MINNEAPOLIS — Between the time Justin Timberlake kicked off the Super Bowl LII halftime show on Feb. 4, 2018 to his final wave goodbye less than 14 minutes later, the singer and his energetic entourage performed a medley of 10 hits from Timberlake’s own 26-year career along with a tribute to local legend Prince that included an aerial shot as a vast swath of Minneapolis was washed in purple lighting.
Millions of Super Bowl viewers on NBC saw Jimmy Fallon, seemingly perched on a giant outdoor Pepsi neon sign, introduce Timberlake as he performed “Filthy,” off of the singer/songwriter’s latest album, Man of the Woods, which was released just two days prior to the big game. (Timberlake’s tour in support of the album is set to run from mid-March 2018 to late January 2019).
The cameras then followed Timberlake as he made his way from a backstage, low-ceiling club-type setting filled with light beams, lasers and video out to the multiple performance spaces set up on the field.
There, the production team, including PRG (Lighting), VER (Video), Strictly FX (Pyro), All Access Staging and Production (Staging) and ATK Audiotek, had prepped the show elements for his arrival, with looks crafted by a visual design team led by Bruce Rodgers, Bob Barnhart and Nick Whitehouse.
Although Timberlake was the solo headliner, he was surrounded by others during most of his performance as he, his dancers, a backing band and a choreographed crowd all performed on a succession of performance spaces. These included a long gangplank lined with LED fixtures; a small, wood-finished platform rising from a tightly packed crowd; a larger glossy bandstage with cube-shaped video panels and bright backing beams; the field itself, with the NFL emblem at the 50 yard line; and a blinding white cube with solo mic backed by the University of Minnesota’s marching band.
Then, as Timberlake turned to a white grand piano on a simple, circular stage, the focus zeroed in on the solo artist before expanding to a monumental scrim featuring the likeness of the late local pop legend, Prince. The white piano took on a purple hue as Timberlake performed Prince’s “I Would Die For You.” This is when the aerial cameras showed the stadium and surrounding areas all in a vibrant wash of purple.
Returning to join the backing band on the video-clad bandstage, which had transformed into a translucent/mirror finish look, the choreographed crowd also held mirror-finished panels aloft for the second-to-last song, “Mirror,” reflecting bright white light and backed by a matrix of crisscrossing beams.
Then it was time for the show’s festive finale — Timberlake’s crowd-pleasing “Can’t Stop the Feeling.” The choreographed crowd filled the camera’s wide shot once more as both the beams and handheld panels flipped to a bright rainbow of color. Timberlake climbed into the stadium seating area to take selfies with the crowd and the final wide shots showed the Pepsi logo scrolling across the seating area.
From start to finish, the spectacle packed a medley of 11 songs into less than a 14-minute span, including “Filthy,” “Rock Your Body,” “Señorita,” “SexyBack,” “My Love,” “Cry Me a River,” “Suit & Tie,” “Until the End of Time,” “I Would Die 4 U,” “Mirrors” and “Can’t Stop the Feeling.”
For a video of the show, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6xUgawDQB0.
