Seth Meyers made a surprising announcement on his Twitter feed today, that Portlandia star/creator Fred Armisen will serve as the bandleader when Late Night with Seth Meyers debuts two weeks from today on Monday, February 24 at 12:37 AM ET, confirming that he will still manage to lead the band while he is shooting Portlandia.
Here's the first photo of the new @LateNightSeth band! #8GBandpic.twitter.com/jR07bDIZXQ
— Seth Meyers (@sethmeyers) February 10, 2014Fred will curate and lead the band, and continue to run it even when he's off shooting Portlandia. #8GBand
— Seth Meyers (@sethmeyers) February 10, 2014It remains to be seen how this arrangement will work, since Portlandia is actually shot in Portland, Oregon, and Late Night with Seth Meyers tapes live every weeknight from Rockefeller Center in New York City. Keep in mind, though he still did manage to perform regularly on Saturday Night Live for the last few years while Portlandia was airing on IFC. The actor officially left Saturday Night Live in July, after an 11-year run on the show that started in 2002 and spanned 221 episodes.
The actor is also an accomplished musician, performing as a drummer for the Blue Man Group's Chicago-based sect, while also drumming for the band Trenchmouth. He also composed the theme song for Portlandia.
Portlandia kicks off Season 4 on February 27. IFC renewed the series for Season 4 and Season 5 in June, with each season getting 10 episodes apiece.