What could be a better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than to honor the music of “Saturday Night Live”? It might not be the first thing that springs to mind on what’s supposed to be a romantic weekend for lovers of all kinds, but “SNL” and its multiple 50th-anniversary specials have a way of taking over the weekend. Tonight’s party: “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert,” a star-studded concert extravaganza equipped with many of the musical guests that have performed on the famed stage of Studio 8H for the past five decades.
Kicking the festivities off on Peacock’s live special direct from New York City’s Radio City Music Hall was the master of ceremonies and longtime 30 Rockefeller Plaza resident and “SNL” alum, Jimmy Fallon. Opening the show by singing the Blues Brothers classic cover, “Soul Man,” Fallon was flanked by backup dancers dressed in their best Blues Brothers-inspired tuxes to a sold-out crowd. A crowd that included frequent “SNL” hosts and pop-in guests Paul Rudd, Kenan Thompson, Adam Sandler, Amy Schumer, Meryl Streep, Martin Short, Pedro Pascal, Miles Teller, Tom Hanks and Jerry Seinfeld, to name a few. Jokes were flying early in the 3-hour telecast as Fallon quipped that where all of the A-list celebrities in attendance were sitting was primarily “based on how much Lorne loves you,” a slight nod to “SNL” creator and man of the moment, Lorne Michaels.
Michaels’ name was dropped a significant amount throughout the special by presenters and musical performers alike as love turned into the theme of the evening. So much so that one could be forgiven for creating a drinking game every time his name was mentioned. Lorne Michaels created and has produced the long-running sketch comedy show since its 1975 debut (with the exception of a few years in the middle) and has sustained a reputation for being a kingmaker in the comedy space.
Evidenced by Michaels’ influence on introducing now-famous musical acts as part of the formula that’s made “Saturday Night Live” a must-watch event every weekend, Radio City Music Hall was filled to the brim Friday with spectacular performances from past and present artists. The likes of Ms. Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean, Cher, the Backstreet Boys, Miley Cyrus and Brittany Howard, Bad Bunny, Eddie Vedder and a weed-smoking Snoop Dogg took to the stage to honor an American institution. Country singer Jelly Roll entertained the audience with a homage to Johnny Cash, while Tracy Morgan delighted everyone by bringing The B-52’s to the stage to sing a rendition of “Love Shack,” a song they once performed live on the show in 1990.
The concert threaded many current and former “SNL” cast members into the program, as Bowen Yang and Sarah Sherman came out to sing and dance with The B-52’s. Actor Bill Murray introduced fellow “SNL” alums Ana Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph and a pregnant Cecily Strong to sing “You’re All I Need to Get By.” Kate McKinnon joked that she was only sent on stage to bring out fellow lesbian Brandi Carlile, who unsurprisingly lifted the live audience to their feet.
The real MVP award of the evening went to The Roots, Fallon’s house band on “The Tonight Show.” With Questlove at the helm, The Roots played alongside most of the musical acts that took the stage, proving their ability to cover five decades’ worth of music in the span of three hours. Their talent was briefly upstaged by a raucous performance of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” led by Post Malone and the remaining members of the band Nirvana.
Simply put, “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert” was a genuinely excellent way to spend Valentine’s evening celebrating the many ways music has made late night television exciting. Of course, many of those who performed, including Lady Gaga and Mumford and Sons, will be promoting new tours this year, and the show’s executive producer, Mark Ronson, clearly had a hand in securing the talent seen on the stage. But to kick off the 50th anniversary celebration of a pop culture phenomenon like “Saturday Night Live,” one must bring out the big guns.
But it wasn’t just big bands and those with record labels that took the stage to perform. Some of the night’s highlights came when “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert” paid tribute to sketches from “Saturday Night Live” history that incorporated music into its format. Andy Samberg was joined by none other than Lady Gaga as the two sang “Dick in a Box,” Samberg’s Emmy-winning song popularized in The Lonely Island videos that once brought the sketch show into the YouTube era. Ana Gasteyer and Will Ferrell reprised their sketch as music teachers performing modern songs…this time incorporating Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” as an acknowledgment of recent events from both the Grammys and the Super Bowl.
It brought the house down.
“SNL50: The Homecoming Concert” is streaming on Peacock.
