Super Bowl Halftime Performance: U2 vs. Bruce?

[BVS]

I've watched many concerts and read books ( i.e. A Conversation Wth Bono) and listened to interviews with Bono for years and I've never got the impression that he was humble. I'm not saying he's not a good guy. I appreciate what he's done to help others. At the same time I believe he thinks very highly of himself and is very cncerned withhis image. His live antics are a perfect example. I think it's silly to say it's all just an act to entertain us. It seems like he absorbs and loves every single ounce of attention he gets. I'm not saying he performed at the superbowl solely for his own benefit, but it seemed to me like more than anything he was enjoying the gobs of attention and praise people were heaping on him.

I actually find Bono to be more humble than most people give him credit for...

One reason being is that he doen't pretend. He's extremely honest about needing the audience, Thom Yorke, Eddie Vedder, all the indie gods out there they all pretend they don't need the audience, but it simply isn't true... There's nothing wrong with that, embrace it, quit trying to pretend you would do the same thing living in your mother's basement and being flat broke...

 

[U2387]

U2 was the best, still had a party(beautiful day), MLK/Streets was the perfect tribute to the 9/11 victims. Anyone who sees arrogance or conceit or a desire to suck up all the post 9/11 attention by Bono is frankly an idiot. The stupidity behind that comment was mindblowing. Have you even watched their other 9/11 memorials?? It was not like Bono ran around a church at the National prayer service to honor the victims on 9/14. Its a SUPERBOWL HALFTIME SHOW. I would say Bono is confident for sure, but that is a general trait, not a description of the halftime performance he turned in. The goal, at that time was to provide a mix of entertainment and rememberance/reflection, which U2 did perfectly. MLK was the reflective prayer, as was Streets intro, when the main riff broke out, that was the cathartic tribute. What was Bono supposed to do, stand there and not even try to entertain? I dont know how anyone can, given what we hear about other celebrities, assert that Bono is some kind of disingenuous attention grabber seeking to capitalize on the suffering of millions(hes not Rudy Giuliani!!). We all should know better than to say such things here, as we know the most about U2. How many other frontmen thank their fans specifically for giving them the wonderful lives they have? How many people as famous as Bono use their fame, their time, and their money to bring to the attention of the world the suffering of those who have no voice?

If Bono had such a big ego, U2 would no longer be together, Sting, David Lee Roth, The Beatles- thats where you will find ego. Lets get serious, when has Bono ever suggested, through his words or actions, any more than any other person, that he his God's gift to humanity?? Does he make his life seem more important than everyone elses through giving tours of his house to MTV, through having his own Reality TV show, through judging American idol, or through any other crazy menas other famous people employ to stay relevant? In fact, alot of the desire to be applauded, according to Bono himself, stems from insecurity, not ego. He has said something to the efect of "you'd have to be a little unsure of yourself/crazy to not have fulfillment w/o 20K screaming fans every night." Again, anyone who can get ego/arrogance/stealing the spotlight from victims out of U2's performance has truly gone soft.

Back on topic: Bruce was spectacular, though his voice was off as others have said! Easily in second place for me: 1.)U2
2.)Bruce/E Street
3.)Tom Petty
4.)Prince

LOADS OF SPACE. THE PREVIOUS ONES ARE PRETTY CLOSE TOGETHER AFTER U2.
5.)McCartney
6.)Stones

 

[shart1780]

I actually find Bono to be more humble than most people give him credit for...

One reason being is that he doen't pretend. He's extremely honest about needing the audience, Thom Yorke, Eddie Vedder, all the indie gods out there they all pretend they don't need the audience, but it simply isn't true... There's nothing wrong with that, embrace it, quit trying to pretend you would do the same thing living in your mother's basement and being flat broke...

There's a difference between needing the audience and looking like you think you're God's gift to mankind. Of course there are musicians with different personalities and different sized egos. There are plenty of bands who seem to perform simply for the love of the music. It's not always an ego trip. And to say that they all have egos the size of Bono and are just hiding it is silly. I can only judge an artist from what we see. And from what I've seen Bono's got one of the biggest egos in the business.

 

[BVS]

There's a difference between needing the audience and looking like you think you're God's gift to mankind. Of course there are musicians with different personalities and different sized egos. There are plenty of bands who seem to perform simply for the love of the music. It's not always an ego trip. And to say that they all have egos the size of Bono and are just hiding it is silly. I can only judge an artist from what we see. And from what I've seen Bono's got one of the biggest egos in the business.

