Music: Lady Gaga's Super Bowl Performance

[Hossa]

They've been around a lot longer, giving them a wider fan base. Even just looking at their new albums, Metallica outsold her by 100k in the first week of availability (280k to 170k, including streaming). I highly doubt she can sell out stadiums consistently world-wide like they can.

On some level that's a question of how to identify a proxy indicator for number of fans, because it's not like registering membership of a political party. For example, selling out stadiums is one thing, but Gaga has almost ten times the number of Instagram followers. Sales of a recent record are also useful, but then again if you look at most downloaded songs in Itunes, clearly that's more Gaga's territory.

Anyway, worldwide implies beyond the US and the west, so for any of that to be truly indicative you'd have to break it down a bit and it's really not important enough to bother with that, especially as their target demographics probably don't overlap too much. But I can only speak to the eye test of living in and travelling throughout Asia over the past 3-4 years, and Gaga's prominence here is remarkable. I can't imagine Metallica comes close in terms of popularity in this part of the world, but I could be wrong.

 

[Shareefruck]

I feel like the performer should be almost universally respected for their musical accomplishments

And right or wrong, I think the performing act should be American since the Super Bowl is the biggest annual event in America

So bands like Aerosmith, The Beach Boys, Pearl Jam, etc.

And solo acts such as Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, etc.

You have to remember that most of the audience are males 18 - 49 and I doubt the majority of them have Lady Gaga on their iTunes playlist


Here's an outside-the-box pick to perform at the next Super Bowl: Tool

Yeah, I initially thought that mismatch seemed overblown/wasn't a big surprise, but seeing those half-naked male dancers dancing flamboyantly, and beaming with theatrical, effeminate, dramatic flair (not sure what the politically correct way to describe that is, but screw it) was pretty surreal given the demographic you would expect to be at those things.

Or has The Super Bowl just become such a cultural event now that people of all types of demographics dominate the stadium without even being football fans? I guess that's probably it.

 

[member 151739]

The NFL should have got an awesome metal band like Dobby Lives, Falcon Destroyer, Roman Reigns, or Newman the Postman instead of pop icon Lady Gaga.

That's what the millions of casual viewers wanna see during halftime: unknown or irrelevant metal bands from yesteryear.

Note: these bands do not exist.

Or has The Super Bowl just become such a cultural event now that people of all types of demographics dominate the stadium without even being football fans? I guess that's probably it.

Yes. And a large chunk of viewers watch just for the commercials and the halftime show.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Y

Or has The Super Bowl just become such a cultural event now that people of all types of demographics dominate the stadium without even being football fans? I guess that's probably it.

Yes. And the television audience is roughly split 50/50 male and female, and is represented in all but the oldest demographics. Think of the halftime show like the commercials. They aren't necessarily for the people tuning in to watch a football game.

Which is why it seems likely that acts with broader appeal (i.e. pop acts rather than metal acts, given the discussion in this thread) will be booked for the halftime (and no, I am not getting into value judgments about the music itself - suffice to say I did not recognize most of Gaga's tunes from Sunday). Also remember that metal (and there's quite a bit of metal in my personal collection) has less of an appeal to black audiences, which we also know make up a significant portion of the TV viewership. I assume that's why none of these superstar country artists have been booked to play a SB halftime.

 

[BonMorrison]

You have to remember that most of the audience are males 18 - 49 and I doubt the majority of them have Lady Gaga on their iTunes playlist

That demographic is ALREADY watching the Super Bowl, they don't care about that demographic nor should they. The entire purpose of the halftime show is to reel in those who are not watching and it works most of the time because there is always vocal amount of people who proclaim they're only watching the half time show (like me, I hate football).

 

[discostu]

If I had to place a bet on next year's halftime show, I'd pick Maroon 5.

They have lots of hits, appeal to the female demographic, differentiates from the solo female artists they've had last few years, plus, Levine has a ton of collaborations with other pop artists, so it's easy enough to throw other acts in there without being too forced.

Plus, it's on NBC, and he's been a judge for the Voice for years.

 

[BonMorrison]

^That would be a very smart choice even though I hate new Maroon 5.

 

[DeYarmond Edison]

I'm actually surprised this thread only had a couple "rAwR more deth metal!!! we R men!!!!" posts. Good job everyone.

Lady Gaga killed it.

 

[BonMorrison]

Gaga is performing with Metallica at the Grammys this weekend so there ya go, metal people.

