Late Night With Seth Meyers Gets Less Musical
Jimmy Fallon turned Late Night into a hotbed for new music, mixing established artists like Justin Timberlake and Drake alongside buzzier bands like the Julie Ruin and Parquet Courts. It looked like Seth Meyers would continue this trend when his first week featured performances from Kanye and Brad Paisley as well as up-and-comers A Great Big World, but it seems that the new host isn’t eager to continue the tradition established by his predecessor. According to Billboard, the show has imposed a limit of two musical performances per week. This puts it on par with Craig Ferguson, but behind Fallon’s new show, David Letterman, and Jimmy Kimmel. It’s only a month into Meyers’ run as host so things are bound to change, but it makes sense that the former host of Weekend Update would be more comfortable with politics and news than music. Apparently, the Fred Armisen-led house band that includes members of Les Savy Fav and featured Marnie Stern a few weeks ago was going to just be a DJ before they recruited Armisen at the last minute.
It probably won’t be a big deal in the long run — Fallon’s taking advantage of his new position with appearances from bigger artists like U2, Lady Gaga, and Tim McGraw, but upcoming guests include Ty Dolla $ign, Vampire Weekend, and the National so it’s clear Fallon isn’t abandoning his indie roots. Even Meyers has had appearances by Lo-Fang and Iggy Azalea, but it’s a shame that the late night world seems to be losing a reliably strong showcase for newer artists.