I never said it's always about an ego trip, but it is about ego, there's a difference. I've never noticed the "God's gift to mankind" thing, I'm being honest. Of course I think you have some personal issues with Bono that cloud your judgement, so I'm not sure you are the best person to be having this discussion with...

 

[Diane L]

I can't even recall the Stones' performance, to be truthful.

For me it's U2, Prince, then Bruce - at least right now.

What she said. Prince was magnificent last year, but nothing will ever top U2 for me.

What can I say? I'm a biased, unobjective fan!

 

[gvox]

Edge and Bono were live during their performance, and Adam and Larry's parts were backing tracks. Was trying to figure out last night- Bruce's and Stevie's (improvised some stuff so that was a giveaway) guitars were live, I'm guessing the horns were, not sure about Max, Patti, Nils, and Gary.

I'd like proof of that in terms of the U2 performance.

 

[gvox]

Well, yeah, he would hit the drums, but how far could you hear the live drum over the PA in the middle of a football field?

Well everyone that was on the field would hear the obvious difference, especially those in the heart.

Wait..now you've got me wondering: has Larry ever been live? Would we even be able to tell from the outer tip at Slane Castle?

 

[last unicorn]

Bono is known for acting this way more than almost anyone. He acts extremely arrogant and that's why so many non-U2 fans can't stand him. There's a difference between being confident and energetic for fun for the sake of entertainment and acting like you're the most amazing thing since sliced bread. Watch Thom Yorke or Peter Gabriel and the difference is quite obvious. If you could hear inside Bono's head you'd probably hear "Good God I'm amazing". At least that's what it seems like to me.

I think that coming from someone who constantly displays a huge ego on this board is just ... funny.

 

[ahittle]

Wait..now you've got me wondering: has Larry ever been live? Would we even be able to tell from the outer tip at Slane Castle?

Probably not, no. Not when the band is in full flight.

Larry plays along with a ton of loops - even if they're small touches like shakers. He is more suited to playing with loops than most rock drummers - he's been playing with a click since what? The 80's?

It's not a stretch of the imagination that Larry played along with a backing track for the Super Bowl show. I mean, the whole band played to backing tracks for the Beautiful Day rooftop clip. You just bang along with the song.

As I type this, I recall a hilarious clip of Keith Moon playing some 60's television show where he is obviously mocking the fact that he is playing along to a backing track. I wish I could remember the name of the tune, it was so funny...

 

[BEVERLY56]

OK my 2 cents - - I am neither a Prince fan nor a Bruce fan. Never bought anything either one of them put out. BUT...I did enjoy Prince's show last year, a lot...and did not like Bruce's AT ALL. U2 #1 in my book, followed by a Prince/Tom Petty tie for 2nd, then Paul mcCartney 3rd.

 

[ultraviolet625]

I love both. And to be honest, even though Bono's voice was completely shot- U2's performance was better. Bruce's wasn't bad- but his singing was really bad today. He was just yelling words not even close to the melody.

And the audience and energy wasn't that good for Bruce. U2's performance was momentous. Bruce's was fun. It matter what you like more.

...But Bruce slamming his crotch into a camera and using the mic stand to outperform Prince for the phallic rock pose were both really damn funny!

My thoughts exactly. Bruce was just yelling. U2 definitely better.

 

[madonna's child]

Bruce was very excitable, but I think U2's performance had more soul. and, as others have mentioned, Prince was amazing.

 

[Sken]

Was watching Letterman last night and they had a skit called 'Memorable Superbowl Moments', or something like that. It was similar in the way they did the Presidential Speeches.

Anyways it went like this:

2009 Bruce Springsteen
2002 U2
1987 Dave Letterman singing something stupid

Now the cool thing was that when the picture of U2 came on, the whole audience clapped and cheered. So its quite obvious that performance remains in the heart of the Americans, particularly those in New York.

 

[BVS]

Probably not, no. Not when the band is in full flight.

Larry plays along with a ton of loops - even if they're small touches like shakers. He is more suited to playing with loops than most rock drummers - he's been playing with a click since what? The 80's?

It's not a stretch of the imagination that Larry played along with a backing track for the Super Bowl show. I mean, the whole band played to backing tracks for the Beautiful Day rooftop clip. You just bang along with the song.

As I type this, I recall a hilarious clip of Keith Moon playing some 60's television show where he is obviously mocking the fact that he is playing along to a backing track. I wish I could remember the name of the tune, it was so funny...

I think you are a little confused.

First of all, Larry didn't really start playing along with loops fulltime until ZooTv. To my knowledge Bad obviously had a loop and a few JT songs, but that's it for the 80's.

