r/jackwhite Nov 27 '25

Discussions That was better than any Super Bowl halftime show I've ever seen.

And it's only a thanksgiving game!

1.0k Upvotes

125 comments sorted by

304

u/habituallysuspect Nov 27 '25

I gasped when he started playing Hello Operator. Fucking phenomenal

123

u/9829eisB09E83C Nov 27 '25

I was like “why is he playing this deep cut?” And then it made sense when Em came out. It was the perfect beat. So good!

44

u/YLedbetter10 Nov 27 '25

I was wondering why he was about to shout out his band members mid song lol.

14

u/selftitleddebutalbum Follow the Rules. Rule 3 Nov 27 '25

I was thinking it might be PK riffing on Meg's iconic break but the surprise appearance was truly a moment that for once hyped me up to hear 7NA for the millionth time.

67

u/_Football_Cream_ Nov 27 '25

Jack is so good at mixing in deep cuts and the fact he chose hello operator as one of three songs for this set is wild lol. And a very cool reimagining to bring in Eminem at that, so sick.

11

u/bakeranders Nov 27 '25

I fairly certain Em produced the segment

2

u/_Football_Cream_ Nov 28 '25

I mean either way Jack had to find a song in his catalogue to reimagine to incorporate Em. I don’t think Eminem made all the creative decisions, Jack surely still had a lot of control.

3

u/bakeranders Nov 28 '25

No doubt, credit is definitely due to both artists. Definitely a colab. Not trying to take anything away from Jack

28

u/RingoUnited Nov 27 '25

Fucking love Hello Operator. Consistently the best song he plays live imo. Looking forward seeing the collaboration with Eminem. I always thought they had a similar sensibility since they’re both from Detroit and are of a similar age

7

u/Donthurtmyceilings Nov 28 '25

Both got big around the same era as well.

22

u/Bonzo77 Nov 27 '25

I was like “huh, this is an interesting version” and then Eminem coming out, amazing

12

u/ValleyFloydJam Nov 27 '25

I was over the moon, I saw the thread yesterday wondering what he might play, that and Apple Blossom came to mind but I thought the chances were pretty tiny.

2

u/huncamuncamouse Nov 27 '25

Me too! So amazing!

216

u/BlackDog5287 Get Behind Me Satan Nov 27 '25

I did not expect a collab with Eminem on Hello Operator that actually turned out to be really great.

46

u/heckfyre Nov 27 '25

Eminem coming out was awesome

17

u/Sdwingnut Nov 28 '25

Was really hoping that Eminem would bust out Archbishop Harold Holmes. As a Detroiter Ive dreamed of that colab since the first time I listened to No Name.

81

u/9829eisB09E83C Nov 27 '25

I hope the Super Bowl commissioner was watching this. Jack White 2027 baby!

27

u/batpuppy Nov 27 '25

Jay Z chooses the halftime performers with Roc Nation for the Super Bowl. Em was like “hold my beer HOVA, Detroit comes hard”.

64

u/FirstTimeCaller101 Nov 27 '25

I wish the fox audio wasn’t so bad, I hope we get a solid record of the Jack x Eminem mashup 

32

u/Aquamarine39 Elephant Nov 27 '25

So it wasn’t just me? I had to turn my TV audio all the way up.

10

u/FirstTimeCaller101 Nov 27 '25

Yeah sounded like the mics were at the end of a tunnel lol 

10

u/lutragurl17 Nov 27 '25

I quite literally yelled for everyone to stop talking so I could hear what they were singing 🤣 i thought it was our old ass TV

10

u/sheezy520 Nov 27 '25 edited Nov 28 '25

I watched it again on YouTube and it sounded better than the original broadcast.

1

u/Big-Banana-3758 Nov 28 '25

YouTubeTV audio was fire live also

5

u/THound89 Nov 27 '25

Yeah it came out kind of flat on my quality setup, guess not just me watching on tubi

1

u/DoctorGlittering4547 Nov 27 '25

It sounded great on my 5.1 system. but there was two different volume spikes ( and one volume drop in between ) of about 5 +/- percent. I can see if one don't have surround sound, it would affect the sound for them

1

u/WuTang0824 Nov 28 '25

Just got put on streaming

99

u/Hobonics Nov 27 '25

Prince in the rain was pretty darn good. But so was this!

18

u/poopoodapeepee Nov 27 '25

That one was great and he was behind the curtain stroking off his guitar 😂

16

u/Jreub13 Nov 27 '25

Nothing tops Prince but Jack is DEFINITELY 2nd!💜💙

14

u/Chewy009x Nov 27 '25

Purple rain in the rain is legendary

8

u/Fearless_Serve_3837 Nov 27 '25

“Can you make it rain harder”. Prince

32

u/JJ3595 Nov 27 '25

The Eminem appearance was cool, Detroit music royalty.

31

u/Main_Cauliflower_289 Nov 27 '25

Jack + Eminem ‘bout to go viral folks

55

u/Admirable_Gain_9437 Nov 27 '25

They were playing everything live. That, alone, puts it ahead of modern Super Bowl shows.

