As a Santa Clara, California, native, Nick Garcia grew up playing football and going to San Francisco 49ers games at Levi’s Stadium. He had dreamed of going to the Super Bowl, and on Feb. 8, it finally happened — just not the way he planned.
Garcia was going to take the field as Bush Number D83, joining about 400 other performers dressed like sugar-cane grass in Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime-show performance. “I always imagined walking out of the tunnel for the Super Bowl as a football player,” Garcia says on a Zoom call. The moment was just as powerful as his fantasy: “Seeing all the cameras flashing, the cheers of the crowd … it fulfilled my childhood dream.”
Garcia makes a point to give credit where it’s due. “I got to give all thanks to Bad Bunny,” he says.
Bad Bunny’s historic performance won praise for its detailed storytelling and intricate set design. But the tall, tree-like structures, which turned out to be actual people, have drawn tons of interest. As soon as attendees inside the stadium posted videos of the bushes moving, the internet went into a frenzy. There are already people claiming the “Bad Bunny bush” as a Halloween costume. (Guys, it’s February.)
“I am absolutely shocked by the reaction that it’s been getting,” Garcia says. “People are loving us grass people.”
While the bush people have delighted the internet, the move to have human performers rather than props stems from a logical response. Levi’s Stadium, which has a real-grass field rather than turf, limits the amount of carts that can be brought on in order to protect the grass. The solution? People, of course. In January, a casting call for field cast members was posted by live-events staffing agency Backlit. It made sure to list a height requirement and note that the role was “not a dancing” one. Instead, performers would be delivering “structured movements and blocking as part of the larger production.” They did not mention the potential for internet virality.
Garcia, who was already excited about the Super Bowl taking place in his hometown, jumped at the opportunity. “I was like, ‘Well, the Super Bowl is right here in my backyard. Maybe the odds of me getting [the role] are higher because I’m so close,” he recalls. After submitting the required body measurements and headshots, Garcia was notified he made the cut and would join the field cast.
But he couldn’t have expected just what that entailed — that is, until his first day of rehearsal. “They said, ‘You guys are going to be a meme for a long time,’” Garcia says. “I remember the first day all of us got to see the costumes in person.… It was a mix of shock, laughter, and excitement.” Even the costume design, which featured a 35- to 40-pound piece that rested on the performer’s shoulders didn’t deter Garcia. “It was heavier than we expected, but that wasn’t going to stop us from pulling through to get this show on the road,” he says, adding, “We were going to get this done for Bad Bunny no matter what.”
That determination only intensified on show day, which Garcia walked Rolling Stone through.
Wake Up: 7 a.m.
From when I woke up until showtime, I was just telling myself, “Don’t be nervous, enjoy the moment.” By the time we got on the buses to get transported to the stadium, everyone’s energy was sky-high. Everyone was singing, dancing on the bus. You couldn’t help but think to yourself, “Man, it’s impossible to be nervous right now.”
Arrival: 12 p.m.
We ended up getting to Levi’s at around noon so that we could go through any last-minute things that we needed to talk about. There wasn’t anything that needed to be adjusted, but I think just the comfort of everyone being there early, having that headcount, was essential.
Getting Hyped: 4:30 p.m.
When we were all walking through the tunnels, everyone was yelling, like, “Let’s fucking go! Come on guys, let’s do this. We’re about to be part of the Super Bowl.” It’s hard for me to describe what that felt like. It’s a moment I never thought I was going to be able to have.
“Places, Everyone!”: 5:00 p.m.
It might’ve looked chaotic to people from the outside looking in, but everyone knew the spot they needed to go to. As far as trying to navigate through the bushes to get to your spot, that might’ve been the most difficult thing, but we rehearsed going from the tunnel to our spots multiple times, so it became easy. We also had the understanding that halftime is only so long, so let’s get moving.
The best way I could describe where I was … You know the scene where Bad Bunny put his arms down on the main stage and fell backwards? I was right there in the front row, and he fell right in front of me.
“Showtime!”: 5:13 p.m.
The crew made jokes saying, “There’s no wind in Puerto Rico. You guys got to stand still.” It was definitely hard to do because you love the music, you’re seeing the dancers in front of you, you kind of just groove a little bit. It’s hard not to dance along with them. Some bushes got caught up in the moment, like, “You know what? I’m at the Super Bowl. I’m going to move a little bit.”
