Adam Levine and Maroon 5, pictured here in an earlier show, took over the Super Bowl halftime show Sunday night. (Getty) ATLANTA — Maroon 5 edged into the Super Bowl with a whimper, but left the stage with a bang. Or, at least, plenty of fireworks. The festivities began with Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine taking to a gargantuan MV-shaped stage as quickly deployed lights all over the field flashed in time and flames lit up the edges of the stage. A crowd of conveniently cheerful extras thronged the stage for some of Maroon 5’s pleasingly competent power pop. Levine had hinted that there would be some sort of nod to social justice in the performance, but that wasn’t immediately apparent in the show. Levine didn’t wear, say, a Kaepernick jersey, and none of the performers appeared to make any overt political statements … which, to be honest, is surely exactly how the NFL preferred it. A bit of out-of-context SpongeBob peppered the show as Travis Scott entered the arena and began rapping alongside the Maroon 5 lads. Then Big Boi took the show to another level, rolling up in a sweet Cadillac and sporting a fur coat big enough to hide Ndamukong Suh. His slick, all-too-brief snippet of Outkast’s “The Way You Move” was the show’s musical highlight. The set closed with “Moves Like Jagger” and enough fireworks to detonate a city block. Big Boi… the most exciting thing to happen to #SBLIIIpic.twitter.com/plopriUWD4 — MyBookie Sportsbook (@betmybookie) February 4, 2019 The Super Bowl halftime show is one of the music world’s most prized gigs, considering that each performance brings with it a guaranteed nine-figure viewing audience. So when Maroon 5 got the job last year, the reaction was a resounding, “Them? Really?” After all, there are plenty of other, more notable acts that could carry the night; we named 10 of them right here without even breaking a sweat. Plus, the initial omission of any Atlanta-centric artists seemed to ace out the host city’s substantial contribution to musical culture. Story continues Then there was the petition to have the SpongeBob SquarePants anthem “Sweet Victory” played at halftime in honor of the show’s creator, who died in November. Soon afterward, the NFL announced that Big Boi, one half of ATL’s Outkast, and Travis Scott would join Maroon 5 onstage. The halftime show, always a bizarre dog’s breakfast of slapped-together talent, seemed in danger of careening off the rails entirely. Then add in reports that many notable acts, including Rihanna, Jay-Z and Common, declined to participate or put pressure on Scott to withdraw out of solidarity with Colin Kaepernick’s social justice causes, and you’ve got the makings of a full-on PR crisis. Almost surely recognizing the possibility for Kaepernick to flare up as a story once again, the NFL abruptly canceled the traditional halftime act’s press conference: Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine noted that he was aware of the swirling social justice drama behind the scenes, and said that voices for change like Kaepernick advocates would be heard during the show. “They will be [heard] — that’s all I want to say because I don’t want to spoil anything,” Levine told Entertainment Tonight earlier this week. “I like to think that people know where I stand as a human being after two decades doing this. I’m not a speaker. I’m not a public speaker. I do speak, but it’s through the music. My life’s work and what I put out into the universe has been positive and hopefully inspiring.” ____ Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook. More Super Bowl coverage from Yahoo Sports: • This hasn’t happened to Brady in a Super Bowl before • Ex-Patriot shares unfortunate Super Bowl photo • Grading the best and worst Super Bowl ads • Wetzel: Trump just sounded alarm NFL fears most<doc-sep>Maroon 5 delivered a surprise-free set with a plethora of career-spanning hits including “This Love,” “Girls Like You,” “Sugar” and “Moves Like Jagger” during the Super Bowl LIII Halftime Show. The Red Pill Blues band kicked off the show with singer Adam Levine leading a melodic performance of the Songs About Jane singles “Harder To Breathe” and “This Love” flanked by lasers. Levine later picked up steam with “Girls Like You,” backed by a gospel choir and concluded their 13-minute concert by ripping his shirt off mid-gyration during “Moves Like Jagger.” While Cardi B and Christina Aguilera are featured on “Girls Like You” and “Moves Like Jagger,” respectively, neither artist performed with Maroon 5 at the halftime show. Travis Scott and Big Boi joined Maroon 5 for short performances during the halftime show. Scott ripped through “Sicko Mode” while surrounded by flames and Maroon 5 serving as a backing band. Later Outkast’s Big Boi cruised onto the field in a convertible to perform a smooth rendition of “The Way You Move.” While Andre 3000 was rumored to appear alongside his Outkast bandmate, he did not show up. Maroon 5’s decision to perform at the Super Bowl sparked controversy after artists like Rihanna and Cardi had turned down the opportunity in support of Colin Kaepernick. “No one thought about it harder than I did,” he told ET of the decision to play the Super Bowl. “No one put more thought and love into this than I did.” He added that the decision “took a lot of looking inward.” “I thought to myself, ‘What’s my greatest tool, what’s the thing that I can use to express myself and what’s the best way for the band to express themselves, and how are we going to do it this year? What do we owe ourselves? What do we owe the people?’ And that’s what we did. And I’m beyond proud of the finished product and literally, I’ve never been more excited in my entire life to present this to people because I believe that it’s truly a reflection of all of us,” he said. As the 2019 Super Bowl Halftime Show stars, Maroon 5 follows in the footsteps of Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Coldplay, Bruno Mars, Katy Perry and Beyoncé.<doc-sep>As the Patriots and Rams headed into the locker room with New England leading 3-0 in a defensive battle, the attention shifted to Adam Levine & Co. as for the Super Bowl LIII halftime entertainment at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It was Maroon 5's first Super Bowl halftime show appearance, but they didn't go it alone. The band was joined on stage by rappers Travis Scott and Big Boi. The latter, of Outkast fame, hails from Atlanta and had a grand entrance on Sunday night, rolling up in a Caddy prior to his performance on stage. Other than that, there weren't many big surprises or noteworthy moments from the halftime show, but there was plenty of fire! You can check out the full performance below: Here is the full setlist of halftime show. "Harder to Breathe" "This Love" "Sicko Mode" (Travis Scott) "Girls Like You" "She Will be Loved" "The Way You Move" (Big Boi) "Sugar" "Moves Like Jagger" As you'll notice, the SpongeBob SquarePants song "Sweet Victory" wasn't part of the performance, which likely came as a disappointment to the more than one million people who signed a petition for Maroon 5 to play it as a tribute to SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenburg. There was a Super Bowl prop bet highly favoring that the band would play "Sweet Victory" and there were plenty of clues to suggest it may happen. However, the only SpongeBob reference came when a clip from the show was used to introduce Travis Scott and his brief performance of "Sicko Mode." All in all, the reaction from social media suggested that a large majority of people were underwhelmed by the performance, although it's worth noting that it followed a first half of football that was less than exceptional. Check out full Super Bowl coverage here on CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports App for free on most connected devices.<doc-sep>
Maroon 5 avoided politics entirely at the Super Bowl Halftime Show with Travis Scott and Big Boi. COLIN KAEPERNICK'S ATTORNEY SLAMS MAROON 5, ADAM LEVINE AHEAD OF SUPER BOWL HALFTIME SHOW The show opened with pyrotechnics and the band's first hit, "Harder to Breathe" ahead of a stage in the shape of a glowing "M" and "V." The group then launched into "This Love," with Levine removing his black trench coat, with Levine playing an extended guitar solo. The band teased "SpongeBob Squarepants" song "Sweet Victory" before Scott entered with a slew of fireballs and pyrotechnics. Much of his rap verses from his hit "Sicko Mode" were censored for expletives. Scott concluded his portion of the performance by stage diving into the crowd. After Scott's interlude, Maroon 5 took the spotlight once more for "Girls Like You" with a drum line and a gospel choir, all of whom wore blue. "She Will Be Loved" followed, with the arena lighting up with glowing lanterns. Atlanta native Big Boi then entered in a convertible, rocking a fur coat to perform "The Way You Move" with Levine singing the hook with Sleepy Brown. After Big Boi's exit, Levine stripped off his sweater to perform "Sugar." The crowd went wild for "Moves Like Jagger" — and for Levine's tattooed, shirtless visage that came with it. The show closed with a guitar solo and fireworks, with the band hugging Scott and Big Boi before making their exits. The band faced a slew of backlash since agreeing to perform at the Super Bowl, including petitions to get them to back out in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick's kneeling during the national anthem in protest against police brutality and racial oppression. Levine, 39, said Friday of Maroon 5's decision to perform, "No one thought about it more than I did. No one put more thought and love into this than I did. ... I spoke to many people, most importantly though, I silenced all the noise and listened to myself, and made my decision about how I felt." CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The backlash continued after the NFL canceled Maroon 5's pre-Super Bowl press conference. On Friday, Kaepernick's attorney, Mark Geragos, slammed Levine and the band, calling their performance and Levine's comments a "cop-out." CARDI B TURNED DOWN OFFER TO PERFORM AT SUPER BOWL IN SOLIDARITY WITH COLIN KAEPERNICK "If you're going to cross this idealogical or intellectual picket line, then own it, and Adam Levine certainly isn't owning it," Geragos said. "It's a cop-out when you start talking about, 'I'm not a politician; I'm just doing the music.' Most of the musicians who have any kind of consciousness whatsoever understand what's going on here." Artists including Cardi B and Rihanna declined to perform at halftime in solidarity with Kaepernick. Other stars boycotted the Super Bowl altogether over the NFL's alleged "racist treatment" of the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, including director Ava DuVernay, actress Rosanna Arquette, comedian Nick Cannon and rapper Common.