes a Mom | 13 |
| 17 | 13 | Kurt Vile - Loading Zones | 15 |
| 18 | 21 | Dennis Lloyd - Nevermind | 13 |
| 19 | 18 | The Revivalists - All My Friends• | 17 |
| 20 | 20 | Jade Bird - Uh Huh | 10 |
Songs
with the greatest increase in favorite points over the prior week.
● Songs
with 25 or more plays on my iPod.
▲ Songs with 50 or more
plays on my iPod.
The “Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100” is a list
of current and recent song playlist which I am listening to.
Don't forget the Solid Sound Festival in MA. The lineup so far includes Wilco, Televison, Kurt Vile, Kevin Morby, Big Thief, Peter Wolf and The Shaggs.
ReplyDeleteHad never heard of that one, but a good lineup there....worth checking out!
ReplyDelete