Watch Har Mar Superstar Absolutely Murder This Minnesota Timberwolves NBA Half-Time Show

When musician/songwriter/vocalist, Sean Tillman selected his Har Mar Superstar stage moniker, he did so as a nod to the Har Mar shopping mall in Roseville, Minnesota.  Over the last couple of decades, Tillmman‘s career has encountered various shifts, even beyond his roots in the 1990s Amphetamine Reptile punk band, Calvin Krime; or his indie-pop project, Sean Na Na.  It was as his “superstar” R&B singing alter-ego that he’s gained the majority of his notoriety with an unorthodox live show that not only involved him truly displaying his songwriting sensibilities and vocal range, but dancing, striptease, and headstands, as well.  He would first gain some of his biggest successes over in before, and then later in the NYC indie scene, where he’d tour with acts like The Strokes, before ending up in Los Angeles.  Tillman would eventually find movie roles in films such as Starsky And Hutch, Whip It, and Pitch Perfect.  He would also find communities and a place for himself wherever he went, whether he was overseas, living in the big apple or Southern California.  In the end, after traveling the world and exploring several different lives and career paths, he wound up settling back in his home state of Minnesota, where he purchased a home and, just recently got engaged (congratulations).  He might have forged friendships/collaborated with everyone from Kate Moss to Karen O and Macaulay Culkin to Drew Barrymore, but at no point has Tillman ever looked down at or attempted to ignore his Midwest roots.  In fact, he’s always worn them with tremendous pride.

With all of his achievements, one often gets the impression that none of them are more important than the acknowledgment that he’s received in his home state.  One major milestone was getting his name on one of the painted stars adorning the outside of the iconic Minneapolis venue, First Avenue, which was used during several scenes for Prince‘s classic 1984 film, Purple Rain.  Then, in 2013, Mayor Raymond, “R.T.” Raybak, officially declared September 20th, to be Har Mar Superstar Day in the city of Minneapolis.  2018 was another good year for the Gopher State native with him first being honored with a signature beer by Modest Brewery that March, and later awarded a trophy by the Sioux Fall, MN Taco Johns.  The Mexican restaurant chain wanted to recognize Har Mar‘s dedication by giving him the first ever trophy in the shape of their “potato oles” menu item.  And now, just last Friday, January 24th, Tillman reached his latest achievment as a local boy made good, when he performed his first ever NBA half-time show for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

We anticipated great thing from a Har Mar half-time show, especially once we knew that dancers were going to be involved, but what he and his crew pulled off exceeds all expectations.  In recent years, Sean‘s live band has included a crack horn section, and two of the members — Jake Baldwin & Nelson Devereaux — joined him for the event.  Together they mixed 3 Har Mar Superstar tunes — “Lady, You Shot Me,” “Prisoner” & “Almond Joy” — into a consistently engaging routine that lasted a little over 6 minutes.  There was one point when they first went into the song “Prisoner” that I thought to myself how the only thing missing might be BMX tricks paying homage to the 80s film, RAD, just like they included in the official music video.  It was right at that moment that a troop of child dancers appeared and I realized that nothing was missing at all.  They killed it.  But as the book reviewers on Reading Rainbow regularly said, you don’t have to take my word for it.

The full video of the entire performance is finally online an you can view it below for yourself.  You don’t have to be a basketball fan to enjoy this.  It’s a good one.