The Rolling Stones played a three song set at Super Bowl XL in Detroit and it was an absolute disaster. The sound mix was totally off during "Start Me Up", "Rough Justice", and "Satisfaction". The band looked pissed off so I'm guessing they were having sound problems on stage.
Mick's voice was way to loud, as were Charlie's tin sounding drums. You could barely hear Keef's guitar and Ronnie's chops only appeared during a minute into a guitar solo. I won't even go into how the bass and keyboards were completely missing.
Even though U2, Paul McCartney, and Janet Jackson didn't have technical problems, here's one explanation of why it sounded like shit:
Before the Rolling Stones play at Sunday's Super Bowl halftime show, producers will have six minutes to roll out and assemble a gigantic stage, erect 27 tons of lights...A crew comprising 350 volunteers has just six minutes to assemble a 5,300-square-foot stage that rolls out in 58 separate pieces on low-pressure balloon tires designed to protect the turf....Meanwhile, producers will flip the switch on 150 chain-hoist motors to lower 67 tons of lighting equipment strung on 2 miles of aircraft cable suspended from a grid above the stadium floor. And 3,000 pre-selected fans who have been standing outside for hours will be ushered onto the field around the stage to serve as the Stones' in-house audience.....
