The Walkmen were the musical guests on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Wednesday night, marking their first live performance since 2014. Instead of debuting new music, however, the rock band performed their 2004 classic “The Rat.”
Personally, if we were scheduling our first concert in nearly a decade, we would not want to do it on television! But The Walkmen, who have a handful of proper reunion shows coming up, made their time away feel insignificant, especially considering it was barely over a month ago when guitarist Paul Maroon tweeted that “The Rat” was “extremely fast and currently [he] cannot play it.”
All of The Walkmen must’ve really hunkered down and practiced. “The Rat” went off without a hitch on Colbert, with the band playing the breakneck rocker pretty dang close to the studio version’s tempo. All the members looked a little bit overwhelmed, but also stoked to be back; most importantly, they sounded very, very good. Watch The Walkmen make their grand return with “The Rat” on Colbert below.
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The Walkmen begin their reunion shows with a residency at New York’s Webster Hall later this month. You can grab tickets at StubHub, where orders are 100% guaranteed through StubHub’s FanProtect program. StubHub is a secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may be higher or lower than face value, depending on demand.
Jamming live together for the first time in 10 years, @TheWalkmen reunite on #Colbert to perform their 2004 hit, “The Rat.” 🐀 🎵 pic.twitter.com/klX4vENOZD
— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) April 19, 2023
