With next year's Super Bowl 50 happening in the Bay Area, at Levi's Stadium, it's almost a no-brainer that hometown heroes Metallica would make a perfect choice to play the halftime show. They are a big enough band, on the level of some recent acts such as Katy Perry and the Red Hot Chili Peppers and they are the hometown boys. In fact, there has been such an uprising of support in the last few days, that a petition has been launched and has over 2,000 people who signed it already. The petition declares:
It's time. It's time for the sugar-pop and candy artists to step aside in favor of real American metal. It's time to put a band (you know, one that actually plays instruments and does it well) on the field and let them plug in and do their thing. We don't need pop-tarts on mechanical tigers giving us flash and no substance, we need amps and drums cranked up and played with power and emotion. It's time.
Give America what it wants and needs. Metallica will not let you down. I guarantee it.
Now a petition is all well and good but I wouldn't get my hopes up. This past summer, it was revealed that the NFL asks the artists playing the halftime show for something in return:
When reaching out to artists, league representatives asked some acts if they would exchange a headlining slot for a portion of their post-Super Bowl tour earnings, or make another type of financial contribution to the NFL. Sources told the Journal that the suggestion, perhaps unsurprisingly, "got a chilly reception from the candidates' representatives."
And after this story came out, guess who publicly blasted the NFL for this practice? Metallica's booking agent! He told Rolling Stone in August:
"Halftime's for sale," says Dennis Arfa, agent for Metallica, Billy Joel and Rush. "If I was a young band, and I had a billionaire backer, I'd buy my way to the Super Bowl — everybody would know me after the Super Bowl. Is Paul McCartney going to pay? I doubt it."
You know who else isn't willing to pay? Metallica! Of course, there is still a chance it could work. Say Metallica actually hunker down and finally finish their album this year and plan to release it in the first quarter of 2016. What better place to unveil a new song than the Super Bowl itself?
I guess there is no harm in signing the petition.
Video Content Presented by Qello Concerts:
