While Turning Point USA clearly viewed Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime booking as an affront to a nation that needed an alternative event for conservative viewers, “The All-American Halftime Show” chose not to offer much provocativeness in return. Rather than ending up as a protest event, the 35-minute program offered a series of gentle, largely apolitical performances that could have been mistaken for an old CMT or Nashville Network special. Even Kid Rock, who was on his best behavior during his brief two-song appearance.
Bad bunny? Other than the final montage of images of Charlie Kirk, nothing else that might raise eyebrows or be controversial in a show that could have aired almost any time in the 21st century was never mentioned or even hinted at.
Without the announcer providing context, we had no idea where the performance was being broadcast from or if it was happening in real time. Sources say the show was pre-recorded in Atlanta.
Brantley Gilbert was the first to rise, followed by fellow country artists Gabby Barrett and Lee Brice, before Kid Rock finished the match in an enclosed environment with a crowd of what appeared to be about 100 fans standing on either side of a giant thrust lamp across the studio floor.
The only political topics were Bryce singing “Real American,” which praises a place where “everything is American,” and Bryce debuting his new song “Country No Day,” in which he complained about “a photo of a flag going up in flames while people cheered” and said “little boys aren’t little girls.”
“Charlie gave people a microphone so they could say what they thought, and this is what I think,” Bryce said. The chorus of his new song is, “Tell me I’m a right-wing devil ’cause I was raised by Jesus in the South/It’s not easy being rural in this country these days.”
A fleeting show of people of color took place as four black men took to the stage to introduce the centerpiece: “Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome our brother Robert Ritchie.”
Kid Rock started off with literal firepower, at least in the pyro department, singing a bland version of his venerable rap hit “Bawitaba.” As widely noted on social media, much of the performance appears to have been pre-recorded, as he only raised the microphone to his mouth for about half of the lyrics. But he seemed totally on the mic when he sang his final ballad, “Till You Can’t,” a sentimental country cover that was a hit for Cody Johnson a few years ago.
In his only spoken remarks, Kid Rock introduced “Till You Can’t” by saying that he woke up one night with Johnson’s song in his head and felt that “there were more poems to this song that I needed to write.” He then sang his own addition, which was essentially an evangelical altar call. “Somewhere in your house there’s a book you could use to dust off/There’s a man who died on a cross for all our sins/You could give your life to Jesus and he’d give you a second chance/Until he couldn’t anymore.”
As the song ended, the camera moved to a large screen photo of the late Charlie Kirk and his widow, Erica Kirk, who is now the head of TPUSA, before fading to black and rolling the end credits, which still didn’t provide many hints as to where the performance was taking place.
The show began with Gilbert’s guitarist performing “The Star-Spangled Banner” in the tradition of Jimi Hendrix, before the singer himself appeared, leading the band in his customary style closer to hard rock than classic country. Barrett approached Carrie Underwood-style country, starting with her big hit “I Hope,” followed by “One of the Good Ones.” Bryce sang the hit song “Drinking Class,” which included the chorus, “If you’re going to label me, label me proud / ‘Cause I belong to the drinking class,” a hit that conflated patriotic pride with “rowdy” bar behavior and drinking.
There was an uproar when TPUSA announced that the show would not be aired on the X Feed and that viewers should direct their attention to the organization’s YouTube channel. There, Kid Rock peaked at just over 5 million viewers when it aired at 9:35 pm ET. After Bad Bunny’s brief halftime performance, the third quarter of the Super Bowl had already begun, and Kid Rock was still on, so YouTube viewership for “The All-American Halftime Show” dropped slightly to 4.4 million by the time the headliner ended.
The show was also available on other platforms and networks, such as OAN, but OAN was slow to appear on the feed during its evening newscasts. There was no immediate estimate of overall viewership.
There was no mention of the big California show or its lead cast, but Kid Rock previously explained what he thought was the show’s intentions. “We’re going to play great songs for people who love America. We’re approaching this show like David and Goliath. It’s almost impossible to compete with the pro football machine and global pop superstars…or what?” He went on to mention Bad Bunny, saying, “He’s throwing dance parties, wearing dresses and singing in Spanish? Cool. We’re going to play great songs for people who love America.”
Critics have noted that the alternative halftime show will not feature current country hitmakers, and with the exception of Barrett, who had a huge hit in 2020, all of the country performers had a string of hits in the 2010s — leading some to wonder where Trump’s friend and most popular musician, Jason Aldean, is. Although Aldean was at least mentioned, Gilbert said that recording, singing and rapping on the pioneering country-rap hybrid he co-wrote, “Red Dirt Anthem,” changed his life.
