"If you start me up I'll never stop..."

There was recently a TV show in which old, long-defunct bands like A Flock of Seagulls and a bunch of other people whose identities escape me reunited and performed one of their old hits (or in most cases, their only hit) and a contemporary song. At the time, this show gave me a newfound respect for the Rolling Stones, and made me realize that it's not a given that four or five old(ish) people will be able to get together and make competent music and give entertaining performances.

Then along came the Super Bowl.

Was it me, or was that an overwhelmingly mediocre halftime set? The sound was muddy, the performances were sloppy, and they managed to fit in a total of three songs. I know I shouldn't complain too much, because they're old men who are lucky to be alive at this point, and I know I'm probably spoiled from having Paul McCartney play last year (who'd have thought that all these years later, the Stones would still be desperately following in the Beatles' footsteps? Or at least a Beatle's...). But come on, this is one of the biggest audiences these guys will ever have, they gotta bring it!

And the song selection? Obviously "Start Me Up" and "Satisfaction" were unavoidable, but even as I was hoping they would try something less predictable, I couldn't help but be disappointed that it was a new song. With rare exceptions (like... well, Paul McCartney, and of course my buddy Brian Wilson, although Smile is sort of a rulebreaker in a number of ways), new music from icons a generation removed from their peak is almost never worth hearing, and never is there a worse juxtaposition than when it's played between two of the most recognizable songs in the entire pop music canon. Worst of all, they could have played another two songs if they'd cut down the pointlessly long and rambling endings to their two supersmashes. It's not as if Ron Wood or Keith Richards are spectacular soloists (another problem with their performance). Even if they'd just stuck to their big hits, wouldn't you much rather hear, say, "Gimme Shelter" or "Brown Sugar" than another four minutes of Wood and Richards trading sloppy blues riffs while Mick Jagger prances around yelling unitelligible gibberish that may or may not be related to the song?

I know I would.

One caveat: I stopped paying close attention during large stretches of the aforementioned long and rambling sections and started listening to the clarion call of the beer in the fridge, so if they played more songs that I missed somehow, I'll obviously have to change this entry somewhat.