(Typing this on my iPad, so please forgive any autocorrect idiocy)
My wife and I were able to snag tickets for yesterday's (9/15) "one-week
anniversary" show back when the first batch of takings became available. In
retrospect, the guest lists for tonight and Friday are a bit more desirable,
but the Apple fanboy in me was pleased when Tim Cook was announced as the
second guest.
Despite many attempts, I'd never been selected for Letterman tix, so this was
my first visit to the Ed (save for one ill-fated standby attempt in 1994, and I
never got in the doors). For the record, the Ed seats about 400, per one of the
CBS pages working the ticket line, which tracks with the posted occupancy of
438 inside. Tickets are made available online and are instantly printable - and
no more trivia questions - but the ticket only gets you a spot on line.
Here was the process, for those of you who are interested in trying to get LSSC
tix:
- request tix online
- print tix (or save QR code to phone)
- queue up outside the Ed. We got into the city around noon and when I drove
past the front of the theater, there were maybe 6 people waiting; after a
leisurely lunch at McHale's Bar on 51st, we got back to the Ed at about 1:30
and found line about 70 deep. (Actually, exactly 70 deep, as I found out in a
moment)
- Milkshake from Steak n Shake. Per the ticket, you can have one person in
your party hold your spot, but everyone has to be present when ticketing starts.
- At about 2pm, the audience coordinator & pages starts checking tickets
against the online database; assuming you pass muster, you get a handstanp
(show logo, blue ink on Tuesday - not sure if it differs) and a dated, numbered
ticket (we had #71-74). We were instructed to return at 3:30 and re-queue in
numerical order.
- 3:30: a small standby line has formed. (Standbys are done by lottery.)
Ticketed audience lines up in numerical order, goes through a cursory security
check and is loaded into the lobby of the Ed.
- Not sure how long we stayed in the lobby, since by now we'd been told to shut
down all phones, but I'd estimate we were loaded into the theater around
4:15-4:30. Ticket #71 netted me 5th row orchestra in the center section - you
can spot us in almost every audience pan.
- Audience warm up duties were handled by Paul Mucurio, a veteran of several
Comedy Central specials and, at one time, the TDS warmup comic. His warmup got
somewhat hijacked by an elderly Chinese woman.
- The band is introduced and enter from behind the flying wall at center stage.
We get a quick song. (More about Stay Human in a sec.)
- Stephen appears from behind the desk and takes questions from the audience,
as was done at TDS and, I presume, TCR.
- After about 15 min, Stephen goes off stage to set himself for the top of the
show, and Stay Human performs another song, which transitions into the opening
sequence - that's why Jon Batiste is never on the bandstand when the show
starts - he likes working the room, and usually ends up stage right when taping
starts.
- The taping pretty much went as it aired, with a few exceptions. Graphics
failed to animate the "none of them" call out during the "Hungry For Power
Games" bit, so a few lines were reshot. Stephen flubbed a line at the beginning
of the C block (Ohio legalizing pot), and since there was no clear edit point,
they had to restart the segment from scratch. I THINK some dead air was removed
from the Tim Cook interview, because I don't feel like it was as snappy live as
it was on air. Finally, a whole comedy bit ("Planet of the Apps") was taped as
the F block, but never made it to air.
- Setup for the musical guest (Run the Jewels w/ TV on the Radio) took FOREVER.
JB&SH played another song ("Sunny Side of the Street" - this is the slow-clap
you can see during the station break bump), and Colbert came back out to take
some more questions to fill time.
- At the end of the show, the band (who were not on the bandstand during the
musical guest performance) migrated to the front of the stage to perform the
end credit song (which I think is called "Humanism") - Stephen comes down
center and sings the chorus with Jon & the band, and the band essentially
second-lines out through the audience into the lobby. End of taping.
- ...but not the end of the show, because the band is STILL playing out in the
lobby; I'd say they played for a good 5-10 minutes after the taping ended. (I
have a brief cellphone video of the tail end of the lobby performance, which
l'll eventually link to.) We were out of the theater by about 6:45.
About the band - yes, Jon Batiste & Stay Human isn't your typical late night
band. Because of how the segments are edited, the home audience gets a very
small sliver of what the band is doing in the studio - and they're playing
their asses off. It's a softer sound than Paul Shaffer's CBS Orchestra, sure,
but Stay Human have amazing range - they ran through a variety of song styles
and tempos and kept the audience engaged throughout. Batiste likes to work the
room, since the Harmoniboard gives him the freedom to roam, and he'll do a full
lap of the orchestra and end up in the balcony by the end of the break, but
don't be fooled - he's an amazing keyboardist and showed it on a number of
occasions.
One side note - while I think we established that most of the Letterman
mainstays are gone, it appears Pat Farmer stuck around - we spotted him on
stage between several segments. Was he Worldwide Pants or CBS?
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