one of those "you had to be there" albums

ok i think im a day off but who gives af

you fr had to be there for this one

what a moment bro

cant recall a live indie performance that's gone viral since this one

first thing i think of when i think future islands

yeah, I remember my bud sending me this to watch.

Link about the history behind the performance--read it a few weeks ago, twas nice: spin.com/2024/03/future-islands-letterman-anniversary

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Sam laughs when he thinks about how inexperienced they were when they got into the studio. “It was weird—we got in there and people were just looking at us like we were crazy. And we’re like ‘no, we’re the band’ Laughs. We always toured with a decent-sized Mackie PA for the drums, a second JBL PA that ran Garret’s keys, and William had a big bass rig, And so we showed up and were like, ‘Where do we put our PA’s?’ And all the stage hands were like, ‘What is wrong with you?’ We didn’t have in-ears or anything. We were like, ‘It’s our keyboard amp,’ and they’re like, ‘No, it’s a PA.’ And we’re like, ‘Yeah, but it’s keyboards, and this one runs the drums.’ They just thought we were fools.”

Cashion elaborates further: “A lot of bands that came through The Late Show had their crew bring their gear in, and then the band just kinda shows up for soundcheck around midday. We didn’t really have a crew at that time, so when we showed up, it was like ‘wait… you’re just the band?’ And we were like, ‘Yeah, it’s just us, we’re here! Where do we go?’”

They weren’t allowed to unload and set up their equipment themselves due to union rules and were scolded by the stage crew for trying. All they could do was wait and figure out what they were going to wear. “I was very nervous,” admits Cashion.

Ben Gaffin, who signed Future Islands to 4AD at the time, says, “I wasn’t that nervous. I think we all knew that if there was one thing Future Islands can execute under pressure, it’s playing live.”

“I remember we went to a bar shortly before,” says Sam, “and one thing I did before that show that I haven’t done before any other late night performance since is I took a shot 20 minutes before filming. Then we ran back over. I was changing pants and shirts and deciding what to wear minutes before we went on. You know, the things that you do before a show.”

As the band explains, what you see on TV is exactly how it is live in the studio—Letterman used to run a tight ship. “They do give you the opportunity to re-record if you mess up,” explains Cashion, “but the vibe is like, ‘keep it going.’ I was just hyper-focused, like, ‘Don’t mess up, don’t play the wrong notes.’ Every time we play on TV, I get so nervous my legs start shaking. You can’t see it, but my legs are shaking while I’m playing.”

When it was time for Future Islands to go on, Welmers said one of the sound engineers accidentally unplugged his USB cord. “He was standing on the cord and had pulled it out of my interface like seconds before we had to do this thing. I reached and plugged it back in just in time, and we got it going. It was a little nerve-racking.”

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letterman performance is an all timer