Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
HalfTime Show @XLII Superbowl, Phoenix 03/02/2008

LA RECENSIONE

Some numbers: among the ten most-watched events in the history of American television, 8 are Super Bowl. On average, the event (which has reached its forty-second edition this year) is followed by about 90 million American citizens at a time, plus another 500 million scattered across the globe (in Italy, we're usually 8; this year, we were 7... We're still looking for the absentee...).   The Super Bowl has become this media event because, in addition to showcasing the second most important sport in the States (the first is Baseball), it is a true Show, in the truest sense of the word, which has its own ritual and well-established program: having entered so deeply into American habits that it inflates advertising spaces to exorbitant prices within it (especially this year, given the presence of electoral ads) and thus moves a lot of money that the N.F.L. (the American Professional Football League) invests smartly, staging Pharaohic Shows... All in a whirlpool of popcorn, hotdogs, beer, and young ladies not exactly dressed modestly (what would the world be without Cheerleaders? Especially those of my Raiders, the Raiderettes).   Leaving aside details that might bore you, I'll just say that (besides the game, obviously) the highlight of the event is the Half Time Show, a half-hour (variable depending on the year) dedicated to real Musical Events (Here is the list of stars over the years).   This year in Phoenix, performing in front of about 75,000 spectators in the Arena (many of whom came down onto the field) and another 120 million in front of the TV (this year's live broadcast ranked second among the most-watched in history) was the great Tom Petty along with his Heartbreakers: 4 pieces presented in just over ten minutes, a mini-concert, short in duration but leaving an intense impact that will remain well imprinted in the memory of those who enjoyed it.   I don't want to dwell too much on technical-tactical descriptions or anything else because below I will link the images of the show for each piece, so you can judge for yourselves, and also because I admit that this is not a review but just a way to share the event with you (feel free to rate my writing harshly, I'm ready).   However, a small mention must be made regarding the emotion felt while the entire Stadium audience sang "Free Fallin'" along with good old Tom, and if it touched me like that in front of the TV, I don't even want to think about what it was like there...   The Proposed Pieces:   American Girl   I Won't back Down   Free Fallin'   Runnin' Down a Dream     For the record, and for those interested, in the end, the Giants won...   Mo.