Maroon 5 delivered a well-performed medley of hits at the Super Bowl halftime show at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Sunday, but I kept waiting for the "Atlanta" moment.
Sure, we got a few seconds of what was probably a local marching band. And maybe another 30 seconds of a gospel choir. And Big Boi of Atlanta's own OutKast-- for less than two minutes.
Along the way, we saw Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine singing in front flames.
Adam Levine with a guitar.
Adam Levine in the crowd.
Adam Levine dance with Big Boi.
Adam Levine lose his jacket.
And then his shirt.
And we also saw Houston rapper Travis Scott made a quick, expletive-filled appearance (no, the rumors of a Kylie Jenner proposal turned out not to be true).
Oh, we also got SpongeBob.
But we didn't see many other nods to a city with such a rich musical history as Atlanta. No current Atlanta artists (Goodie Mob, Migos, Childish Gambino), nor an full OutKast reunion. No tip of the hat to classic Atlanta artists.
We also saw no response to the Colin Kaepernick controversy that some say led to artists turning down invitations to appear. (Not that we had to, but Adam Levine did say in a pre-Super Bowl interview that the band would honor "social justice," saying, "They will be [heard].")
Instead we got a fairly well-produced "safe" halftime show. No doubt just what the NFL wanted when they signed Maroon 5 as the featured performer.
It won't be remembered as the worst Super Bowl halftime show ever. In fact, most probably won't remember it at all.
Luckily, the world was treated to a taste of the talent Atlanta has to offer before the game as sister duo Chloe x Halle opened with a great rendition of "America the Beautiful", and Gladys Knight more than delivered her end with a stunning performance of the national anthem.
Phillip Kish is a digital content manager at 11Alive. He once saw Maroon 5 open for Cowboy Mouth at a small venue in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
