The Weeknd's Super Bowl halftime show: A gargantuan logistical hurdle

The New York Times

"Amid a global pandemic, the gargantuan logistical undertaking that is the halftime show has gotten even more complicated," reports The New York Times' Julia Jacobs. "In a typical year, a massive stage is rolled out in pieces onto the football field, sound and lighting equipment is swiftly set up by hundreds of stagehands working shoulder to shoulder, and fans stream onto the turf to watch the extravaganza. This year, there is a cap on how many people can participate in the production, dense crowds of cheering fans are out of the question. And only about 1,050 people are expected to work to put on the show, a fraction of the work force in most years. One of the first logistical puzzles was figuring out how to pick staff members up from the airport and transport them to and from the hotel, said Dave Meyers, the show’s executive in charge of production and the chief operating officer at Diversified Production Services, an event production company based in New Jersey that is working on the halftime show. 'Usually you pack everyone into a van, throw the bags into the back, everyone is sitting on each other’s laps,' Meyers said. 'That can’t happen.' Instead, they rented more than 300 cars to transport everyone safely. Many of the company’s workers have been in Tampa for weeks, operating out of what they call a “compound” outside of Raymond James Stadium, the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The compound includes 50-foot-long office trailers, which used to fit about 20 employees each but now are limited to six. There are socially distant dining tents where people eat prepackaged food, and a signal for which tables have been sanitized: the ones with chairs tilted against them." ALSO: How "Blinding Lights" TikTok meme led to The Weeknd as Super Bowl halftime performer.