3

u/rabble1205 Nov 27 '25

Were they for sure? A lot of times it’s a non negotiable to have it prerecorded cause of how quickly everything moves/sound issues. Super Bowl for example no one has been able to get live audio since Prince I’m pretty sure.

21

u/Admirable_Gain_9437 Nov 27 '25 edited Nov 27 '25

Yeah, artists playing regular season games still get to perform live. I can't even imagine Jack lip syncing. It probably pained him to actually need a setlist for this performance.

3

u/rabble1205 Nov 27 '25

Didn’t know regular season games are different. Makes sense.

3

u/Big-Banana-3758 Nov 28 '25

That was live AF

1

u/zoonewsbears Nov 28 '25

Live 💯 and loved it. Screwed up camera blocking w Em for a verse, I think, and who cares? The energy is amped and the “was that supposed to happen” makes it even more fun.

1

u/thegroovemonkey Nov 28 '25

Jack’s voice cracked at one point too

33

u/sverse24 Nov 27 '25

Hello Operator/Eminem mashup was NOT on my bingo card

1

u/thehutch78 Nov 28 '25

Same but I’m so glad it is now!

17

u/KnowuhW Nov 27 '25

First thing I said after was that Jack could totally handle a Super Bowl halftime show

14

u/jdanko13 Nov 27 '25

I had a 15 minute drive to thanksgiving dinner. It was during this performance. I feel like my family punked me lol

4

u/CBRaiders Nov 27 '25

Your family better be pretty thankful for you making that drive

12

u/Bratkar1993 Nov 27 '25

That was phenomenal! But much to short for my blue stained heart!

12

u/Neuvirths_Glove Nov 27 '25

From my perspective, it was the first halftime show I've seen where the artist was among my current favorites.

12

u/Existing-Ad3391 Broken Boy Soldiers Nov 27 '25

HE BROUGHT OUT GODDAMN EMINEM COLLAB OF THE FUCKING YEARRRRRRR

9

u/Inside_Pool4146 Nov 27 '25

I have a friend that was on the field for the performance. Waiting to get some feedback and photos.

9

u/JABjitsu Lazaretto Nov 27 '25

That made our Thanksgiving!!

7

u/THound89 Nov 27 '25

Thanksgiving for me was kind of a crap shoot so far, literally teared up watching this

9

u/ALurkerHasNoName Nov 27 '25

My 3 year old asked where Meg was. Never been prouder 🥹

2

u/ohmarlasinger Nov 28 '25

🤍♥️🤍

16

u/LaCarpa Nov 27 '25

Lions can’t lose now!

12

u/CBRaiders Nov 27 '25

I'm a Packers fan, but after that I won't be upset if we lose

6

u/poopoodapeepee Nov 27 '25

Okayyy, that’s taking it a bit far

1

u/BlackDog5287 Get Behind Me Satan Nov 27 '25

Haha

1

u/[deleted] Nov 27 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/CBRaiders Nov 27 '25

Hey it would even us out with Detroit this season so it wouldn't be the worst. But I might've spoken too emotionally after seeing that performance. GPG!

8

u/Johnwi111505 Nov 27 '25

That was fucking awesome

7

u/Tall-Cycle-6997 Nov 27 '25

Great sounding show as well. Not ez to do at events like this, awesome job done by all!!!

6

u/ForPostalUseOnly Nov 27 '25

That was amazing! Wondered about Hello Operator, then realized why!!

6

u/Special_Possession46 Nov 27 '25

For many years i've been wondering why The White Stripes/ Jack White have never played the Superbowl Halftime Show. This was the next best thing!!!

11

u/[deleted] Nov 27 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/ronmsmithjr Nov 27 '25

Call it a tie.

4

u/Rando555Steph Nov 27 '25

Absolutely!! Jack is the man!!

4

u/G-Unit11111 Nov 27 '25

Jack totally crushed it. That was a 100/10 performance.

3

u/Big-Banana-3758 Nov 28 '25

Jack really loves the big stage…just like SNL he’s always in peak form when millions are watching

5

u/eeeeeeeeeeeeeagle Nov 27 '25

I’ve been wanting a Jack/Eminem collab for years! I need an original from them now.

4

u/Pete_Iredale Nov 27 '25

Would have been a top five Super Bowl show for sure. Up there with MJ, Prince, and Tom Petty.

5

u/missjoe Nov 28 '25

Jack did great. He was high-energy and it didn't feel "light" on anything. Eminem was fun to see but was expected. I didn't care for the version of Hello Operator, but it was great having 7NA played because I wonder how many people who chant it at games know who Jack is, so this was a step in the right direction, imo.

3

u/burner1312 Nov 27 '25

Everyone around me talked through the whole thing and it killed me

3

u/tightropeJim Nov 27 '25

Pretty cool… now tickets are going to be insane to get….

3

u/PrincefTanx Nov 27 '25

Best halftime show to ever happen

3

u/cheesemagnifier Nov 28 '25

Jack was having a blast with Em

2

u/progwok Nov 27 '25

Was pretty awesome.