I had to face away, but if I turned my head enough, there were gaps in the bushes where I could see what was going on perfectly. But I definitely fed off the energy of the audience when I faced the stands. Watching people have their phones out, screaming, dancing in the stands, seeing thousands of people get into the performance, it was just as good as watching Bad Bunny.
Surprise Guests: 5:15 p.m.
Through the run-throughs, we ended up seeing who the guest performers were ahead of time. As far as the guests at La Casita, we had no idea who was going to be there until show day. We had hopes and guesses, but seeing them was an amazing shock.
I remember being on the field and hearing the crowd pop when Lady Gaga came out. The energy was insane. The crowd roared when they saw her, just as I hoped they would.
Flag Showcase: 5:21 p.m.
The moment when all the flags came out of all the different countries, and Bad Bunny was naming them right there on camera … You couldn’t help but feel pride when he named yours. I saw a little Mexican flag popping up [in the bushes]. I’m like, “There we freaking go. This is what I love to see.” It’s those little gestures where people who are watching at home, they see it. That was one of the best posts that I saw on the internet the last couple days. Despite us being from so many different walks of life, we all felt connected. We all felt included. We all felt special, and Bad Bunny did that for us. No matter what I do moving forward, nothing can top this.
“That’s a Wrap!”: 5:25 p.m.
After the show was over, all the tall grass bushes had to walk back inside the tunnel, and we left the stadium. We had to go back to the buses after the halftime show to return to the location we initially met because that’s where all of our cars were parked. We were able to keep parts of our costumes. I wanted to take the whole thing home, but it would’ve been hard to fit that on the bus. I did keep one whole arm, though.
Postshow: 7 p.m.-ish
When I got home, my parents were having a party. They were screaming, “There’s our bush.” I was getting bombarded with questions. My family was recording me. It felt as though I was the one performing. I’m like, “I was just standing there.” It was incredible to receive that feedback from my family.
My parents were getting a little bit choked up, which was making me a little choked up. There were all of these emotions since this is a stadium that we enjoy going to so much. For me to be down on the field for one of the most historic halftime shows ever, I mean, there’s no words for it.
Courtesy of Martin Garrix
Louis Van Baar*
Liam Payne (left) and Harry Styles of One Direction onstage during the 2013 American Music Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Nov. 24, 2013
Harry Styles Finds the Right Words on Liam Payne Tribute Song
For the past seven weeks, Harry Styles has reserved two minutes at each of his Madison Square Garden shows to reflect on the last time he gathered this many people in this room. Four years have passed since he performed 15 record-breaking nights at the venue during his Love on Tour. Now, every night at the new Together, Together shows, which span 30 nights at MSG, he acknowledges that “a lot of life happened to me and landed on me in ways that maybe it hadn’t before.”
Styles doesn’t usually go into much more detail; he typically just describes those in-between years as “a great reminder for me of just how wonderful and beautiful, difficult and inspiring, and also how fragile a life can be.” He encourages the audience to look around at each other and celebrate the community they’ve built together. Then he dives into “Sign of the Times.” It happens every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday like clockwork. But when he delivered this speech on Friday, Oct. 16, there was a shift. It didn’t conclude in its usual way.
Instead, Styles turned his attention to the banner commemorating his 15 consecutive nights at the Garden in 2022. “It means a lot to be able to look up there at my name up there from the last tour,” he said. “There are so many people, friends and people that I’ve worked with, that I would’ve never been able to do this without.” Two years ago, he continued, he lost one of those pillars. Friday’s show fell on the same day as the second anniversary of the death of Liam Payne, a loss that time has not made it easier to acknowledge. “I’m sure a lot of you have been through something similar,” Styles said. “I hope you haven’t.”
A frequent assessment of Styles, both among his fans and those who’ve only encountered him at a distance, is that he often talks at length before getting to the point. He recognizes it himself on the Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally song “Coming Up Roses,” where he sings about fumbling his words. But recently, comments about his long-winded way of speaking have started to feel like purposeful misreadings. There are clear and carefully considered thoughts present between his starts and stops. Anyone truly listening will pick up on those threads.
