Turning Point USA clearly saw Bad Bunny‘s Super Bowl halftime booking as an affront to the nation that needed to be met by an alternative event for conservative viewers, but the “All-American Halftime Show” opted not to offer much in the way of provocation in return. Rather than come off as a protest event, the 35-minute program offered a set of mild, largely non-political performances that could have been mistaken for a vintage CMT or Nashville Network special — even from Kid Rock, who was on his very best behavior during a quick two-song appearance.
Bad Bunny? Never mentioned, or even alluded to… which was the case for anything else that might have raised much of an eyebrow or a stir, in a show that could have aired at just about any time in the 21st century, aside from the closing montage of Charlie Kirk imagery.
Without an announcer to offer context, there was no indication of where the performances were being broadcast from, or if they were taking place in real time. Brantley Gilbert was up first, followed by fellow country artists Brantley Gilbert and Lee Brice, before Kid Rock closed things out in an enclosed setting where a crowd of what looked to be about a hundred fans stood cheering on either side of a huge thrust ramp that extended across the studio floor.
Politics were limited to Brice singing “Real American,” which extols a mythical place where “everything’s made in the USA,” and Brice premiering a brand new song, “Country Nowadays,” in which he complains about seeing “a picture of a flag up in flames while people cheer,” along with making the statement, “little boys ain’t little girls.”
Brice said, “Charlie gave people mics so they could say what’s on their mind. This is what’s on mine.” The chorus of his new song: “Say I’m some right-wing devil ’cause I was down-south-Jesus-raised / It ain’t easy being country in this country nowadays.”
Four Black men stood on stage to introduce the main attraction — “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our brother, Robert Ritchie” — in a fleeting show of people of color.
Kid Rock started with some literal firepower, at least in the pyro department, as he sang an inoffensive version of his venerable rap hit “Bawitaba”; some of the performance appeared to be pre-recorded, as he only raised the mic to his mouth for about half the lyrics. But he seemed to be fully on-mic as he sang the closing ballad, “Till You Can’t,” a cover of a sentimental country hit from a few years back by Cody Johnson.
Love Film & TV?
Get your daily dose of everything happening in music, film and TV in Australia and abroad.
In his only spoken remarks, Kid Rock introduced “Till You Can’t” by saying that he was awakened one night with the Johnson song in his head and felt there was “a verse that still needed to be written for this song.” He then sang his self-penned addition, which was effectively an evangelical altar call: “There’s a book sitting in your house somewhere that could use some dusting off / There’s a man who died for all our sins hanging from the cross / You can give your life to Jesus and he’ll give you a second chance / Till you can’t.”
At song’s end, the camera moved over to big-screen photos of the late Charlie Kirk and his widow, Erika Kirk, who is now in charge of TPUSA, followed by a fade to darkness and closing credit that still did not offer many hints where the performance was taking place.
The show began with Gilbert’s guitarists offering “The Star Spangled Banner” in the tradition of Jimi Hendrix, before the singer himself emerged and led the band in a style closer to hard rock than classic country, as has been his custom. Barrett stuck closer to a Carrie Underwood style of country, starting with her breakout hit “I Hope” and following it with “One of the Good Ones.” Brice sang his hit “Drinking Class,” which includes the chorus “If you gotta label me, then label me proud / ‘Cause I belong to the drinking class,” a hit that conflates patriotic self-esteem with “rowdy” bar behavior and alcohol consumption.
A snafu arose when TPUSA announced on its X feed that the show would not be broadcast there, and viewers should turn their attention to the org’s YouTube channel. There, viewership was shown as peaking at just over 5 million when Kid Rock came on at 9:35 p.m. ET. With the third quarter of the Super Bowl having already begun after Bad Bunny’s shorter halftime performance and while Kid Rock was still on, YouTube viewers for the “All-American Halftime Show” dipped slightly to 4.4 million by the time the headliner finished.
The show was also available on other platforms and networks, like OAN, which was late to jump into the feed amid its nightly news program. There was no immediate estimate of overall viewership.
Although references to the big show in California and its lead performer were nil, Kid Rock had earlier described what he saw as the intent for the program. “We plan to play great songs for folks who love America. We’re approaching this show like David and Goliath. Competing with the pro football machine and a global pop superstar is almost impossible…or is it?” He continued, referencing Bad Bunny: “He’s said he’s having a dance party, wearing a dress, and singing in Spanish? Cool. We plan to play great songs for folks who love America.”
Detractors have noted the alternative halftime show’s inability to draw any current country hitmakers — the country performers on hand all had their runs of hits in the 2010s, except Barrett, who had her smash in 2020 — with some wondering where Jason Aldean, the most popular musician friend of President Trump, was. Aldean did at least come up for a mention, as Gilbert noted that his life was changed when Aldean recorded a song he co-wrote, the pioneering country-rap hybrid “Red Dirt Anthem,” which he then sang and rapped.
From Variety US