Watch FKA twigs’ Incredible “Good To Love” Performance On The Tonight Show

Last week, without any sort of warning, FKA twigs dropped the video for a new single, a woozy R&B reverie called “Good To Love.” And last night, twigs performed it on The Tonight Show. Twigs has a sharp theatrical sensibility, and she knows how to use a moment like that for all it’s worth. She wore a glittery, bright white custom outfit that she designed with Grace Wales Bonner and Swarovski. The lighting and staging were immaculate, with twigs’ tiny backing band playing on a disco-style riser behind her. And she sang most of the song motionless, building up to the moment when she went into this incredible vogue-ball tai chi dance. This is one of those rare great and memorable late-night performances, and you should really watch.

Sia Brings Back Maddie Ziegler For Ellen

It looked like Sia had moved on from Maddie Ziegler, the very talented young dancer who appeared so much in the pop singer’s previous album cycle — she used a different little girl in the “Alive” video, and none of the artwork for her upcoming album This Is Acting has featured Ziegler so far. But, thankfully, the fruitful collaboration between the two is not done quite yet: On The Ellen Show earlier today, Ziegler returned to dance along to “Alive.” It’s very similar to all of their other performances, but that means it’s still worth a look.

Watch Girlpool Play New Song “Soup” In San Francisco

The Philadelphia-via-Los Angeles DIY friend-core duo Girlpool released Before The World Was Big, their excellent debut album, earlier this year, and they’ve already got new music in the works. Lately, they’ve been playing a new song called “Soup” at live shows, and PressureDrop.TV filmed some professional footage of them performing it at the Bunker in San Francisco earlier this week. It’s slower and more hypnotic than most of the duo’s older songs, but it still has plenty of their intense energy. Girlpool are one of the greatest punk rock bands in the world right now, and they’ve gotten to that point with no drummer; the video below might give some idea how they’ve managed to get there.

Watch Foo Fighters Perform “Everlong” For Letterman’s Final Show

David Letterman wrapped up a 33-year-long late-night career last night, and brought out one of his favorite bands to do his favorite song to put a capper on the night. Foo Fighters — who did a week-long residency on the show last year after the release of Sonic Highways — played “Everlong,” which they performed on his show back in 2000 when Letterman returned from an extended absence after heart surgery. Before the performance, he talked about how much the song helped him with his recovery. For much of the night, the long-time host opted for humor, bringing out a bevy of stars for his final Top 10 list, and looking back on some of his favorite moments, but the final “Everlong” performance was certainly sentimental enough. The song soundtracked an extended montage of vintage Late Night clips, paying tribute to a man who shaped the genre over the past few decades. Watch the final Letterman Late Show musical performance.

Watch The Manic Street Preachers Make Their U.S. TV Debut On The Late Show

Blur weren’t the only ’90s Britpop OGs who had a moment on American late-night TV last night. Actual British person James Corden is the new host of The Late Late Show, so he presumably had something to do with this. Manic Street Preachers were an absolutely huge deal in the mid-’90s UK, but they had never once performed on U.S. TV until last night. Last night, they showed up on Corden’s Late Late Show to howl their way through their rafter-shaking 1996 single “A Design For Life.” You may have never heard that song, but it means a whole lot to a lot of people, and last night’s rendition was a good one.

Watch Florence + The Machine Perform With A Broken Foot On Jools Holland

Florence Welch broke her foot during her first Coachella set earlier this month, but she’s still powering on and performing live. She remained seated during the entirety of her second weekend Coachella performance, and she did the same thing for her appearance on Jools Holland last night. But it’s a testament to Welch’s magnetic stage presence (and some clever camera angles) that you quickly forget she’s even sitting. She brings the same amount of energy, maybe even more to compensate.

Watch Mumford & Sons Play Their New Singles On Saturday Night Live

Mumford & Sons graced the Saturday Night Live stage for the second time as musical guests on last night’s episode. They brought their updated electronic sound with them to perform their new singles “The Wolf” and “Believe” from their upcoming full-length, Wilder Mind. Unfortunately, guitarist Winston Marshall didn’t crack any jokes, but if you’re a fan of the band it’s a good performance to watch. You can do so below. 

