By: Nate Acklin

At the Super Bowl LIII Halftime Show, American pop group Maroon 5 performed with hip-hop artists Travis Scott and Big Boi. The Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show took place at the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia on February 3, 2019. Adam Levine opened with “Hard to Breath” followed by “This Love,” “Sicko Mode,” “Girls Like You,” “She Will be Loved,” “The Way You Moved,” “Sugar,” and “Moves Like Jagger.”

After Adam Levine’s opening, the screen switched to a season two episode of “SpongeBob SquarePants” to pay tribute to the creator of the show, Stephen Hillenburg, who died this November. Many fans were hoping the Maroon 5 would play “Sweet Victory,” which was a song SpongeBob performed with the marching band at the Bubble Bowl.

After SpongeBob featured in the show, Travis Scott shot into the show in a meteorite appearing on the stage singing his hit song “Sicko Mode,” while being surrounded by fire. Adam Levine also joined in on the performance with Travis Scott ending the song by surfing the crowd.

Big Boi also appeared in the show wearing a big fur coat, rolling in on top of an old Cadillac to his song “The Way You Move.” Before the game, there was speculation that there would be a reunion of Big Boi’s old hip-hop group Outkast, with Andre 3000 joining Big Boi on stage. The former band mate never showed up however.

While there were several artists interested in performing, the NFL took a long time decide on who the wanted. Pop star Rihanna was offered the chance to headline the show, but chose not to due to the controversy surrounding players kneeling during the national anthem, US Weekly reported. Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has not played since he was the first to start the protest against police brutality. Travis Scott was wearing a black Nike glove that is endorsed by Kaepernick on his right hand during the performance. Cardi B also declined the offer to headline because she wanted to “stand behind” Kaepernick, People Magazine reported.

The Squire interviewed student Tess Morningstar about thoughts on the show. She wasn’t impressed, “I thought the halftime show was boring. I did not like Adam Levine’s song choices or how he took his shirt off. Travis Scott does not sound good in concert.”

While the performance received mixed reviews, the half time show is always a highly anticipated part of the game.  Tune in next year to see who the big performers will be!