Tommy Stinson, Paul Westerberg, Josh Freese and David Minehan of musical guest The Replacements on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on September 9, 2014.
Twenty eight years ago, the Replacements drunkenly stumbled through one of the worst musical performances in SNL history (at least from NBC’s perspective) and were famously banned from ever playing 30 Rock again.
Well, Lorne Michaels be damned -- the ‘Mats returned to NBC on Sept. 9 for a Tonight Show performance with Jimmy Fallon. Check out their performance below:
What’s that song? It’s their classic Pleased to Meet Me track "Alex Chilton," a tribute to the late Big Star frontman, who was one of the heroes of the Replacements’ Paul Westerberg.
Westerberg and bassist Tommy Stinson may the only remaining originals, but listen to those guitar fills and backing vocal hums in the chorus! When fans see the ‘Mats on their current reunion mini-tour, they won’t be getting the full-on 1986 experience, but they’ll probably get some sharper musicianship in the trade-off.
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Keith Richards also guested on the Sept. 9 episode of Fallon (to support his new children’s book) and although he didn’t join the performance, he did jump in this photo with the band:
Next up, the Replacements return to their native Minnesota -- for their first hometown show since reuniting -- at St. Paul’s Midway Stadium on Sept. 13.
And here’s the 1986 SNL performance that got them banned: