When you think about the Super Bowl halftime show today, you probably picture Rihanna suspended on a floating platform or Prince shredding a guitar in a torrential downpour. It is the biggest 15-minute concert on the planet. But honestly? It wasn't always a high-budget spectacle designed to break the internet. In fact, if you went back to January 15, 1967, you wouldn't even recognize the event.
The world was different. The game wasn't even officially called the "Super Bowl" yet—it was the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. And the entertainment? Well, let’s just say there were more tubas than pyrotechnics.
🔗 Read more: Missouri High School Football Scores: Why Friday Night Lights in January Aren't What You Think
What was the first Super Bowl halftime show really like?
Forget the lasers. Forget the A-list pop stars. The first Super Bowl halftime show was a massive, somewhat chaotic display of Americana led by college students. The headliners were the University of Arizona Symphonic Marching Band and the Grambling State University Marching Band.
It was titled "Super Sights and Sounds."
The vibe was less "Grammy Awards" and more "Saturday afternoon at the county fair." They had about 15 minutes to fill, and they filled it with a bizarre mix of tradition and high-tech 1960s experiments.
The weirdest details from 1967
You might think a marching band sounds boring compared to modern standards, but the organizers went all out with the props. We are talking about things that would never fly in a modern stadium.
- 300 Pigeons: Yes, 300 actual birds were released into the Los Angeles sky.
- 10,000 Balloons: Because why not?
- Jetpacks: This is the part people usually forget. Two men wearing Bell Rocket Air Men jetpacks flew around the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It looked like something straight out of a James Bond movie.
The performance itself was a "musical visit" to the four corners of the United States. The University of Arizona band started with a medley from The Sound of Music. They even did a recreation of the O.K. Corral gunfight on the field. Imagine a football stadium turning into a Western movie set for five minutes. That was the reality.
The Stars of the Show
While we didn't have Usher or Madonna, there was some "star power." Al Hirt, a famous jazz trumpeter from New Orleans, joined the bands on the field. He played "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans" while the Arizona band formed the shape of a giant riverboat.
It was wholesome. It was loud. And mostly, it was free.
Al Hirt didn't get paid a massive performance fee, and neither did the bands. They were there for the "exposure," a phrase that would eventually become a running joke for NFL performers for the next sixty years.
The Grambling State Influence
One of the most important parts of the first Super Bowl halftime show was the inclusion of Grambling State University. As an HBCU (Historically Black College or University), Grambling brought a level of precision and soul that was revolutionary for the time.
🔗 Read more: Why the Buffalo Bills Color Rush Uniform Still Dominates the Field
At the end of the show, both bands joined together to create a massive map of the United States. They didn't have digital screens to show graphics. Instead, hundreds of students moved in perfect sync to create the outline of the country.
Why it didn't look like a concert
Back then, nobody thought of the halftime show as a standalone product. It was literally just a way to keep people in their seats while the players grabbed some Gatorade and talked strategy.
The television networks—both CBS and NBC aired the game simultaneously—didn't even treat the halftime show as "must-see" TV. Most people at home probably used the time to grab a beer or another sandwich. It stayed this way for a long time. For the first two decades, the NFL stuck to this "marching band and drill team" formula.
It wasn't until 1993, when Michael Jackson stood motionless on a stage for nearly two minutes while the crowd lost their minds, that the NFL realized they could turn the break into a global event.
🔗 Read more: Villanova Basketball Roster 2016 Explained (Simply): The Squad That Changed Everything
The legacy of the first show
If you look at the setlist from 1967, it's a trip down memory lane. They played "The Liberty Bell March" and "Marching Along Together." It was patriotic, safe, and community-focused.
But it set the template for the "spectacle." The jetpacks and the 300 pigeons proved that the NFL wanted to wow the crowd, even if they hadn't quite figured out how to use pop music to do it yet.
Today, we expect the world. In 1967, they just wanted to make sure the jetpack guy didn't crash into the goalposts.
How to explore this history yourself
If you're a football nerd or a music history buff, you can actually find clips of this online. The NFL and the University of Arizona have preserved some of the footage.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Watch the Footage: Search YouTube for "Super Bowl I Halftime Show 1967" to see the "Pride of Arizona" in action.
- Check out the Museum: If you're ever in Canton, Ohio, the Pro Football Hall of Fame has exhibits that dive into the evolution of the game’s entertainment.
- Compare and Contrast: Watch a few minutes of the 1967 show followed by the 1993 Michael Jackson show. You'll see the exact moment the "modern era" was born.
The first Super Bowl halftime show was a humble beginning for what is now the most-watched musical performance of every year. It wasn't perfect, and it certainly wasn't "cool" by today's standards, but it was the start of a tradition that shows no signs of slowing down.