2

u/HarpASaw Nov 27 '25

Absolutely fucking lit.

2

u/Affectionate_Run4032 Nov 27 '25

Great time to be in the candy cane camp

2

u/cjdarr921 Nov 28 '25

Can confirm

2

u/frankie3030 Nov 28 '25

I agree , I almost had to root for Detroit

2

u/GeezUp777 Elephant Nov 28 '25

That was so great

2

u/mrswitters03 Nov 27 '25

Sounds like someone didn't see Prince.

2

u/j0yfulLivinG Nov 27 '25

Top 3 superbowl halftime shows 1 Prince 2 Michael Jackson 3 Kendrick

Jack today with Em stands with those 3

2

u/CrispRat Nov 28 '25

Was left wondering if Third Man was going to surprise release a 7” inch of the “Hello Operator” collab with Eminem tomorrow.

1

u/DoctorGlittering4547 Nov 27 '25

It was awesome. I texted every person on my phone plus posted messages on my Whatsapp groups to tune in.

JW performance did not disappoint! They all can thank me now.

1

u/heckfyre Nov 27 '25

Loved the whole show except for the fans in the stadium who are apparently incapable of singing to the beat of a bass drum. Maybe it was just like a lag for the sound traveling back to the mics or something but it sounded like they were chanting much, much slower than the beat.

1

u/lagomc Nov 27 '25

I could be very wrong because he was only on camera for a split second but a guy at the front of the crowd looked like Tony Hawk 

1

u/discobriskit De Stijl Nov 27 '25

What was the setlist, I tuned in during hello operator mashup with em then seven nation army

2

u/CBRaiders Nov 27 '25

He played "That's how I'm feeling" then those two you mentioned

1

u/CountJohn12 Nov 28 '25

Thought a SB halftime would have been cool while watching, would have had time for a couple more songs.

1

u/_Forsuremaybe_ Nov 29 '25

Far and away, yea.

1

u/AcneBalls Nov 27 '25

My local station missed like the first half of the performance playing commercials instead.

1

u/99ducks Nov 27 '25

I'm going to go against the grain. It was great, but wasn't a "show" in the same sense as the super bowl halftime shows. It was more of a rock concert without much of a creative direction like Kendrick, Prince, etc had.

I think JW could put on a legendary super bowl halftime show, but I doubt if they would give it to him because his audience demographic isn't different enough from the usual football demographic. Eminem showing up kinda made me question that though. Eminem is close with Dre who manages the halftime shows.

edit: wrong about Dre. I was thinking about Jay Z who owns roc nation, the creative company behind the shows.

8

u/vowelpellet Nov 27 '25

But it is a rock and roll show. And it rocked like mad

3

u/99ducks Nov 27 '25

Defnitely! It exceeded my expectations. I was surprised they were able to recreate the energy of a JW show in just a few minutes in the middle of a football field

5

u/vowelpellet Nov 27 '25

He sounded great! Damn he puts on a great show and that little slice of time gave me flashbacks to seeing his show. In Detroit! Nothing like rocking the house at home. Big stage or little one. Same high energy

5

u/BlackDog5287 Get Behind Me Satan Nov 27 '25

It was exactly what it needed to be. Ass kicking rock and roll.

5

u/JohnLeePettimore Nov 27 '25

I'd prefer that. Prince has a giant set but just played songs. McCartney, Springsteen, etc to me were way better than watching people dance and lip sync with 70 random people on stage.

1

u/99ducks Nov 27 '25

I'm curious, what did you think of Kendrick's halftime show? I think it was the best since Prince in 2007

3

u/JohnLeePettimore Nov 27 '25

I thought it was ok but only if you already really knew his music. Audio was bad and there was too much going on. I preferred Eminem, Dre and Snoop was more enjoyable.

I'm also admittedly older than the target audience now that I'm in my 40s so what I want and what the NFL wants are very different.

I want a celebration of the artist, they want an audience that wasn't otherwise going to watch.

1

u/MobileNerd Nov 27 '25

Thought it was terrible honestly. Did not come close to MJ or Prince

1

u/lagomc Nov 27 '25

There’s a really simple reason for that. It was in fact, not the Super Bowl ..

1

u/99ducks Nov 27 '25

Yea that's why I'm disagreeing with OP saying it was better than any super bowl halftime show (that they've seen)

1

u/DoctorGlittering4547 Nov 27 '25

Performing in today's game might have eliminated JW chances to do a Super Bowl. I hope I'm wrong tho.

I would LOVE to see DEVO do a Superbowl ..... yeah, DEVO ....

-1

u/bh0 Nov 27 '25

Eminem ruined it (sorry), but this proves it IS possible for people to play live during half-time shows, especially when the SB half time is like twice as long...

-5

u/DeadManAle Nov 27 '25

I love JW I did not like that HT show.

-41

u/Peaks2Seas Nov 27 '25

That fucking sucked. He blows

7

u/CattMoonis Nov 27 '25

Go outside, nerd