Conan O’Brien talks about new band The Vigodas

When Conan O’Brien takes the stage at the Teragram Ballroom in downtown Los Angeles on Friday night, he wears tight black jeans, a custom black jacket emblazoned with the band’s name and a wide smile. He greets the crowd by asking how many people have seen his cover band, the Vigodas. A few were shouting that they had done it, but the vast majority were there to see it for the first time. And despite its fame, it makes sense. Although he’s probably one of the most recognizable and beloved people in Hollywood, at this point the band has only done about ten shows in Southern California since its August premiere.

They attract a wide range of fans. Some know him for his years of hosting Late at nightwhile others appear to be devoted listeners to his long-running interview podcast, Conan O’Brien needs a friend — a handful seem young enough to have only seen snippets of him in his network’s heyday. The band has spanned more than a dozen covers – from Elvis Presley and Elvis Costello to Bo Diddley and John Lennon – an eclectic mix of rock & roll spanning the 1950s to the 1980s that is probably best described as the music that won’t come out of O’Brien’s head.

“When I was in college, when everyone was starting to listen to U2 and Oingo Boingo, I was into hardcore rockabilly,” O’Brien, 63, says. rolling stone backstage before the show, running her fingers through the front of her red mane, letting it form a four-inch wave above her head. “I had the hair for it.” He loved the throaty sounds of Jerry Lee Lewis and early Elvis Presley. “Over the years, I would cover these songs that were like adrenaline,” he says. “One of them is Ronnie Hawkins’ version of ’40 Days,'” which they play later during their set.

Although the crowd never seemed to break a sweat, they were engaged throughout the hour-plus set, occasionally singing along and doing little solo swing dances in place. (There are also a surprising number of couples kissing.) But the best moment of the evening is the immense joy on O’Brien’s face as he performs on stage with four other guys 20 years his junior, whom he met only a few months ago but who have quickly become friends.

O’Brien is probably still best known for his decades as a talk show host, but it was the podcast that launched the group, he says, when he had singer Norah Jones in May 2023. “I knew Norah over the years, and she always remembered that I had a guitar whenever she came to do the late-night show,” O’Brien says. “She said, ‘How’s the guitar?’ And I said, “You know, it’s a little sad because I don’t really have anyone to play with, and I need someone to kick my ass and help me with my game.” She said, ‘I know a guy.’

The guy was guitarist Jason Roberts, who had been playing in Jones’ band for half a decade. He began giving lessons to O’Brien, and they made fun of their shared love of the Beatles. “We’re texting about the Beatles a plot“, Roberts later said. “We both love the Beatles so much.”

About six months ago, O’Brien asked Roberts if he would take their classes to the next level. “He said to me, ‘Can you help me start a band?’ “, Roberts recalls. “And I said, ‘I know the guys exactly for that.’ O’Brien tells the same story. “A week later we’re in Hollywood playing,” he says. “I’m just floating, so happy.”

They are named after the late actor Abe Vigoda, another imposing character with an expressive face, best known for his roles in The godfather And Barney Miller. “Abe was a fixture at my old gig, he did hundreds of tracks for us and he was a sweet and hilarious man. I always knew his iconic mug was the face of our band,” says O’Brien. He had never played in a band as a teenager, but he always wanted to. “For years and years, you could say the only reason I wanted a late-night show was so I could start a band,” he says. Back when he worked with Max Weinberg 7, then Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band, he joined them to play at every rehearsal. “I would put on a guitar and play with them and sing songs,” he says. “We had a good repertoire. And then, when I went through my Tonight Show madness” – referring to the six months he spent behind the desk at the NBC institution from 2009 to 2010 – “we went on the road and we did a comedy show, but there was also a lot of music in it, and that was my happy place. »

O’Brien seems comfortable as a cover man, content to reinterpret the music he loves – often speeding them up. A few years ago, he ran into Beverly D’Angelo at a party and she pointed out how fast her version of “40 Days” was when she heard it on tour. Earlier this year, when the Rolling Stones asked him to introduce them and their new album at a concert in Brooklyn, he bumped into Keith Richards backstage. “Keith told me, he said, ‘I heard your ‘Monkey Business,'” O’Brien says, referring to the Chuck Berry cover he recorded with Jack White in the 2010s. Live in the Third Man. O’Brien was surprised to know who he was, let alone to have heard his 16-year-old record. “You’re kidding,” he replied. “(Keith) said, ‘You look like a fucking auctioneer.’” O’Brien laughs. “He’s not wrong.”

Part of the group’s joy is the excuse to tour different venues in Los Angeles. Their first gig was at Permanent Records Roadhouse, a small club in East Los Angeles where they played as a surprise guest after Fred Armison’s regular set. Since then, they have toured the most beautiful small stages in Los Angeles, from the Troubadour to the Lodge Room via the Marocain Lounge. “I’m a connoisseur of wacky backstage,” he says, recalling a time when he spent time with his friend and idol Bob Newhart backstage at the Chicago Theater. “I had a goofy dressing room, and Bob Newhart said to me, ‘Conan, no matter what you accomplish in show business, every time you go to the theater and they show you your dressing room, there’s always a piece of dead brown lettuce on the floor. That’s how it is.’ He smiled at the thought. “It’s very humiliating.”

Beyond visiting the depths of these Art Deco monuments, the group’s other interest, according to O’Brien, is being able to share the stage with other musicians whose work he adores. There are the people in his outfit, of course – Roberts the guitarist, Erik Kertes on bass, Ben Alleman on keyboards and Josh Adams on drums (Rob Jensen replaced Adams, who is on tour with the Fruit Bats, on Friday). But there are also all the opening acts, like Malena Cadiz tonight – an American singer-songwriter with a lush voice – or Sam Evian, who opened for them at Pappy and Harriet in Joshua Tree a few weeks ago. Every night he asks these openers to join in for a song or two. “I want it to be a hootenanny,” O’Brien says. “I want it to be something where we move forward and other people step in. Because I don’t have a future in the music business, but I can be a small part of it.”

Vigodas’ Teragram Ballroom set list
“7 Nights to Rock” – Nick Lowe
“No Action/Radio Radio” – Elvis Costello
“Baby, Let’s Play House” – Elvis Presley
“You can have the crown” – Sturgill Simpson
“Werewolves of London” – Warren Zevon
“Jump into the fire” – Harry Nilsson
“Hello Mary Lou” – Ricky Nelson (with Malena Cadiz)
“Twenty Flight Rock” – Eddie Cochran
“Forty Days” – Ronnie Hawkins
“I’m so tired” – John Lennon
“Victoria” – The Kinks (with Gaby Moreno)
“Proud Mary” – Ike and Tina Turner (with Gaby Moreno)
“Who Do You Love” – Bo Diddley
“Not Fade Away” – Buddy Holly (partial song)
“Polk Annie Salad” – Elvis Presley
“On Cripple Creek” – The Band