Prince is 48. That’s fun to think about while you watch YouTubes of the Purple One performing in the rain over and over and over today. Screw his physical ailments, Prince was four times as hip as any Super Bowl halftime show we can remember. From “Let’s Go Crazy” to “Proud Mary” to “Baby I’m A Star,” bluesy bits of “All Along The Watchtower” into a Foo Fighters(?!) cover (“Best Of You”) that was probably a highlight of Dave Grohl’s life — with chops the rain couldn’t stop, wearing a do-rag turban thing, with twin dancers, a marching band, and a perfect “Purple Rain” with Prince looking like he was playing in a massive condom. Best. (And kudos for avoiding the expected-yet-unnecessary Super Bowl cameos from Tina Turner, John Fogerty, or Dave Grohl, etc.)
Part 2 with (“Purple Rain” … in the rain!) right here. And we’ve got nothing but love for Billy Joel … but did you guys hear that auto-tuner he was singing through?! Yikes. And how about CBS Sports using the intro to “Stuck Between Stations” during a pregame, prerecorded Peyton Manning interview? They probably chose it based on song title alone, but still.
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Prince sucked a big one compared to this superbowl halftime spectacular
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NB_D5IbcAeg
They also used “Stuck Between Stations” because Peyton’s also a really cool kisser and not all that strict of a Christian.
it looks like he’s solo-ing with his penis out in that shadow thing
My friends and I liked how, through the silhouette, the little tendril coming off of Prince’s guitar looked like a giant, curling penis.
PURPLE MOTHAF*CKING RAIN!!!
IN THE RAIN!!!
Can’t get better than that.
I thought it was great, although I would’ve loved to be watching it in some dive bar someplace like Parma, Ohio, and see the reactions…
Just a shame they had some gay marching band crap.
His Foo Fighters cover was great though, really enjoyed that last night. It was the only thing good about the whole programme last night to be honest. The game was utter garbage.
the lightning right before “dearly beloved…” must be the greatest stage effect of all time.
Prince looked pretty remarkable. Apparently purple rain is full of alpha-hydroxy.
You can’t fuck with that performance. Whoever commented on the “gay” marching band – you must be foreign and couldn’t be more wrong.
I’ve loved that man since I was 11 and I missed it! Just as well because I can Youtube it in 5 minute segments because I’m losing my mind.
i was hoping that he’d slip and fall because the performance was a big snoozefest.
Obscure Sound posted on the show and threw up some great rips of “Purple Rain” and “All Along The Watchtower/Best Of You” – the quality being surprisingly and pleasantly better than they lead you to believe.
This was far and away the best halftime show I have ever seen. That guitar playing was RIDICULOUS! Also, hitting Mariah Carey-like high notes tunefully at age 48 in a packed stadium the pouring rain: Priceless.
“gay marching band”?!
are you fucking kidding me?!
the FAMU Marching 100, one of the greatest live shows on earth — “gay marching band”?
mom, from now on please don’t let little andy play on the computer without supervision. especially not when he’s soiled his underpants and feels grumpy.
honestly…
Prince totally killed it! It was absolute genius! Anyone who thinks otherwise is either jealous or a complete and total moron.
Perhaps he was required by his brethren to perform a Watchtower song…
PRINCE is a straight up pimp! nobody can do what he does….nobody……playing the guitar like jimi hendrix….but, jimi can’t dance like james brown…..& what a great electric guitar sound he had….PRINCE can do it all…..the premiere musical talent in the world right now just played in the purple rain……wow…that was great…..even my daughter asked me….who’s better than prince, daddy?……no one, baby…..no one.
I didn’t realize what a bad ass Prince was on the guitar until yesterday… He’s got some chops!
“i was hoping that he’d slip and fall because the performance was a big snoozefest.”
Attention: if you had this reaction to Prince’s halftime performance, just kill yourself now. You are far too cool to live, and the rest of existence is just going to bore you anyway.
I knew something was odd about Billy Joel’s voice. Sounded like he was singing through a fan.
I personally thought it was annoying. I don’t care who does the halftime show, but for once could they just get up play ONE FULL SONG and call it good? Why do they all feel the need to do a pathetic medley of songs? One good song would be much better, especially if it is their own song. Prince destroyed John Fogerty (Proud Mary), Bob Dylan (All Along the Watchtower), and The Foo Fighters (Best of You) all at once.
I agree, the Florida A&M marching band is pretty awesome.
So, yeah
Prince kicked dick. Cool of the little guy to play in the rain, too. I bet Sufjan Stevens would have pussed out.
Also funny that Prince, whose songs were once banned from the airwaves, is now considered “safe” entertainment for the Superbowl…
Jake, are you serious?
