Potent, Ferocious. Brilliant song choices. Using a choir to enhance "Working on a Dream" and make it more viscerally exciting  than the recorded version. Altering "Glory Days" to make it applicable to football star instead of worn out out baseball pitcher. Showing off Bruce the Preacher. Reminding everyone that the core remains Bruce, the Big Man Clarence Clemons and Little Steven Van Zandt no matter how much their presence seems to dwindle with each recording. Remind America - and alert some for the first time - of the redemptive power of rock 'n roll. Great as "The Rising" was in D.C., that was hardly a fluke. "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" was elevated to a position of rock royalty, the kick-off tune for Springsteen's first Super Bowl performance. (In truth, "10th Avenue" never rates higher than middle of the pack in one of the Boss' marathon performances).  His half-time show was Springsteen giving yet another great performance, the sort that we expect from him, the type that makes us return time and time again to feel something that no other experience in our lives provides. No one delivers shows like this and he reminded us once again. Not Tom Petty. Not the Rolling Stones. Dylan was heard in a well-done Pepsi ad and part of me squirmed while the other half was appreciative of the fact that Bob was being exposed to people who don't know the genius of his words and music. Same thing with Bruce, but this was the artist at work, demonstrating why he sits atop a mountain that many are afraid to climb. 

He played one bona fide hit, "Born to Run," two songs that everyone knows and a new number. Who else does that at the Super Bowl? And on Monday, when tickets go on sale for the chance to experience the sort of rock 'n' roll show that exist only when Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are on tour, it will break records in terms of sell-outs. I have an avid love/hate relationship with the NFL - that's what happens when you're a Jets season ticket holder - but tonight all I can say is thank you, NFL, for bringing us Springsteen. He was as amazing as the 100-yard interception run back, Larry Fitzgerald Jr.'s run and the spectacular Rothlisberger-to-Holmes TD pass. Steeler Nation. Springsteen country. A perfect match.  

And to be a sports and music fan whose employment future is up in the air due to economic circumstances that have rendered my job expendable, I hear the words in "Born to Run" the way I did when I was a 17-year-old, the song was brand new and he was expressing something I had never heard from another songwriter:  
"Together we could break this trap
Well run till we drop, baby well never go back
Will you walk with me out on the wire
`cause baby Im just a scared and lonely rider
But I gotta find out how it feels
I want to know if love is wild, girl I want to know if love is real."

Last year, the big deal musically at the Super Bowl was the debut of Paula Abdul lip-synching a horrible song that appeared on Randy Jackson's upcoming album. It was synergy at its worst, the shoehorning of an astonishingly bad product into a place where it did not belong just to get more people to watch "American idol."
Be glad none of the stars of "Heroes" have albums coming out.
What would have been unthinkable when the Super Bowl was younger than XXIX, rock 'n' roll superstardom is being weaved into the day beyond the halftime show intended to get the country riled up about Bruce Springsteen's "Working on a Dream" and prepare many to purchase tickets to concerts, which go on sale the morning after the Steelers - let's hope - make it a half-dozen SB wins. Bruce's press conference can be seen here.
U2's newest single “Get On Your Boots” will be the soundtrack to NFL Network’s Super Bowl XLIII commercial that will run during the game.  The commercial will air only on Super Bowl Sunday.
The ad features Oakland Raiders running back Darren McFadden.The cinematographer is Claudio Miranda, who is up for an Oscar for his work on "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."
Meanwhile, Journey will playing in the pre-game ceremonies.
My set list guess for Springsteen and the E Street Band: "Badlands," "The Rising," "Working on a Dream," "Born to Run."
If I got to choose, well aware of the venue and the necessary atmosphere: "No Surrender," "Atlantic City," "Murder Incorporated," "Jungleland."

With my beloved, constantly disappointing New York Jets talking to potential coaches while Brett Favre hides in Mississippi and owner Woody Johnson pouts over McCain's loss by spending Euros, I entered the post-season a  Baltimore Ravens fan. Glad that Lil Wayne is with me.

A few friends started debating last week about what might be included in Tom Petty's set  during halftime at the Super Bowl and most of us figured "Running Down a Dream" and "Free Fallin'" were locks until a rumor spread that he's working on  new material.
That certainly threw a wrench into any plans for song pool. Naturally, the discussion turned toward: Is there a Petty album on the horizon that no one knows anything about? Well, right now, no. But there is a tour.
Petty and the Heartbreakers play Sunday in Arizona; tickets for his summer tour go on sale the next day. Steve Winwood will be opening the shows, which start May 30 in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Tour dates after the jump

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will be the star attraction at Super Bowl XLII in 2008.
Petty will perform the halftime show at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., on  Feb. 3. Fox made the announcement in its pregame show Sunday.
Petty has a tough act to follow in Prince, who delivered spectacular set at this year's NFL championship game, performing classics in the rain. Petty won't have weather to contend with as the stadium is domed. Petty's music was used last season by the NBA during its playoffs.
If any teams besides the Dallas Cowboys or the New England Patriots are in the game, he should definitely open with "You Got Lucky."
Petty and the Heartbreakers represent yet another classic choice for the NFL, which was burned when it attempted to get contemporary with Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson. Since "nipple-gate," the NFL has gone with performers with lengthy and established careers who will perform catalog hits rather than attempt to introduce songs that are about to be released. 

Hank Williams Jr.will sing the theme of Monday Night Football for the 19th season with a new band featuring Brian Setzer, Richie Sambora and Gretchen Wilson.
Williams will lead the performances of "All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night"  with Setzer and the 13 members of the horn section in the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Rounding out the band are singer Drake Bell, keyboardist John Ondrasik of Five for Fighting and drummer Cindy Blackman. Bassist Bootsy Collins is the lone returning member of last year's band.
Band is being recorded Monday at the House of Blues in Las Vegas.
The video ESPN uses to open MNF each week features team-specific visuals and lyrics.(Is there a word in English that rhymes with Pennington?)