Bob Mould and Fred Armisen helped the 8G Band close out their tenure as the Late Night With Seth Meyers house band last night.
Mould fronted the group as they tore through a cover of Hüsker Dü’s classic, “Makes No Sense At All,” from the pioneering punk group’s 1985 album Flip Your Wig. Armisen, meanwhile, took his spot behind the drums and belted backing vocals alongside keyboardist Eli Janney, guitarist Seth Jabour, and bassist Syd Butler.
It was announced earlier this summer that the 8G Band would be leaving Late Night. In an interview with Vulture at the time, Janney, who also served as the show’s musical director, said the group was being let go amid budget cuts and ahead of the show’s “revamped” 12th season.
“There’s a lot of strong emotions. No one is happy about it,” Janney said. “Seth has been a big champion of ours from the get-go. They couldn’t have been nicer about it… I have nothing but positive things to say. Ten-and-a-half years is a very long time on TV. Every TV show ends; that’s just the reality of any creative endeavor. It’s been 10 of the best years of my life. They always really took care of us and let us do what we wanted.”
The 8G Band joined Meyers when he took over Late Night as Jimmy Fallon went to The Tonight Show. At the time, the group was fronted by Armisen, alongside Janney, Jabour, Butler, and drummer Kimberly Thompson. While Armisen would appear sparingly on the show, Butler, Janney, and Jabour performed nearly every night and frequently welcomed guest drummers. (Butler, Janney, and Jabour all cut their teeth in punk and indie bands, with both Jabour and Butler hailing from Les Savy Fav, and Janney from Girls Against Boys.)
Ahead of their final performance, Meyers paid tribute to his departing house band, saying, “Since the show launched in 2014, these four outstanding artists have been by my side, playing with over 200 guest drummers and reinventing the definition of a talk show band.”
