2026 Super Bowl Half Time show - closest to our world I've ever seen in mainstream!

[perc2100]

I'm not interested in any sort of "culture war" nonsense here.  I want to talk about how incredible the staging choreography and flow of Bad Bunny's performance was the closest to our 'marching arts pageantry' I think I've ever seen in a huge mainstream venue.  Of course, everything was conveyed perfectly thanks to the broadcast production as well.

But how great was this performance.  We had the main performer and his back up dancers/singers/posse entering from one side of the field and he had a path of near perpetual motion throughout: stopping only for a dance moment (ala maybe a 'park and bark' or 'body movement' thing), or to showcase a portion of the show (the wedding proposal & wedding; the boy being handed a Grammy while watching Bad Bunny accepting a Grammy on TV, etc.).  We had a fabulous use of props, from a housing porch, to a community street of shops (including some poor kid getting a haircut when they almost certainly would've rather have been part of the fun outside 🤪), to sugar canes to people in bush costumes (that kind of looked like Giant Broccoli when the performers were entering/exiting the field), to the 'dancers' on the electric poles.  We had full ensemble moments and featured soloist/performer moments (Lady Gaga looking/sounding absolutely sublime, as did Ricky Martin).  This was an incredible performance, and for folks who enjoy Latin music some great music throughout (even if I don't speak Spanish, it didn't stop me from wanting to dance w/joy while watching).

I still don't think anything on earth will ever top how epic Prince was, playing his great music in a downpour, but this felt like the coolest Super Bowl HT production to me and I couldn't help think of how it feels like it could've been adapted from a WGI World group or DCI group from a staging, logistics, performance level, etc. standpoint.

Again, I'm not at all interested for this discussion about words of songs; in fact, I LOVE the fact that the joy and unity (and some other maybe more subtle messaging for those who know history & for those who pay attention) was conveyed to a mainstream audience WITHOUT needing to know vocals being sung.  Just like drum corps, we don't need to know context of what a specific jazz chart or orchestral piece was made for, we just need to be able to understand the context it's being used in the performance.  And in that regard, Bad Bunny crushed it with a GREAT performance Sunday evening!

[denverjohn]

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Edited February 10 by denverjohn
typo

[Fandom]

My opinion is that it would have been better suited as a stage show. The set was super cool on TV, but if no one in the stadium they are performing for can enjoy it, then what's the point? Personally, I thought the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics was 100x better than what we saw last night at the Super Bowl. 

[Fred Windish]

Didn’t watch that Super Bowl exhibition live, but did view the replay. I found that entire element of the event disappointing.

The National Football League’s choice to send up this display with its largely pornographic overtones, and designed to obscure nearly all of the in-stadium audience from viewing directly, nor understanding any verbal, all in the year of America’s 250th Anniversary was the wrong decision.

From an American marketing standpoint, the NFL did its teams no favors here. Extreme controversy, yes.

Remember now, I’m a 75 year old drum corps dinosaur, so my opinion no longer registers as it once did. But, there it is. 

Thank you for your consideration.  ☹️

Edited February 10 by Fred Windish

[cixelsyd]

13 hours ago, perc2100 said:

I'm not interested in any sort of "culture war" nonsense here.

But that is what the halftime show was... so you cannot spend the following 420 words of your post describing it in detail without venturing into that zone.

I have one observation that actually abides by DCP guidelines, though.  This presentation was entirely for broadcast.  The level of visual detail was lost on the live audience, and significant portions of performance were obstructed from view by props (i.e. tall plants).  I doubt we need to worry about DCI going in that direction, though, as judges need to be able to see things live or they will not get credit. 

[Jeff Ream]

they nailed it

[mingusmonk]

Multiple drum corps alums on the field as performers! From the sugar cane "bushes", dancers, to musicians. Pretty freaking cool.

[Boss Anova]

2 hours ago, Fred Windish said:

Didn’t watch that Super Bowl exhibition live, but did view the replay. I found that entire element of the event disappointing.

The National Football League’s choice to send up this display with its largely pornographic overtones, and designed to obscure nearly all of the in-stadium audience from viewing directly, nor understanding any verbal, all in the year of America’s 250th Anniversary was the wrong decision.

From an American marketing standpoint, the NFL did its teams no favors here. Extreme controversy, yes.

Remember now, I’m a 75 year old drum corps dinosaur, so my opinion no longer registers as it once did. But, there it is. 

Thank you for your consideration.  ☹️

  I appreciate all viewpoints, yours included.  I thought the all female dancing was a bit risque, but not " with pornographic " overtones. Its par for 2025 , but can be  a bit much for many of the the grandpa's and grandma's  generation watching. From an execution performance perspective, they were fabulous I thought.  The language of dance is universal, so there was no need for verbal with that segment.