Secondly, I think you are confusing the backing tracks used at a concert with the backing tracks used on a TV show like Top of the Pops. Those used on Top of the Pops is basically just the album instrumental and the band plays without being miced(great clip on youtube of Nirvana's TOTP performance). Those used at a concert are just the additional clicks and blips without drums.

So to say Larry and Adam aren't playing live or to even say they've never been live when the band is "in full flight" is just ridiculous.

 

[ahittle]

I think you are a little confused.

First of all, Larry didn't really start playing along with loops fulltime until ZooTv. To my knowledge Bad obviously had a loop and a few JT songs, but that's it for the 80's.

Secondly, I think you are confusing the backing tracks used at a concert with the backing tracks used on a TV show like Top of the Pops. Those used on Top of the Pops is basically just the album instrumental and the band plays without being miced(great clip on youtube of Nirvana's TOTP performance). Those used at a concert are just the additional clicks and blips without drums.

So to say Larry and Adam aren't playing live or to even say they've never been live when the band is "in full flight" is just ridiculous.

Oh yeah, I agree with everything you say. I'm just saying that it is feasible that Larry and Adam were not live during their Super Bowl gig, which has been written about elsewhere. And if that is the case, it is a bit of a modified TOTP performance - only with Bono and Edge actually live.

And that Nirvana clip is priceless...

 

[gvox]

Oh yeah, I agree with everything you say. I'm just saying that it is feasible that Larry and Adam were not live during their Super Bowl gig, which has been written about elsewhere. And if that is the case, it is a bit of a modified TOTP performance - only with Bono and Edge actually live.

Wait - now you're saying it's 'feasible'? You first stated Larry wasn't live like it was fact. I personally don't believe Larry wasn't live. Was U2 using backing tracks? Of course they were, just like they do at every concert of theirs. I can go thru song by song and tell you which sounds you hear coming off the stage aren't Edge, aren't Adam and aren't Larry, but it's already been discussed many times so that would be redundant. I think people get a bit confused when they hear the term backing tracks. They are accompaniment, not the meat and bones of the song. U2 was live.

 

[BVS]

Wait - now you're saying it's 'feasible'? You first stated Larry wasn't live like it was fact. I personally don't believe Larry wasn't live. Was U2 using backing tracks? Of course they were, just like they do at every concert of theirs. I can go thru song by song and tell you which sounds you hear coming off the stage aren't Edge, aren't Adam and aren't Larry, but it's already been discussed many times so that would be redundant. I think people get a bit confused when they hear the term backing tracks. They are accompaniment, not the meat and bones of the song. U2 was live.

 

[ahittle]

Yeah, it's feasible. I'd say it's the default method for the Superbowl shows. This article doesn't mention U2 by name, but I can't imagine why they would be the exception to the rule; after all, Larry is skilled with playing along with any kind of backing track. And we've all seen U2 television spots that are in one way or another canned.

Music insiders explain why backing tapes are a must for Hudson, Springsteen at Super Bowl | Turn It Up - A guided tour through the worlds of pop, rock and rap

I guess Jennifer Hudson has taken some flak about her taped performance. I don't really give a toss about that...

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I thought the anthem was always lip-synched

She looked and sounded beautiful, and I think it took courage for her to get out there in front of such a huge audience after all she has been through

 

[ahittle]

I thought the anthem was always lip-synched

I think you're right. That's got to be almost as nerve-wracking is singing the song itself.

 

[bonocomet]

I know someone who sang the national anthem in San Diego, Qualcomm Stadium. They recorded her singing it the week before, then had her rehearse with her recording, then on game day she sang mic off to her own recording. She was disappointed but they told her it is absolute procedure for EVERYONE ever since the Roseanne Barr incident. No exceptions. That's not even something big like the Super Bowl, but I'd imagine they would have similar rules. Again that's just anthem singing, I don't know about the other performances, that's different.

Also I was at the game for her singing performance, we knew it was going to be synced, but honestly no one in the stadium could tell, afterwards she sat in the stands with us and everyone was coming up and complimenting her when they recognized her.

 

[Silence]

For being Bruce the half time show was the worst performance I've seen him give . And yeah the ramp up "..."It's Boss-time!" Bruce himself giving one of the worst rock n' roll speeches ever: "Put down your Guacamole, because the next 12 and a half minutes are gonna be awesome!" was red neck america at its worst (best?) the sound sucked, i want to her the tune not the drunked out audiance (were they even all fans or just superbowl tv shot hopefuls?) Any way no where near as good as U2, ever!