That’s a wrap on Fred Armisen and The 8G Band—at least when it comes to them being the live house band on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
Thursday night marked the group’s last regular appearance on the show after it was revealed in June that the band had fallen victim to budget cuts at NBC. They’ll remain a presence on the show via pre-recorded tracks.
Before signing off, Fred Armisen, who first put the ensemble together and served as its drummer for the show’s first six months and at other times when he wasn’t off working on other projects, joined Meyers as the Late Night host paid tribute to Armisen and the band.
“Today is bittersweet for me,” Meyers told Armisen, his speech becoming more halting as went along. “Having you here when this started, I felt very cool to have you guys. And that was a very important thing to feel. But I mostly just felt very safe. And when this started — it’s been so fun to have you here the last nine years. That first year — feeling safe, I –“
“Oh, buddy,” Armisen responded, grabbing an emotional Meyers by the hand. “I love you so much,” Meyers told Armisen, who responded “I love you so much. Thank you for this.”
Unlike most TV house bands, The 8G Band specialized in original music—not covers. That meant composing eight brand-new pieces per episode, for guest entrances and commercial breaks, a herculean task that recently earned Armisen and Eli Janney, the group’s de facto bandleader, an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Music Direction for Late Night‘s 10th anniversary episode.
Before officially signing off Thursday night, Armisen took the stage with the band and Bob Mould, who joined them for special farewell performance of Mould’s Hüsker Dü song “Makes No Sense at All.”
Although not every late-night show has always boasted a live house band (The Daily Show and each incarnation of The Late Late Show up until James Corden went without), NBC’s Late Night franchise has been home to some of the very best over the last 42 years, from Paul Shaffer and the World’s Most Dangerous Band to The Max Weinberg 7 to The Roots.
