This year, the NFL celebrated the 50th Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. The same stadium that just a few months ago hosted the first two shows of the Grateful Dead’s Fare Thee Well sendoff. So naturally, when the league was picking the halftime show, they opted to hand it off to Brit soft rockers Coldplay and special guests Beyonce and Bruno Mars, making it the worst handoff since the one Russell Wilson didn’t make in Super Bowl 49. This decision has Carlos Santana fed up and he isn’t going to take it anymore.

Now, while no one can rationally argue why the 111.9 million viewers should be forced to sit through a 12-minute “Dark Star,” as that’s not what the halftime show is about, Santana has a point in that the league missed an opportunity to not just honor the last 50 years of Super Bowl halftime shows, but to also nod to one of the most musically rich areas in the country. 

While Santana doesn’t namecheck the Dead specifically, he does mention that Metallica (who played the night before at AT&T Park), Steve Miller and Journey, along with himself, would’ve combined for an electric halftime show that both honored the locale as well as the history. Super Bowl 51 is in Houston next February, so maybe the NFL can get a head start on ZZ Top rather than calling up Beyonce to reunite Destiny’s Child. 

Dear NFL/CBS….I would like to take this opportunity to thank you both for including me as a part of your Super Bowl entertainment. I do feel compelled to point out to you that the Halftime Show should have included some of the local iconic bands that the World would have loved to see perform. Bands like Metallica, Steve Miller, Journey and yours truly. We would have rocked the Half Time Show and done the SF Bay Area proud. This is just an invitation for you to consider iconic bands as part of your Half Time entertainment. Real live music, real live vocals, and give the audience real live chills.
Carlos Santana