Madonna -- Superbowl - Feb 5 2012

Madonna - Since no one booked anything opposite the Superbowl, I flew to Indianapolis to check out the Madonna halftime set. Of course, by fly, I mean I sat on my couch and scribbled some notes. I actually could have gone to a hip hop show at the 9:30 Club starting after the game, but I already had this idea. Kudos to them for putting out some music tonight.

Madonna had an Egyptian theme going at first, was stylish and modestly costumed as were all the dancers. I was interested to see her and all the female dancers do everything in heels, while the men get gym shoes. Maybe that goes on all the time, I don't really know--I'm kind of out of my comfort zone here. Like in recent years, the lights and animation around the staging is excellent. I liked the guy's low wire act. More themes came in the form of cheerleaders and marching bands before the finale with Madonna in a full black gown and a full choir chiming in. Everything was slick and successful and this makes a lot more sense than aging rock acts or the Blackeyed Peas. I am not even going to reopen an old argument among friends between the hideous performances of Elvis Presto and Up with People. But if you want to revisit the horror, try out this portion of the worst half-time show ever.Event of the Night: Deli Magazine named Deleted Scenes as DC's breakout artist of the year for the second straight year. This is truly one of the slowest breakouts I have seen, but the way the music business is these days, it makes a lot more sense the more I think about it. Anyway, they are a fine band hopefully they and many of the other bands will break out enough to get off this list next year. Anyway, here's the list and it is a good reminder of how many bands I need to get out and see this year.