 The choreo was disappointing, and the props ( somewhat like DCI in this respect ) obscured the performers at times. There was mediocre camera angles too, imo. They could have had overhead shots, but if they did, I did not see it.

  As for the main performer ( Bad Bunny ), I really enjoyed the music, instrumentation utilized with it, and the Latin beat is to my liking, so this aspect was a thumbs up for me,

 As for the lyrics and theme messaging, like Drum Corps in this respect with some Drum Corps in performance,, I became lost with this aspect. With the Drum Corps analogy, I do understand others perspective that they can fully appreciate a Drum Corps in performance without have much understanding, if at all, of what the show was about. But I'm not in that camp to be honest. Drum Corps used tom perform without " themes ". For decades. When it was decided that " themes " and costuming appropriate for these " themes ". The Corps would  communicate to audiences in performance thru music, dance, choreo, attire, etc these" themes ", with its messaging. So far, so good I thought, when themes, messaging. However, it did not entirely work out as I had hoped. Too often the sizzle became the steak, ie, the spectacle of it  all became grand,  but the steak, despite more expensive left me disappointed. I'm of the opinion that its not really ok to have Drum Corps performances that are grand in sight,  sound, color, choreo, props, dance, b ut at the end of the performance large portions of the audience are either confused with what the theme and messaging is, or have no idea what the show was was about. Art and Music with Dance is about mostly communicating to an audience in a non verbal fashion. It is meant not to confuse, but to enlighten us . Many of these performers in current Drum Corps will go on to teach. I hope they teach marching band in a manner that communicates to audiences in a clear and cogent manner what the show is about.

 Now, as to the  SB half time performance of Bad Bunny. I found similarities to modern day Drum Corps. The " spectacle " of it all, ie sight, sound, attire, choreo, music, instrumentation, etc to be on the surface ( for me  ) wonderful.... but in the end,  on the whole regrettably, disappointing. For similar reasons in Drum Corps. I had no idea what the lyrics were, nor theme, or messaging. I guessed that it was an uplifting and optimistic theme and messaging, as they smiled, and the music was  portrayed with happy beats, no dissonance, or sour, unhappy angst and what not.

 The SB is broadcast world wide, including its halftime. Spanish was the language utilized by the main performer, Bad Bunny in performance. Its not their problem that this is his main language. Its my problem. But I am not alone... in the United States anyway. While the numbers of Spanish speaking in the US is rising, it is still only spoken and understood by approx 16%- 18% of the US public. As a result more than 80% of the US that watched the performance really did not understand the lyrics of the songs or its theme or its messaging. Like me, millions were left guessing. So for many in the US it was a wonderful spectacle. The " spectacle " for the non spanish speaking in the US was more than sufficient, with some some DCP posters here in that camp.

 But it was disappointing for many in the US it appears. TMZ poll ( of mostly young people ) came out yesterday. The poll had 260,000 respondents, a rather large sample.  Of presumably US TV/ cell phone watchers. The question asked was whether they preferred the Bad Bunny performance or the Turning Point USA half time performance. The poll results were  2-1 for the Turning Point USA half time performances. 67% to 33%. I happened to watch both. I had one on my TV, the other on my cell phone. I found I liked them about equally. The SB one for its dancing, grandness, optimistic tones and vibes, and the Turning Point USA one for its english speaking lyrics that I understood, and its optimistic tones and vibes as well. But there was no dancing, and the choreo non existent, so that brought that half time show down for me with that aspect. All in all, I found aspects of both entertaining, but neither were in my top 5 of half time performances. I'd have Prince, U2, Michael Jackson, Jennifer Lopez/ Shakira, Bruno Mars. Im sure others have their top 5. Music and dance is a personal thing. When it comes to such then, there are no right nor wrong answers.  So anyway, these are my thoughts on this. Chime in if others want to give their take. I'd be interested in what others assessed. Thanks Fred, for your input... 'appreciated.

[MikeN]

I thought it was absolutely fantastic and a great window into a culture and music I don't have a lot of familiarity with.  But in speaking with people that do, it's very clear the love and joy was readily felt.

Mike

[Jeff Ream]

i found it funny watching online a corps with a legacy of playing latin music had a ton of issues with latin music being played.

 

we ain't the demographics the NFL was going for. as they keep adding games in Spanish speaking markets, that's who they were going with. Bad Bunny isn't on my playlist, hell i'm still ###### Rush never got to play the Olympics in Canada. But the music was superb, great staging, and while i didn't get all of the references til later.....like watching many DCI shows....i thought the entire performance was great.