Fred Armisen is getting the band back together for one last time.
The Late Night with Seth Meyers bandleader is sitting in with the 8G Band all this week—the final four days for the show’s house band.
News emerged in June that Late Night would be eliminating the band from its format due to NBC budget cuts, despite the reported best efforts of Meyers and showrunner Mike Shoemaker to keep them on. Meyers later called the change “very sad,” telling Deadline, “I think they know how sad I am that they’re not gonna be part of the show moving forward.”
Armisen has been the band’s musical director since Meyers took over Late Night in 2014; be started by playing guitar and, later, sitting in on the drums. Over time, Armisen transitioned to performing part-time with the group, sitting in when his schedule allowed. The 8G Band regularly invited both established and up-and-coming musicians to fill in for Armisen as guest drummers.
Armisen has said the 8G Band gig is something of a dream scenario for him, allowing him to keep a flexible schedule, collaborate with friends, and make decisions on the fly.
“It’s easy,” he told TheWrap in 2016. “We make up the songs on the day.”
“The people who are there are old friends of mine,” he added. “So it’s not like I had to sit with a bunch of strangers and explain to them what I wanted it to sound like.”
Armisen has also expressed gratitude for the arrangement. “Because I know Seth and Mike Shoemaker so well, they know where I am and they know what I’m working on,” Armisen told the outlet. “I don’t even have to explain anything. I’m like, ‘Well, this month isn’t good, I have to be in Portland… It really is a dream, that whole thing.”
In a silver lining, The 8G Band is getting Emmy recognition on its way out. Armisen and associate music director Eli Janney were nominated for an award in the Outstanding Music Direction category last month.
“The gratitude I have for any of our nominations is dwarfed by the gratitude I have for the Emmy voters honoring the band, and what Eli Janney and Fred Armisen have done for the last 10 years,” Meyers told Deadline after the nod.
With Armisen in tow, it seems like Late Night’s house band will be getting a proper sendoff at the end of the week. The 8G Band is listed as a guest for Thursday’s show, which is also set to feature Hüsker Dü singer Bob Mould (Armisen is a friend and noted fan of the singer).
