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Australian Bee Gees Halftime Show Gives Basketball Fans Wrong Kind Of ‘Night Fever’
Jim Hill – The Australian Bee Gees Show
DeVos Performance Hall, Grand Rapids, Mich.
The Pac-12 college basketball conference is apologizing and fans are getting free tickets after the Australian Bee Gees were booed off stage during a basketball halftime performance at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas Friday night.
The Pac-12 issued a statement: “We’d like to apologize to the Australian Bee Gees for the technical/audio difficulties they experienced during their performance at the Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament Thursday night. They have been great partners of the Pac-12 over the last five years.”
<blockquote class=”twitter-video” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>This is the worst halftime show ever. Roseanne singing the National Anthem would be a huge improvement. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/pac12hoops?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#pac12hoops</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Australianbeegees?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Australianbeegees</a> <a href=”https://t.co/TGnXeJ26zx”>pic.twitter.com/TGnXeJ26zx</a></p>— number 7 (@brame_7) <a href=”https://twitter.com/brame_7/status/971986786019770368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>March 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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An emcee at the game during a time out said the band was plagued by audio issues and that free tickets were given out so the crowd could see “how they really sound.” The Las Vegas-based tribute band to the disco legends were playing during a Pac 12 quarterfinal between Oregon and Utah.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>We'd like to apologize to the Australian Bee Gees for the technical/audio difficulties they experienced during their performance at the Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament Thursday night. They have been great partners of the Pac-12 over the last five years. <a href=”https://t.co/2scUz1XnK0″>pic.twitter.com/2scUz1XnK0</a></p>— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) <a href=”https://twitter.com/pac12/status/972332535018536961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>March 10, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Selection Sunday for the NCAA tournament, which leads to everyone’s “March Madness” brackets to keep them distracted while at work, is tomorrow.
Technical difficulties can mar an otherwise great show, such as at the 2017 Grammys when Metallica‘s James Hetfield’s mic was cut off during the band’s high-profile performance with Lady Gaga.
Sports fans are also particularly tough critics, with Philadelphia Eagles fans famously booing Santa Claus at a football game, and former Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie coming under fire just weeks ago for a somewhat unorthodox rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” before the NBA All-Star Game.
After relentless social media backlash, the singer explained herself with a statement that read: “I’m a risk taker artistically, but clearly this rendition didn’t strike the intended tone,” she said. “I love this country and honestly tried my best.”
It’s unclear went wrong during the halftime show, but T-Mobile Arena is a top-notch facility with upcoming shows by the likes of Justin Timberlake (two nights), U2 (two nights), Pink, The Smashing Pumpkins, Journey/Def Leppard, Metallica, and George Strait (two nights).