If it was still up in the air whether Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein are laughing with — instead of at — well-meaning but oblivious hipsters on Portlandia, the question was answered once in for all on Tuesday night at Bowery Ballroom in New York City. There, during a solo set, Armisen was joined on-stage by Marnie Stern, Tim Harrington of Les Savy Fav, and Leigh Nash of Sixpence None the Richer for a cover of TLC’s “Waterfalls.” Nash assumed the roles of Chilli, T-Boz, and Left Eye. If this sounds like a sketch — a bunch of indie rockers in matching white jumpsuits faithfully strumming out a twangy cover of one of the biggest R&B songs of the ’90s with the crowd joining in for a choral breakdown at the seven-minute mark — it’s because it almost literally is. The punchline, presumably, is the mere existence of the act. What better way to pump your show with credibility than to embody its entire joke?
Watch Fred Armisen, Marnie Stern Seriously Cover TLC’s ‘Waterfalls’ Live in NYC