 

[Troy McClure]

Not a fan of music but what a freaking showman.

They could have Bruno Mars perform every halftime show, and I'd be fine with it. I'll never go buy his music, but the guy is this generation's James Brown. Dude puts on an awesome show.

 

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

Not as good as Bruno Mars' show, but still one of the best in years.

 

[Pilky01]

I thought it was remarkably un-remarkable.

 

[RobBrown4PM]

Bland music from a bland artist.

They should have dug up Dave Brockie, slapped his suit on him and gotten GWAR to play half time.

GWAR doesen't have the greatest music, but definitely have the best shows.

Also, Alex Jones probably would have gone into sensory overload.

 

[Takuto Maruki]

Man, metal fans sure love to **********.

 

[Sniper99]

Felt the same. Won't be remembered at all.

Then you guys watched the wrong half time show. I thought it was great.

 

[Cloned]

A better quality version. Sound is much better on this video.

I can't wait for her Grammy's performance.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

I think Gaga put on a fine performance, but I gotta admit: I'm not sure her songs have aged too well outside of Just Dance. Telephone in particular.

And yeah, Mars could pop up as often as need be. I never bought an album of his, but his big songs starting from the Unorthodox Jukebox era hit that happy medium for me as far as mainstream pop goes, especially since he is a great performer.

 

[BonMorrison]

I think Gaga put on a fine performance, but I gotta admit: I'm not sure her songs have aged too well outside of Just Dance. Telephone in particular.

And yeah, Mars could pop up as often as need be. I never bought an album of his, but his big songs starting from the Unorthodox Jukebox era hit that happy medium for me as far as mainstream pop goes, especially since he is a great performer.

Weird, I thought the opposite. Felt Just Dance had no place in the set but thought everything else was great especially Telephone and Million Reasons.

 

[tony d]

Amazing performance by her, one of the better half time shows in Super Bowl history.

 

[Neutrinos]

Why have The Beach Boys never performed at halftime?

Good Vibrations, I Get Around, Fun Fun Fun, Barbara Ann, California Girls, Surfin' USA, Kokomo, etc.

Lots of people know the lyrics to these songs. It would make for a great atmosphere with people in the stadium singing along

Yes, they're old as music itself, but they're a huge part of America's music history and it would be great seeing them on America's biggest stage one last time

I saw them live back in 2015 and they can still bring it

 

[Sniper99]

Why have The Beach Boys never performed at halftime?

Good Vibrations, I Get Around, Fun Fun Fun, Barbara Ann, California Girls, Surfin' USA, Kokomo, etc.

Lots of people know the lyrics to these songs. It would make for a great atmosphere with people in the stadium singing along

Yes, they're old as music itself, but they're a huge part of America's music history and it would be great seeing them on America's biggest stage one last time

I saw them live back in 2015 and they can still bring it

They're too busy doing casino shows and post game shows for Single A baseball teams.

 

[Bjorn Le]

People seemingly referring to Metallica as just some metal band that appeals to a niche market and headbangers is simply wrong; Metallica is about as mainstream as you can get for 1980s rock, regardless of it's de facto genre. To say Metallica is that is to say Gaga is "just some pop star." The people who made Metallica popular are old enough to be the parents of most of the people on these boards. They actually wouldn't be a bad choice for a Super Bowl half time that wants to draw in people outside the main market for football. Not as good a choice as Gaga for those purposes of course but let's not pretend they're not insanely popular (and mainstream). They are not just some metal band.

Say what you will about Gaga, but she's probably one of the "best" pop acts currently out there. Certainly one of the few who is going to be remembered fifty years from now. She's unique, individualistic, and even if you don't like the music (I don't), there's substance behind it. Not really sure how many pop artists I can say that about. No one will talk about Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber etc. decades from now, but I think we'll still talk about Gaga.

 

[HatTrick Swayze]

I guess I'm in the minority. Not impressed with the vocal performance at all.

 

[Hammettf2b]

That demographic is ALREADY watching the Super Bowl, they don't care about that demographic nor should they. The entire purpose of the halftime show is to reel in those who are not watching and it works most of the time because there is always vocal amount of people who proclaim they're only watching the half time show (like me, I hate football).

Gay people be like

 

[BonMorrison]

^Exactly.

(Important to note for anyone not familiar that the above meme was posted by someone that is gay and is not making random assumptions about people )