Tonight’s SNL50: The Anniversary Celebration opened with a surprise Paul Simon/Sabrina Carpenter duet and closed over three hours later with another Paul. Paul McCartney, who we just caught in a pop-up show at the intimate Bowery Ballroom this week, has been a musical guest on the series four times — in 1980, 1993, 2010, and 2012. He also appeared on the 40th anniversary special and in several comedy segments on the show (remember The Chris Farley Show?) over the years.
On Friday night Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard covered Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” at SNL50: The Homecoming Concert, which aired on Peacock. Tonight the pair returned for the big SNL 50: The Anniversary Celebration on NBC primetime. Again with house band the Roots, Cyrus and Howard covered “Nothing Compares 2 U.”
Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary festivities have already given us Nirvana x Post Malone, a Joanna Newsom sighting, and the revelation that creator/producer Lorne Michaels once called Taylor Swift a “terrorist.”
Fountains Of Wayne will play their first show in over a decade this summer, with Max Collins filling in on bass for the late Adam Schlesinger. But Collins hasn’t neglected his main band Eve 6: In the past few days, Eve 6 have shared two cover songs. The first is a rendition of Len’s “Steal My Sunshine” — a song that’s been covered many times — featuring L1zy. The second, a collaboration with Suzie True, is their take on Wreckless Eric’s 1977 song “Whole Wide World.”
Last year, Los Campesinos! released All Hell, which landed at #10 on our list of the best albums of the year. On Friday (Feb. 14) in London, the band played a lot of those songs live for the first time, as well as their deep cut “Tiptoe Through The True Bits.”
flyingfish — the shoegaze project of 16-year-old Sam Fishman — is getting ready for some shows with Launder, Soft Blue Shimmer, and other great acts. To prepare, he shared the new song “pitching stones” on Friday (Feb. 14).
On Friday (Feb. 14), Oscar-nominated actor Michael Shannon and indie rock veteran Jason Narducy kicked off their R.E.M. tribute band tour in Pioneertown, CA. The group played through the entirety of the 1985 album Fables Of The Reconstruction.
At first it seemed completely random. A Tuesday in February, and Paul McCartney was, for some reason, playing a surprise show at the 575-capacity Manhattan venue Bowery Ballroom. Then there was a Wednesday show. And, finally, a Friday special edition, a Valentine’s Day finale to cap off a week of Macca taking over downtown Manhattan before joining in with this weekend’s SNL 50 festivities.
Earlier this week, New York Dolls’ David Johansen revealed that he has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. His daughter, Leah Hennessey, launched a Sweet Relief fundrasier to help cover the cost of his treatment, and on Friday (Feb. 14) he and his wife Mara shared a video expressing gratitude for the support.
SNL50: The Homecoming Concert — a nearly three-and-a-half-hour extravaganza produced by SNL creator/producer Lorne Michaels and Mark Ronson — took place at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall tonight. The event featured popular musicians young and old who have performed on NBC’s sketch comedy series over the decades, and the audience was filled with people who worked on the show in some form or another, so there were a lot of reaction shots of delighted celebrities. Even many of the commercials starred past SNL characters, and the show is just one part of a the program’s 50th anniversary weekend festivities, which cultivate with a prime time special airing Sunday night.