When we were asked by the NFL and Bruno to play our song Give It Away at the Super Bowl, it was made clear to us that the vocals would be live, but the bass, drums, and guitar would be pre-recorded. I understand the NFL's stance on this, given they only have a few minutes to set up the stage, there a zillion things that could go wrong and ruin the sound for the folks watching in the stadium and the t.v. viewers. There was not any room for argument on this, the NFL does not want to risk their show being botched by bad sound, period.
So, when this Super Bowl gig concept came up, there was a lot of confusion amongst us as whether or not we should do it, but we eventually decided, it was a surreal-like, once in a life time crazy thing to do and we would just have fun and do it. We had given this a lot of thought before agreeing to do it, and besides many a long conversation amongst ourselves, I spoke with many musician friends for whom I have the utmost respect, and they all said they would do it if asked, that it was a wild trippy thing to do, what the hell. Plus, we the RHCP all love football too and that played a big part in our decision. We decided that, with Anthony singing live, that we could still bring the spirit and freedom of what we do into the performance, and of course we played every note in the recording specially for the gig. I met and spoke with Bruno, who was a beautiful dude, a real talented musician, and we worked out something that seemed like it would be fun.
For the actual performance, Josh, Chad, and I were playing along with the pre recorded track so there was no need to plug in our guitars, so we did not. Could we have plugged them in and avoided bumming people out who have expressed disappointment that the instrumental track was pre recorded? Of course easily we could have and this would be a non-issue. We thought it better to not pretend. It seemed like the realest thing to do in the circumstance. It was like making a music video in front of a gazillion people, except with live vocals, and only one chance to rock it. Our only thought was to bring the spirit of who we are to the people.
how many times does it need to be said that it was NFL's choice and a justified one at that?
it's impossible for them to have all their instruments plugged in, tuned, ready to go on top of setting that huge stage up. It's best to prerecord the music because anything could happen.
In this situation a safe, but great sounding show > a live, botched show.
It would be different if this was their routine tour... but it's not. they did the best they could with the situation they were in.
This is what Beyoncé had her band do too. The musicians had to record their instrumentals about 2 weeks before the show. At the rehearsals, everyone but the drum player was going to prerecorded tracks, including Bey (except for one run through). I know because I was at the rehearsals and my friend rode on the plane with the musicians from New York to New Orleans.
oh I get it, everyone is forced to put instrumental stuff prerecorded cause they don't want you to mess up? That makes sense. That actually protects the artist cause if the song was bad, that's all what people would talk about
oh I get it, everyone is forced to put instrumental stuff prerecorded cause they don't want you to mess up? That makes sense. That actually protects the artist cause if the song was bad, that's all what people would talk about
Yes. but they also do it for the Super Bowl show as a whole and because the nfl is partly responsible. They want no messes whatsoever and if there is a malfunction/error of some sort they've covered all the bases so the blowback will obviously fall on the halftime performers and no one else (see Nipplegate Super Bowl 2004).
I completely understand where RHCP are coming from.
With all the logistics of the event (moving a whole stage to a football field, getting sound board set up, etc.) it's understandable that they didn't want live instrumentation. On top of that, it's the most watched television event in the U.S. All it takes is one mishap, and the sound of the show could be off.
Bruce Springsteen pre-recorded the instrumental of his halftime show too, they were forced
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Originally posted by Giliap
how many times does it need to be said that it was NFL's choice and a justified one at that?
it's impossible for them to have all their instruments plugged in, tuned, ready to go on top of setting that huge stage up. It's best to prerecord the music because anything could happen.
In this situation a safe, but great sounding show > a live, botched show.
It would be different if this was their routine tour... but it's not. they did the best they could with the situation they were in.
my point is that it's not very rock n roll of them. Blame me for putting at a higher regard than other acts. A true rock n roll legend, as we've been learning about them by their fanatics for years, wouldn't agree to this.
my point is that it's not very rock n roll of them. Blame me for putting at a higher regard than other acts. A true rock n roll legend, as we've been learning about them by their fanatics for years, wouldn't agree to this.
Girl stop right there, they CLEARLY said the NFL didn't want to risk it, it's like this every year and for you to say it's not "very rock n' roll" is ridiculous If I were them I wouldn't argue with the NFL it's bringing them promo (and worked being as though their Greatest Hits a album is in the top ten on iTunes)
Girl stop right there, they CLEARLY said the NFL didn't want to risk it, it's like this every year and for you to say it's not "very rock n' roll" is ridiculous If I were them I wouldn't argue with the NFL it's bringing them promo (and worked being as though their Greatest Hits a album is in the top ten on iTunes)
So you're saying they sold out their rock n roll values for success? Not very rock n roll. That was my point. Good for them though, I liked the performance.
Chad said the same thing about Bruno being a beautiful guy, he complimented his hair, his teeth and I am pretty sure he wanted to say lips too but it would have been creepy.
So you're saying they sold out their rock n roll values for success? Not very rock n roll. That was my point. Good for them though, I liked the performance.
I didn't know there was a rock n' roll handbook saying what you could & couldn't do. Get over it, congratulate them & keep it moving
They're right.
Not very rock n roll. That was my point. Good for them though, I liked the performance.