When the Chula Vista band Payable on Death take the stage Sunday at the NFC Championship game, it won’t be their biggest audience ever, but it may be one of their most memorable shows.
Sonny Sandoval said on Friday that he and the rest of P.O.V. found out last week that they would be playing at half-time at the game pitting the San Francisco 49ers against the hometown Atlanta Falcons.
“We have a good relationship with ESPN and Monday Night Football,” said Sandoval.
Payable on Death formed nearly a decade ago, releasing a half-dozen full-length major-label discs since then, with their latest, Murdered Love, dropping last summer. The band may be best known for its hits “Southtown” and “Youth of the Nation,” which was nominated for a Best Hard Rock Performance Grammy in 2003.
Sandoval said the band had been approached earlier this season – “Would you be opposed to playing a half-time show at a game?” he said he was asked. There was talk at some point about a Dallas game which didn’t happen, so it wasn't a complete surprise when he got a text last Sunday.
It also didn’t shock Sandoval when he was told that P.O.D’s song “Boom” was a fan favorite at Atlanta and had been played at virtually every home game since its release in 2002.
“When we’re on tour and stop through these towns … we play something like ‘Boom’ because we know it’s gotten a lot of play and it goes well with the sports world,” Sandoval said.
While he’s glad to play in front of the Atlanta crowd, the P.O.D. singer said the Bolts were his team but that it had been a tough year.
“Obviously I’m a die-hard Charger fan,” Sandoval said. “When they have a horrible season, it’s hard to get into it. I was Team Manning there at the end. Not a Broncos fan but I wanted to see Manning do it.”
Sunday’s championship game won’t be the biggest crowd P.O.D. has played for.
“We’ve done a lot of the radio rock shows, the European festivals, New Year’s Times Square -- they said there was a million people,” Sandoval said.
P.O.D. will fly out Saturday to Atlanta to get ready for their two-song set during the 12-minute half-time. It won’t be a long stay for Sandoval
“I’m actually flying home Sunday night – I won’t even get to see the second half,” Sandoval said. “I had already planned to go camping with my wife and my kids -- as much as I want to stay at the game, my kids have the day off the next day. It’s a three-day weekend. I love being with my kids.”
The kickoff for Sunday’s game is at noon P.T. Sadly, you probably won’t see P.O.D. play – the half-time show is mostly for the stadium crowd and is typically not broadcast.
