Super Bowl Halftime Shows

I saw this post from Mitchell and Ness's blog and couldn't resist a comment on it.  They asked, simply, which Super Bowl halftime show was the best?

I will tell you, categorically, in the post-"Nipplegate" era, the two worst were Prince and the Black Eyed Peas. Purely terrible. I don't have high expectations for Madonna either. Yet prior to the Janet Jackson fiasco, the halftime shows had been fairly atrocious also (save for U2's remarkable post-9/11 show).

Wikipedia has the full list here. Some of those shows make me pine for the days of marching bands and Up with People.

By the way, Wikipedia also has Madge's set list already. Sheesh. No buildup there.

Anyway, the best? Sticking to the event since after Super Bowl XXXVIII (that's the Janet Jackson game). Some didn't like The Who (Super Bowl XLIV), but I thought they were fine. The Rolling Stones didn't impress me at all (XL), to be blunt. I've already said I thought Prince (XLI) and the Peas (XLV) were terrible. I enjoyed Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (XLII) who were a surprise choice but really rocked. But there are two clear winners:

Paul McCartney (XXXIX), which can't be embedded. Macca went with "Drive My Car", "Get Back", "Live and Let Die", and "Hey Jude" for a safe, yet rollicking show the year after we got to see more of Janet Jackson than we asked for.

But the clear runaway winner is...
Bruce, of course. Step back from the guacamole dip!


Do I need to say it? They kicked...well, you know what (even with a shortened "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out"). Complete with Bruce sliding into the camera!

And in case you need a reminder of how that game ended...

Makes me feel good to watch that.