SAN FRANCISCO — Returning to perform ahead of the Super Bowl is good and (sort of) bad for country trio The Band Perry, who last performed around the 2014 game.

The good: The group gets a chance to play its hits in front of feverish concertgoers and gain new fans. The bad: They’re not-so-great good luck charms for the Denver Broncos.

“There must be some connection we have with the Broncos, like we always are in the same vicinity as them,” said Neil Perry, sitting next to his siblings, Kimberly and Reid.

“We weren’t the good luck charm last time, so maybe we’ll bring them a little bit more good luck this year,” Kimberly Perry added in an optimistic tone.

The Band Perry performed in East Rutherford, New Jersey, when the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Broncos 43-8. They’re back for Sunday’s big game when the Broncos will take on the Carolina Panthers at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

“We’re like massive football fans,” said Reid Perry, adding that he’s more into college football. “I’m the type where I’ll like record football games and re-watch them.”

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The band, whose No. 1 country hits include “If I Die Young,” ”All Your Life” and “Better Dig Two,” performed Thursday night in San Francisco at Levi’s The City Stage, where OneRepublic and Alicia Keys will perform Friday and Saturday, respectively.

They said they’re excited for the Super Bowl 50 halftime show, which includes Coldplay, Beyoncé and other unannounced guests. “Being the girl of the family, I like football, but I love the halftime show,” Kimberly Perry said.

The trio is also excited to see Lady Gaga sing the national anthem at the game. The band worked with RedOne — the producer behind the Gaga hits “Just Dance” and “Poker Face” — on the 2015 single, “Live Forever,” and Gaga was in the same studio while the group wrote the song.

“Red actually brought her in, because we hadn’t gotten to meet her yet, and so we played her ‘Love Forever’ and Neil loves that her one comment was, ‘Well I just want you guys to turn up the mandolin,’ because Neil plays the mandolin,” Kimberly Perry said.

“Which he interprets that as like flirting,” Reid Perry said as his sister chimed in: “Yeah, he thought that was Gaga going, ‘Yeah, I love you Neil.’ “

“Well, it is,” Neil Perry said with a smile.

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The group said they recorded more songs with RedOne, along with other producers, for their upcoming third album to be released this year.

“One thing that we’ve always loved since day one is to find what the next Band Perry voice is going to be, and that self-discovery is a blast,” Kimberly Perry said.

When asked about the Thursday’s death of Earth, Wind & Fire’s Maurice White, Reid Perry said his band’s current headspace is similar to the iconic group: “They very much were all about feel, the beats, and that’s where we are right now on our creative journey. So those guys, anyone who really embraced groove, we really love.”

The band is also celebrating the one-year anniversary of its first Grammy win: Their cover of Glen Campbell’s “Gentle On My Mind” won best country duo/group performance at last year’s ceremony.

“I mean, winning a Grammy is life-changing. For us, that is our Super Bowl,” Kimberly Perry said.


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