NFL strikes deaf tone with Super Bowl tunes

ATLANTA — Dear NFL, As a resident of this wonderful city, let me welcome you well in advance of your visit Feb. 3 for Super Bowl LIII. I must admit, ever since you announced that your showcase event was coming to Mercedes-Benz, I was curious about who you would choose as your featured performer for the halftime show given the wealth of musical acts that have originated here. The last time you brought the Super Bowl to Atlanta, you missed an opportunity by making it a Disney production that included a classical orchestra and a tapestry of songs performed by Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias and Toni Braxton, the only artist of the group who had anything to do with Atlanta. For what it’s worth, nearly every ranking of Super Bowl halftime shows — including from publications such as “Rolling Stone” and Vulture — have that show near or at the bottom of the list. Surely, I thought, the NFL would get it right this time and showcase one of America’s most culturally and musically vibrant cities the way it deserves. You could have gone with Usher, Outkast, Ludacris or Migos. You could have mixed in a little John Mayer, who launched his career in Atlanta, or brought back grunge rock with Collective Soul. Elton John and Justin Bieber live at least part time in Atlanta. You could have even given a nod to country with Zac Brown Band or Jason Aldean. The point is, from CeeLo Green to Killer Mike to Future to TI, Lil Yachty, the bench here is pretty deep and diverse. Of course, being the NFL, perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised that, according to a report from “Variety,” you instead chose Maroon 5, one of America’s most inoffensive, milquetoast pop groups with only one apparent tie to Atlanta: keyboardist PJ Morton is a graduate of Morehouse College. Nothing against Maroon 5, whose music is perfectly appropriate for a variety of activities and audiences, but it would be almost impossible to pick a pop act this side of Nickelback that says “not Atlanta” like the one the NFL chose. The only reasonable explanation for that is the NFL just doesn’t care. And maybe that’s fine. The Super Bowl is different from any other televised event, and the halftime show isn’t like any other musical performance. It’s short, flashy and theoretically needs to appeal to a wide audience. Not every Atlanta-related act is going to do that, especially if it’s heavy on hip-hop. It’s also true that only a small fraction of the Super Bowl audience is going to know or care where it’s being played. There is no obligation to make the host city part of the spectacle. And yet it does play a role in certain situations. Last year when Justin Timberlake was the featured performer in Minneapolis, it seemed obvious that there would be some tribute to Prince. As weird and controversial as it turned out to be, it was appropriate because the association between Prince and the city where he lived was a huge part of both his story and the city’s identity. Atlanta is much the same way, albeit not tied to one particular artist. And that’s the thing. There were so many to choose from, it’s kind of amazing, NFL, that you couldn’t find even one that would have appropriately honored the host city.