The Best Late Night Performances of 2009
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Artist:
Hey, remember 2009? A lot of people don't, which is why the rest of us keep making lists to remind you as we run out the clock on this year. So, we figured we'd save this one for last: our 15 favorite late night performances of the year. We had to dig deep into our own memories to find stuff from before we started these late show roundups just a few months ago, not to mention preventing this from being a Jimmy Fallon and the Roots highlight reel. Yes, despite his (usually) terrible jokes and gags and awkward interview skills, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon proved on an almost nightly basis that they had not only the best band in late night, but the best musical guests as well, so they easily get 2009's gold star, usurping Conan now that he has made the obligatory move of booking mediocre band's to satiate the formerly Leno-loving Tonight Show audiences. We're not going to over-analyze these performances the way we did with the year's best music videos, but we will mention a few of our favorites from the collection below: The Roots and Antibalas joining Paul Simon for a classic performance, Bat for Lashes outdoing their studio recording on Letterman, Phoenix's breakthrough SNL performance, and most recently Fallon joining Julian Casablancas for a yuletide sing-a-long.
Before we break out the champagne and irk responsibility for a few glorious days, we'd like to thank all of you Moggers and readers out there for commenting, poking fun at the horrible guests we've had to sit through, and giving us the resolve to keep on with these roundups, and a special shout out to the diligent night owls known as Cody and Robin. Here's to 2009 and an even better batch of late nights ahead!
Wilco - "You and I" feat. Feist (Live on the Late Show With David Letterman)
Paul Simon - "Late in the Evening" feat. The Roots and Antibalas (Live on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon)
The White Stripes - "We're Going to Be Friends" (Live on the Final Late Night With Conan O'Brien)
Taylor Swift - "Monologue Song" (Live on Saturday Night Live)
Phoenix - "1901" (Live on Saturday Night Live)
Jay-Z - "Run This Town" feat. Rihanna and Kanye West (Live on the Jay Leno Show)
Mountain Goats - "Interview / Psalm 40:2" (Live on the Colbert Report)
Pixies - "Here Comes Your Man" (Live on the Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien)
Alicia Keys - "Empire State of Mind Part 2 (Suburban Version)" feat. Stephen Colbert (Live on the Colbert Report)
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down | ||||
| www.colbertnation.com | ||||
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Dirty Projectors - "When the World Comes to an End" (Live on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon)
Julian Casablancas - "I Wish It Was Christmas Today" feat. Horatio Sanz and Jimmy Fallon (Live on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon)
Bat for Lashes - "Daniel" (Live on the Late Show With David Letterman)
Goodie Mob - Soul Food (Live on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon)
Elvis Costello - "Interview / Cheap Reward" (Live on the Colbert Report)
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Elvis Costello | ||||
| www.colbertnation.com | ||||
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Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Zero" (Live on the Late Show With David Letterman)
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Comments (2)
ok, i'm now feeling guilty for not contributing to this list, considering i view your recaps every day even though i've seen many of them live. keep 'em coming, man!
having said that, better late than never? off the top of my head, here's one that immediately comes to mind:
the next one takes a little work (i'm not an editor and maybe it's more than moggers feel like doing) but it's "owned" by NBC/HULU so it's buried within chapter 3 of the 12/17 Fallon show. at about the 26:30 mark, you can see a "Battle of the Bands" confrontation between Paul Shaffer and the aforementioned Roots:
the last one i'll post is also an NBC exclusive so you may see a commercial first. it's Shy Ronnie's appearance on SNL featuring Rihanna:
whether or not you play these, HAPPY NEW YEAR.
I wish I could view these in Europe. They sound amazing.