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03rd Feb 2019

Maroon 5 are getting a lot of abuse for playing the Super Bowl half time show

Dave Hanratty

Maroon 5 Super Bowl half time show

And they haven’t even performed yet…

American football fever is kicking in with Super Bowl LIII just a few hours away at time of writing.

The eyes of the world will be on Atlanta, Georgia and not just for the action on the field of play.

The Super Bowl is very much a major multimedia event, housing new trailers for movies and TV shows, innovative ads looking to grab attention and the rich musical tradition that is the half time show.

Many icons have stepped up to the microphone on such nights and written themselves into the history books in the process.

Razzmatazz is in full force as money is spent and high production values look to dazzle those watching.

For one such shining example, here’s the late Prince being amazing:

Clip via NFL

Which brings us, nervously, to Maroon 5.

The Adam Levine-fronted pop outfit take the half time honours on Sunday and have been the subject of much criticism.

Apart from being, y’know, Maroon 5, the group has come under fire for essentially profiting off a very difficult and charged moment for the NFL in the wake of the whole Colin Kaepernick situation.

As such, securing artists to perform at the half time show has proven especially tricky, with the nod eventually going to Maroon 5, who had troubles of their own in getting any support acts in.

Maroon 5 have carried on regardless, with Adam Levine defending his band this week, saying:

“No one put more thought and love into this than I did. I spoke to many people. Most importantly, though, I silenced all the noise and listened to myself, and made my decision about how I felt.”

Those comments have drawn a fiery response from Mark Geragos, the attorney representing Colin Kaepernick, who labelled Levine’s defence as “a cop out” in an interview on Good Morning America.

“If you’re going to cross this idealogical or intellectual picket line, then own it, and Adam Levine certainly isn’t owning it,” Geragos said.

“It’s a cop-out when you start talking about, ‘I’m not a politician; I’m just doing the music.’ Most of the musicians who have any kind of consciousness whatsoever understand what’s going on here.”

Cardi B, meanwhile, has found herself in an interesting position of her own, having reportedly turned down “a lot of money” to perform with Maroon 5, choosing instead to show her support for Kaepernick.

“My husband [Offset of Migos fame], he loves football,” she told the Associated Press.

“His kids play football. It’s really hard for him. He really wants to go to the Super Bowl, but he can’t go to the Super Bowl, because he’s got to stand for something,” she added.

“You have to sacrifice that. I got to sacrifice a lot of money to perform. But there’s a man who sacrificed his job for us, so we got to stand behind him.”

Not great, and you can expect the resulting show itself to draw criticism because, y’know, Maroon 5.