Styles cut himself off a few times during his speech on Friday. He tried to talk for a second about looking after each other, and repeated his point about the banner and the people who’ve supported him. He never mentions Payne by name, instead referring to him as a friend, which somehow became a point of criticism from some fans. The context is clear enough. Still, he seems to know it’s a gamble to expect understanding, especially when the conversation grows more complex and personal.
After about a minute and a half, Styles figured it best to show us what he means rather than tell us. “I’m gonna sing a song I wrote two years ago for my friend,” he said before premiering “Wise Enough.” The sullen tribute to Payne settled the room into a cool near-silence, punctured by quiet gasps and muffled crying. It was beautiful, devastating, and deeply exposing to watch Styles share his grief with 20,000 people in the best, and maybe only, way he knows how.
Earlier this year, Styles told Zane Lowe about the acute dread surrounding the expected performance of his mourning. “Full transparency, even the idea of talking about it, I struggle with that a little bit. There was a period when he passed away where I really struggled with acknowledging how strange it is to have people own part of your grief, in a way,” he said. “I have such strong feelings around my friend passing away. And then suddenly being aware there’s maybe a desire from other people of you to convey that in some way, or it means you’re not feeling what you’re feeling.”
Artists often describe the act of sharing new music as a change in ownership, something that is no longer their own once it has been handed over to an audience. “Wise Enough” feels protected from this. It would be confounding to see Styles ever record and release it in any official capacity. The song is openhearted in a way that exposes deep scars, anxious in a way that worries and fidgets about time and how it passes, and inconsolable in a way that doesn’t make the futile attempt to fight through anger, regret, or sadness.
“I can tell you what it’s like to bury friends on Wednesday nights/Gather in a garden around the fire,” Styles sings in a particularly cutting verse on the song, which concludes with an honest admission: “I’m not wise enough to call for a conversation/And then back it up, right?/Like you’re in the sky.”
Celebrity doesn’t obscure grief. It doesn’t come with a script for what to say when someone is sorry for your loss, or when they recollect their own version of the person you knew. No one really has the right words for these moments. Over the weekend, fans debated whether “Wise Enough” is actually titled “What Is Enough?” Styles introduced the record so briskly it was hard to decipher. The question of adequacy feels similarly impossible to answer.
Grief is so plain in how universal it is, but so complex in how and when it chooses to present itself. It can be policed only as much as it can be predicted, which is to say barely at all. That Styles let us into his now yearslong search for some semblance of understanding — knowing how his words have been picked apart before for far lesser things — shouldn’t be taken for granted.
Styles never acknowledges that banner at MSG. It’s not for lack of gratitude — he cried when it was unveiled. But the point he has reiterated every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday since the end of August is that the achievement is something that must be shared because he couldn’t have done it alone. He talks about being on stage as if what happens in that room exists far beyond and outside of himself, something that endures even in his absence.
It’s true in a way. There’s muscle memory tied to the music. It’s in the spinning, dizzying way fans dance to “Satellite,” or the way they wildly kick their feet and make the building shake during “Kiwi,” a song he brought back to the set just for New York. It’s just like before, but still so different.
Friday night continued as usual after “Wise Enough.” Styles belted out “Sign of the Times” in the sobering way he always does, then “Aperture” let in a cathartic flood of strobing lights and pulsating beats. The emotional whiplash took physical form as fans consoled one another, holding out their hands to help up friends and strangers who crumbled to the floor at the conclusion of the tribute. Some were crushed by their memories of loving One Direction, and the care they hold in their hearts for Styles. Some were just as wrecked by their own personal losses.
A lot of life and loss can happen in four years, as Styles says each night. For some people who were at MSG on Friday, there are friends present in their memories from the last tour who are missing from the new ones they’re making. The lyric “You dance until you’re tired/No, you don’t, and now you never will/Will you?” surfaces their own devastation completely separate from what inspired Styles to sprawl those words on a page. How do you dance to “Aperture” — the beating heart of this show in its declaration that “we belong together” — after hearing something like that?
You take the hand of the friend or the stranger who pulled you from the ground and use it to lead each other back to the dance floor. When Styles talks about community and stresses the importance of caring for one another each night, he reminds everyone of the fragility of a moment, and urges them to cherish every second they get. To dance wildly and sing loudly and wrap their arms around each other. To hold tight to what’s here right now.
It’s all any of us have, so it has to be enough.