Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Its weird to hear theSuper Bowl halftime showrefer to itself as one of the biggest nights in music.
The NFL doesnt carry the same luster that it used to.
People are souring on the game as it refuses to adapt to changing times.
This is how we get a Maroon 5 halftime show.
Now, give a hardworking SoCal rock band its flowers.
Maroon 5 outstripped and outlasted nearly every other act in the sentimental adult-contemporary bro-pop wave it washed in on.
The misses sound like made-for-television rom-com soundtrack music, like bad parodies of the real thing.
Maroon 5 is like salted peanuts.
The show belonged to the guests.
The peace-and-love display overhead during She Will Be Loved was pat.
The most controversial flourish was Big Boi getting an ATL, hoe!
Its fine for this band to not have a prickly political bone in its body.
Its not okay to cross a picket line and act like no ones fighting.
But the music didntsaymuch.
The moves didnt hold a candle to Jagger.
Thing is, in divided times, no comment is a comment.
Playing this show as dryly and safely as Maroon 5 did was a scab gesture.
One hopes the exposure they were paid in is worth the respect they stand to lose.