Prince did not destroy “Best of You.” I agree with ‘gum in saying he improved that song tenfold. Grohl’s face was melted with the rest of us. I could listen to his guitar shredding all day.
I hope Jake instantly died after posting that comment.
Dear dannygutters:
Thanks for undoing nearly 20 years of therapy that had helped me forget the Elvis Presto halftime performance.
And Prince’s halftime is definitely among the best. I’d still give that title to U2 in 2002, just a few months after 9/11 when everyone was still thinking the other shoe was going to fall any minute, and the national government was actually fighting (rather than encouraging) terrorism. Plus the Patriots won their first unlikely Super Bowl title that year, and yesterday’s game sucked.
Prince was good, but those 2 dancers that were up there with him had my attention, havent seen anyone move like that in a long time.
I was thinking about how weird it would be to be Prince in 1986 and have someone step out of a time machine and say “you’re going to play the halftime show of the super bowl in 2007″ and be like WTF ? I thought 1999 was way the hell in the future
“You can’t fuck with that performance. Whoever commented on the “gay” marching band – you must be foreign and couldn’t be more wrong.”–Rina
foreign? really?
it was a good one. Remember when U2 played the halftime show after 9-11 with all the names scrolling ddown. id say that is the best halftime show and his purpleness is second. i know a bunch of you guys hate U2 and i know they can get annoying but it was a tear jerker.
amen, e. the famu marching 100 are an amazing marching band!!!!
and prince was amazing.
john fogerty destroyed “proud mary”. Prince ruled.
At 48 Prince has long outlasted anyone from 1984, including the now-zombified Michael-Jackson-Creature. Check out the YouTube of James Brown, Prince and Michael Jackson. All Jackson ever had was his one schtick, but Prince can play, move, sing, write and all that. And Prince still rocks. He has always been talented, and always will be. No one today can compare, because everything is delivered to you in a plastic case, already pre-arranged and selected for your demographic. Those of you who thought it was lame are either terribly jaded or don’t know what actual talent and charisma is. So keep eating your plastic food with your plastic sporks.
that show was STRAIGHT CHURCH.
As soon as I saw the marching band I thought Stevie Nix was gonna join him for a version of Tusk.
a guy/experienced guitarist with whom i work (who also watched the show) insists prince was *not* playing live. he thinks prince’s singing was live. what do you guys think?
during the set (which was killer), i kept thinking “i wonder if he’ll get electrocuted…” then again, his six-inch heels probably keep him safe from electricity…and evil.
I keep seeing people make comments about Prince not playing guitar live because it looked like he wasn’t playing at some points when you could still hear guitar. But if you look closely, he is playing, he’s just playing one-handed because that’s how you play when you are A TOTAL BADASS.
He does this a lot (and so do plenty of others, but Prince is more show-offy about it), plays with his left hand without picking with his right hand.
Mark’s right on – any guitarist would’ve easily picked that up. Prince is a bad-ass guitarist. If you saw his performance at the R&R hall of Fame induct it was amazing.
the “playing live” thing is hard to figure out because you have a)camera vs. sound system which in a stadium throws off synch.. b) 7-second delay coupled with glitches on digital cable/delay through tivo etc…
listen to a recording of the show without video and you can tell it was recorded live- so the doubters say Prince was playing to a prerecorded “live” track? isn’t that silly when his vocals were live? I mean, download some Purple Rain shows to hear the man shred some axe, dude…
Prince not playing live? Baacking track?..HAHA!. Only a non-musical idiot would post such a thing. Stll practising simple sacels are we? FACE IT some people like Prince can DO ALL THAT and make it look very easy. KEPP PRACTISING DOUBTERS! I’ve seeen Prince in concerts, many on the same tour…and in small intimate venues. The solos are different always.
Prince not playing live? Backing track?..HAHA!. Only a non-musical idiot would post such a thing. Stll practicing simple scales are we? FACE IT – some people like Prince can DO ALL THAT and make it look very easy. KEEP PRACTICING DOUBTERS! I’ve seeen Prince in concerts, many on the same tour…and in small intimate venues. The solos are different always.
He is good at what he does, but a performer like this alienates half of the audience.(Older people, country lovers, etc), and no, this Super Bowl is just not watched by kids jumping up and down, holding penlights. I personally watched a few minutes of it, and went out and ran headlong into a block wall to wake myself up. Thank God I got to get a few laughs watching Rex. How about next time bringing several performers, each get one song. Screw the stages that take too long to set up, but the fireworks were OK.
im srry…but his voice sounded so horrendous, i didnt even recognize it.
WHY IN THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT PRINCE?
When you could be talking about The Hold Steady and “Stuck Between Stations.” Which is obviously the highlight of the whole night.
how was it a snooze fest??? prince is one of the greatest guitar players of all time. he rocked that show out.