The first game of the NFL season saw a wordless rendition of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ as the national anthem was performed via electric guitar.
Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready performed the unique version of the anthem before the Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots 13-10 in a Super Bowl rematch at Lumen Field.
The American anthem was performed after Washington native, The Mwango Sisters had delivered a stirring rendition of ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’, better known as the ‘Black National Anthem’ before the game and received a mixed reception online.
But McCready was widely slammed for his guitar anthem, with viewers online even going as far as to call the performance a ‘disrespectful’ way to start the new season.
And Seahawks players were filmed looking bemused as the camera showed them during the anthem, with safety Julian Love and quarterback Sam Darnold looking particularly bewildered when they were shown during the musical melody.
One disgruntled fan wrote: ‘As someone who has played guitar my whole life and loves the instrument… An electric guitar should never be used to play the national anthem in this way. This is a disgrace.
Sam Darnold looked bemused during the unique rendition of the national anthem in Seattle
Mike McCready’s electric guitar performance saw the anthem played with no words sung
‘There are many ways to express the anthem uniquely, but also respectfully. Chris Stapleton did that phenomenally well – expressing his own unique angle on the anthem while still articulating it with the dignity and reverence it deserves.
‘But this is simply a self-indulgent disgrace. There is no thought behind this. He doesn’t even have the decency to stay in the key as he vandalizes the melody – going to stupid out-of-key canned pentatonic riffs for no reason.
‘I would be insulted if I bought tickets to see this as a musical performance, let alone listening to this as a rendition of our national anthem. Just terrible.’
One viewer called it: ‘Disrespectful,’, adding: ‘our national anthem deserves more respect,’ and another said: ‘National Anthem via guitar almost always sucks. Just sing the damn thing.’
Others said: ‘Don’t blame the guitarist. Blame whoever wanted the National Anthem played on a guitar’ as another damning response called it: ‘Absolutely horrific. An affront to our National Anthem.’
The Buffalo Bills have also caused some anthem-related controversy this week, after announcing they will play the Canadian national anthem before their first game at the new Highmark Stadium next week.
The decision sees them follow the Buffalo Sabres, the National Hockey League team in the city, who also play the Canadian anthem before all games, owing to their close proximity to the border and extensive Canadian fan base.
The Bills’ announcement has divided opinion, especially against the backdrop of the current trade war between the two countries.
Sehawks teammate Julian Love also had a bewildered look on his face as the guitar played
Meanwhile, the Seahawks edged a hard-fought win over the Patriots after McCready’s unique anthem.
The Super Bowl champions had to do it without Sam Darnold after he left the game with a right hip injury on the opening drive and was replaced by Drew Lock.
After trailing for much of the game, the home team put up ten unanswered points in the fourth quarter, with Jaxson Smith-Njigba scoring a 45-yard touchdown before an ugly Drake Maye interception in the end zone on the final drive secured a Seattle win to start to the season.