Watch Madonna Make Her Stand-Up Comedy Debut And Perform “Bitch I’m Madonna” With Diplo On Fallon

Last night Madonna appeared on Jimmy Fallon to perform her new Nicki-Minaj co-signed Rebel Heart single “Bitch I’m Madonna.” She was decked out in bling, chains, and thigh-high fishnets for the appearance, and even enlisted Diplo, starting the song backstage in the dressing rooms and then bringing it out to the floor. In the process a kid with a skateboard and a security guard both lip synced “Bitch, I’m Madonna,” which was a highlight. She also grabbed a random dude from the audience and, uh, danced with him… aka shoved his face in her crotch. However, the fact that she can dance like she this at 56 is practically a superhuman feat, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the performance — even if I’m not a fan of the grills she appears to be wearing.

But this is Madonna; she can’t be relegated to a single performance! She also made her “stand-up comedy debut” and told a few jokes about dating younger men.



And finally, the Roots and Jimmy Fallon helped her perform a kooky version of “Holiday” on classroom instruments:

Jimmy Fallon, Madonna & The Roots Sing "Holiday" (w/ Classroom Instruments)

Meet Pharrell & Jimmy Fallon’s Fake ’80s Duo "Afro & Deziak"

Sometimes it seems like Jimmy Fallon is secretly gunning for a career in music. Between his killer Neil Young impression and all his experience with various other fake collabs, he’d probably be pretty good at it. But then of course, we’d be robbed of his incredible punning power. The latest comes courtesy of Pharrell’s appearance on his show as half of his fake R&B duo “Afro & Deziak.” Truly, this is one of the best puns of our time! It combines sex and hair into one spectacular name that actually sounds like it could’ve been a group in the ’80s. The two don sparkly, ill-fitting bathrobes, and though Pharrell’s singing is as flawless as always, it’s Fallon’s punchlines that make this so fun to watch. Plus, instead of singing about romantic stuff they cover all the annoying shit that crummy dudes might ask women to do for them. It’s almost misandrist, but it’s certainly cathartic. Now all that’s left is choosing a favorite between “Girl Can I Get You In The Mood,” “Girl I Wanna Give You What I Got,” and “Girl.” It’s a tough call.

Watch Jon Bon Jovi And Will Forte Do “Wanted Dead Or Alive” At Night Of Too Many Stars

Last night was Comedy Central’s Night Of Too Many Stars, the annual Jon Stewart-hosted charity special to help raise money for people with autism. Some of the performers for the night included Jon Bon Jovi, who got up on stage to sing “Wanted Dead Or Alive” with Will Forte, Gilbert Gottfried, Al Roker, and Triumph The Insult Comic Dog as his background singers. And Weird Al Yankovic sang his 1985 Kinks parody “Yoda” with 13-year-old Jodi DiPiazza, a girl with autism who sang with Katy Perry two years ago at the same event.

Watch GZA Play The Tonight Show With Tom Morello & The Roots

Last night, the same night that his Wu-Tang colleague Raekwon was one of Kanye West’s surprise guests in London, GZA served as the musical guest on The Tonight Show. He performed his new single “The Mexican,” an interpolation of Babe Ruth’s 1972 funk-rock classic. Tom Morello, also featured on the song, shared the stage, and it was a trip to watch him bust out the song’s Spanish guitar runs as well as the sort of scratchy noise solo he made famous. The Roots backed the two of them up, and two breakdancers, including the legendary Crazy Legs, showed up to throw a few moves at the end. (Crazy Legs is 49 years old, but nobody told his knees.)

Watch Future Islands Play “Seasons (Waiting On You)” On Austin City Limits

Future Islands "Seasons (Waiting on You)"
Future Islands perform on Austin City Limits.

Watch Alt-J Perform “Every Other Freckle” and “Left Hand Free” On Kimmel

 “Every Other Freckle”

Alt-rockers Alt-J released their sophomore album, This Is All Yours, a few months back, and they made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel last night to perform two tracks from it. They did “Every Other Freckle” and “Left Hand Free” on Kimmel’s massive outdoor stage.

“Left Hand Free”:

Haim perform 'Forever' on Letterman

With “Falling” and now “Forever,” sisterly act Haim are on some other shit, nailing a strain of soulful, syncopated, and clean LA studio pop with just the right touch of fashion, finesse, and familial alchemy, and their fanbase has grown by degrees wich each of those modifiers. This is a band we can get behind, let alone one to watch, in both pure musical and also pure visual terms. As such, last night on Letterman was a proper showcase for their charms, and as such, they charmed.

Haim - "Forever" (Live on Jools Holland)

HAIM were on this week’s episode of Later With Jools Holland and performed “Forever” from their EP of the same title. While each sister in the band is bursting with panache, we can all agree that the ever-emotive bassist Este’s facial contortions while they’re playing are totally mesmerizing? Total dedication to nailing every single bass chord.