MY MORNING JACKET - SATURDAY AT SNL
MMJ on SNL - “I’m Amazed”
“Evil Urges”
I know there’s probably tons of interesting music news out there in the ether, and I know you’re probably thinking, what is this - the SXSW MMJ Blog? But, I just got back from NY and aside from reading about Bon Iver tour dates, my focus has been pretty limited.
So here’s a tale about one girl’s trip to NY and the hallowed halls of Saturday Night Live…
Tom and I spent the early afternoon in Herald Square trying to find a black shirt with black buttons (so as not to clash with the black velvet jacket he wore). Thank G for H&M (my favorite store on earth!). If you ever wondered what bands are doing before performing on SNL, there’s one example.
An evening at SNL is a long one (you arrive around 4 and are there for about nine hours).
However, they are kind enough to provide you with good food, bread pudding, cheesecake and gelato (cookie dough gelato, no less!)
The band went through another set of rehearsals (the first being on Thursday) that sounded great in the studio. I will admit (and am sort of embarrassed, but) I got a bit choked up when I watched them do “I’m Amazed.” That song is purty good, I must say.
From 8 - 10 they do a dress rehearsal with a live audience to run through all the skits and both band performances. It was quite interesting to see how things evolved from dress to the actual show, and I think they did a great job of cutting out the fat. My favorite bits of the night were the MacGruber series and Bill Hader’s Italian talk show host.
Say what you will about SNL’s somewhat inconsistent nature, it’s pretty awesome to watch the show come together and see how hard the performers work. They seem like a genial, close-knit bunch (I’ve read about how it’s a pretty dog eat dog environment, but you don’t get that feeling when you’re there - at least not the parts I saw).
Oh, I forgot to mention that Kristen Wiig and Fred Armisen warmed the crowd up with a cover of Blondie’s “One Way or Another.” She has a great voice, actually, which only makes her even cooler (if that’s possible). She has that Suze Orman voice down… and who was in the audience for the live show but… Suze Orman!! I got to walk out next to Suze Orman!! She was pretty good natured about the skit. I did not ask her for investment advice or if Oprah is nice or anything like that.
My Morning Jacket did really well, I thought. I figured I wouldn’t be surprised having watched the whole process, but then they ended with the stop-action thing (which they didn’t in rehearsal) so that was pretty cute. Those boys know how to entertain. I think we were all (the wives) sort of nervous for them, but I don’t know why - they’ve never not delivered in the hundreds of times I’ve seen them. However, this was probably their most high profile performance EVER (seriously, I watched Lorne Michaels and Amy Poehler rock out to the band. How insanely cool is that?!).
When the show is over, the cast, crew and loads of other people head to the after party and it was chock full of celebs (I admired Will Arnett from afar… I love that guy). I asked Bill Hader if he would do the LP Questionnaire, and he said yes so I’m excited about that. Will Forte told Tom he wants to go to Bonnaroo so maybe we’ll see him again someday. I never talk to famous people, mostly because what on earth am I going to say, really? But also because I think if I was a famous type person, would I want me stumbling up like a moron going, “You’re so cool. Tee hee. Can I steal your fork?” Probably not.
So that is what it’s like to spend a Saturday at Saturday Night Live. We got back to the hotel around 4.30 am. I haven’t stayed out that late since… umm… yeah. I can’t wait to get back to NYC next month for MMJ at Radio City Music Hall. They should dress up like the Rockettes.
It was a good week, lp
ps. How great was it that Pooch made it into the band pics?! He was super happy.
pps. Gibson Guitars are doing a giveaway for the MMJ RCMH show - you can win tickets and a kick-ass guitar. I really want that Flying V!
ppps. Don’t forget you can email us at musicblog@sxsw.com. And subscribe to our feedie here.
Original post by LP
Posted: May 12th, 2008 under Linda Park, Latest News.
Comments: none
Much to the surprise of music lovers everywhere, long-time SXSW supporter, Harp Magazine, declared about two months ago (and the first day after this year’s SXSW) that it would cease publishing. Jaws dropped. But it is a trend that the publication industry is seeing more and more of everyday. The digital age is pushing through in a big way and the print world is starting to suffer because of it.