It was a big night for SNL alum and Portlandia star Fred Armisen. Not only did Monday evening mark the debut episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers, for which Armisen serves as the new band leader, but he also earlier strolled down the hallway for an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. There, he spoke with Fallon about his new gig and introduced the members of his 8G Band, which include Les Savy Fav’s Seth Jabour and Syd Butler, Eli Janney of Girls Against Boys, and Beyoncé collaborator Kim Thompson. He also played Ringo Starr in a funny little sketch that proved The Beatles really were ahead of their time.
Interesting enough, Armisen’s role on the debut episode of Late Night was a lot less memorable. We got our first taste of 8G’s post-punk-inspired sound, which sounds a lot like a ’90s version of Les Savy Fav (not that that’s a bad thing), and Armisen did a brief bit discussing his upcoming show for The History Channel. Hopefully, he gets a little more face time on future episodes.
