Were Maroon 5 the most boring Super Bowl halftime entertainers ever?

"They had played small shows before but this was the first gig I'd seen where they were not only going to play in front of their parents but also, possibly more importantly, their friends. They may have also been slightly nervous knowing that I was there."

Early in Maroon 5's career, the Los Angeles band played a version of itself on the 8th season of television's “Beverly Hills 90210” in an episode that aired in September of 1997. The group went by the name Kara's Flowers at the time, a high school band struggling to make it in actual reality but seemingly loved within the safe confines of a fictional TV venue. Nearly 22 years later, Maroon 5 performed at the 2019 Super Bowl halftime show to a global audience of many millions. On Sunday, as on the set of “Beverly Hills,” a built-in crowd placed in front of the stage cheered the band on, blurring the line between real fan and paid actor.

While most reviewers panned the halftime show as boring, it works as a symbol of Adam Levine and company’s unlikely career arc

The artists who took the field before the kickoff of the slog of a game between the Patriots and the Rams fared much better. Atlanta's Chloe x Halle delivered a mellifluous duet arrangement of "America the Beautiful"; and the 74-year-old Gladys Knight, aptly introduced as "the Empress of Soul," brought her trademark smooth power to the National Anthem. (Pitchfork)

Then there were the ads. Cardi B and Lil Jon lit up a diner to shill Pepsi; Chance the Rapper added some flair to the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way" (for Doritos); Levine and John Legend went on diaper duty for Pampers; and Bob Dylan's music showed up twice. There was the Budweiser ad featuring windmills and "Blowin' in the Wind," and then there was the Stella Artois clip that featured both Sarah Jessica Parker in character as Carrie from Sex and the City, joined by Jeff Bridges as the Dude from The Big Lebowskias that movie's opening song, "The Man in Me," played in the background. (Billboard)