Watch Les Savy Fav Invade A Couple Of Band Members’ Day Jobs With A Wild Seth Meyers Performance
For many years, New York post-punk heroes Les Savy Fav were arguably the freakiest, most unpredictable live act on the whole indie rock touring circuit. The first time I saw them was at an afternoon outdoor show, and I watched with increasing awe as unhinged frontman Tim Harrington clamped the mic chord in his teeth, shimmied up a light pole, and then sang while perched on top of a no-parking sign. These days, Les Savy Fav are back in action, having just released OUI, their first new album in 14 years. Last night, they brought their antics to the TV stage at Late Night With Seth Meyers — a potentially risky gambit when you consider that the show is the day job for a couple of guys in the group.
Les Savy Fav have been a part-time operation for a while, partly because bassist Syd Butler and guitarist Seth Jabour got jobs in Seth Meyers’ house band in 2014. Now that they’re getting ready to release a new album, Les Savy Fav did musical-guest duty on last night’s episode, playing their new song “World Got Great.” Any Les Savy Fav performance is an opportunity for Tim Harrington to do some wild shit, and he did not disappoint.
A late-night studio is a potentially confining environment, and you’re not going to get that in-studio audience to really lose its mind, the way you could in a club. But without spoiling too much, Tim Harrington made full use of the stage he had, getting into some real fourth-wall-breaking shenanigans. Seth Meyers seemed delighted with the result, so hopefully Syd Butler and Seth Jabour didn’t get in any trouble with the boss. Watch it below.
During last night’s show, Seth Meyers also took a moment to salute guest drummer Jon Theodore, formerly of the Mars Volta and currently of Queens Of The Stone Age. Apparently, Theodore has been on the show a bunch, and the band made him a five-timers’ club trophy, even though he’s really been on the show seven times.
OUI is out now on Frenchkiss Records/The Orchard.