With yesterday's announcement that pop stars Jennifer Lopez and Shakira would be performing at this January's Super Bowl halftime show, came a new wave of disappointed rock fans and musicians angry that a rock band, namely Metallica, were not the ones selected to headline Super Bowl LIV.
The biggest voice of dissent came from former Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider.
My point about this years @NFL halftime show isn’t a slight on @shakira or @JLo, it’s frustration that week after week rock is the go to music during games but gets no respect when it comes to the Super Bowl! And I don’t think I’m popular enough for that slot. But @Metallica…
— Dee Snider (@deesnider) September 27, 2019
To add insult to injury, Jay Z is promoting this year”s @NFL Super Bowl half time show (no problem with that) and his company is called …ROCK NATION?! #Wherestherock?
— Dee Snider (@deesnider) September 27, 2019
All That Remains' Phil Labonte also was confused…
? Hey @NFL. Maybe you should get the biggest band in history. @metallica https://t.co/6RTfs4Dpay
— PhilThatRemains on youtube, IG, Twitch #BLM ?️? (@philthatremains) September 27, 2019
But, I want to just remind you of one thing, it's a very simple fact, and it is indeed a fact…
Metallica will never play the Super Bowl!
It just won't happen. There is no reason to get upset or feel any kind of way about an annual corporate event that chooses not to feature a metal band during it's midgame Pepsi commercial. That's basically what the halftime show is.
It's a giant commercial for Pepsi.
The soda brand has sponsored the halftime show for as long as I can remember, and it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out they have a big hand in picking who the performers that will be wrapped all in Pepsi logos would be. Pepsi is not interested in a metal band. They want a pop band.
The halftime show is not targeted towards football fans
Beyond the halftime show being a commercial for Pepsi, one thing that football fans seem to miss is that the halftime show of the biggest game of the year is aimed not at them, but the people who chose to come to the party for the food and not for the football. It is general interest that they are going for.
Metallica aren't about to lip sync
Beyond that, the halftime show is incredibly staged. Artists are literally lip syncing their vocals and pantomiming their performance on instruments, because everything is played to a track – because with so little time, so much money involved and so many people watching, nobody wants to leave anything to chance. Remember how roasted Red Hot Chili Peppers were? Can you see Metallica just pantomiming a performance? Do you even want to? Remember how weird that moment at the Grammys was for Metallica? Imagine at the Super Bowl. No thanks.
It would've happened already
If Metallica were to have played the Super Bowl, the time for it to have happened would've been Super Bowl 50 in their home city of San Francisco. Everything was aligned, it was their home city, they were about to put out their new album, and they were as big as ever. But it didn't happen. Instead, Metallica played a huge free show the night before at the local baseball stadium.
Metallica is the biggest touring band in the world. They are obviously on NFL's radar. The message was clear, the NFL was not interested. And, turns out Metallica is also not interested.
Metallica don't even want to play the halftime show
In an interview of September 2016 on Nikki Sixx's radio show, James Hetfield made it clear he was not interested in doing the whole dog and pony show.
“I can’t dance, I can’t jump around, I’m not an acrobat, I’m not a variety show, you know? We are artists. We’re a band. We love playing songs. We’re not gonna fly through the air on a sparkly star with a unicorn.
“It’s become less about music unfortunately and more about just the spectacle. When we played for the fiftieth anniversary of the NFL… right here in our hometown and they didn’t have us do it… that would have been the time. Maybe that time has passed?”
See? Even the band has moved on. Perhaps metal fans should as well. Who needs the Super Bowl? Or as Jamey Jasta put it:
You know why Metallica & Slipknot aren’t doing the Super Bowl? Because they actually sing & play and can’t be reduced to lip syncing & lame-o shit. Next!
— Jamey Jasta (@jameyjasta) September 27, 2019
