Bruce Springsteen At The Super Bowl: Bionic Hips And Dream Playlists

Lucas Jensen | January 22, 2009 12:30 pm

Don’t feel too bad for the recently snubbed Bruce Springsteen—in case you haven’t heard, he’s playing at this event called the Super Bowl, where he’ll join the h halftime-performer ranks of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Up With People. Beyond picking up some pretty nice backstage swag (those NFL beer cozies have zippers!), the Super Bowl also gives hobbit guitarist Nils Lofgren an excuse to (I swear this is true) try out his new bionic hips, which he needs because of his onstage antics:

The Super Bowl halftime performance also marks a kind of unveiling of Lofgren’s new “bionic” hips, the result of replacement surgery in October. That was necessitated by the wear and tear of athletics and an “aggressive” performing style that has included onstage backflips off a mini-trampoline.

Despite the ongoing healing, Lofgren said he’s in fine shape to play the 12 minutes at the Super Bowl and should even be in shape to go on tour with Springsteen and company to support the new “Working on a Dream” album after its January 27 release.

Wait. Backflips off a mini-trampoline? That’s both cool and lame. And double wait… 12 minutes? This is Bruce Springsteen we’re talking about here. Someone once told me a rather believable joke about him covering “Stairway To Heaven” and making it longer. Along with Neil Young, he’s the master of the triple-fake ending, wherein he brings the band back into a jam with sweaty head nods, 1-2-3-4 countdowns, and sly grins. The Boss (with E Street Band) has trouble fitting “Rosalita” into 12 minutes, much less an entire set.

NFL.com has a halftime show preview site up (you can preorder Springsteen’s Rolling Stone-beloved Working On A Dream… synergy!) and they’re running a poll wherein users can pick their favorite playlists from these bizarre choices:

Playlist A: Glory Days, My Lucky Day, Badlands, Born to Run Playlist B: Born to Run, Rosalita, Working on a Dream, The Rising Playlist C: The Rising, Darkness on the Edge of Town, Working on a Dream, Hungry Heart Playlist D: Born in the USA, Thunder Road, Rosalita, My Lucky Day Playlist E: Born to Run, Dancing in the Dark, Radio Nowhere, The Rising Playlist F: Rosalita, The Wrestler, Glory Days, Born to Run Playlist G: Glory Days, Born to Run, The Rising, Working on a Dream

A lot of love for “Rosalita” there, but it’s a little heavy on the new stuff nobody knows. Plus these setlists are all four songs long, and unless the man does a medley (*shudder*) I just don’t see that fitting into the allotted time. And do people still not realize how depressing “Born in the USA” is? (Playlist D is winning right now, as well it should be.)

I don’t know. I’d love to see him go deep and play something like “Candy’s Room” or “Adam Raised A Cain” (I’ve been on a Darkness kick lately), but I doubt that will ever happen.

What’s your dream Bruce Springsteen halftime playlist? And I don’t want to hear from you Negative Nancies out there who say “No Bruce Springsteen songs!” or something to that effect.

Oh, and my Super Bowl pick: Steelers 31, Cardinals 28 in a surprise shootout. You should trust me here. I did pick the Steelers. (Did anybody really pick the Cards a few weeks ago?)

Which playlist will Springsteen perform? [NFL.com]