Yo La Tengo, Decemberists, Ginuwine To Appear With Jeff Tweedy On Parks & Rec
One of the major plot lines in the back half of this season of Parks And Recreation is the department’s attempt to put on a Pawnee-Eagleton Unity Concert. We’ve already heard that Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy will be stopping by for the concert, and we now know that Yo La Tengo, the Decemberists, Ginuwine, and Letters To Cleo will also make appearances. Yo La Tengo will be playing a Night Ranger cover band called Bobby Knight Ranger.
In an interview with The A.V. Club, producer Mike Schur talked about how they were able to get the band: “One of our writers, Donick Carey, is very good friends with the band Yo La Tengo, who are one of my favorite bands, and he emailed them and said, ‘Hey, do you guys want to play Bobby Knight Ranger?’ And they were, like, ‘Sure!’ So Yo La Tengo makes an appearance as Bobby Knight Ranger, playing ‘Sister Christian.'”
Schur continues, “The three of them showed up, they got dressed up in red sweaters, khakis, and white wigs, and they played ‘Sister Christian’ in front of a thousand people, introducing themselves as ‘Bobby Knight Ranger.’ It was one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen … and completely delightful. It was just really cool. They were so game and so happy to be there, and it was so cool of them, because … I mean, they’re basically in disguise. Yo La Tengo fans will recognize them, definitely, but most people won’t. They just did it because they like comedy and wanted to be a part of the show. It was super cool. I’m forever in their debt.”
The bands will appear in the season finale of Parks And Rec which is set to air on 4/24.