It was a big night for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, as the show welcomed David Letterman back to the Ed Sullivan Theater as a guest. And the musical guests were the National, a band that counts Letterman as a fan. Watch the group’s performance of “Space Invader” below.
“Oh, I love the National,” Letterman said earlier this year, specifically shouting out their album First Two Pages of Frankenstein and the song “Weird Goodbyes.” After poking fun at the song’s lyrics, he noted: “But I say that because I love the National, and I wish I could be Matt Berninger because nobody’s cooler than Matt Berninger, and they ought to be in the [Rock & Roll] Hall of Fame.” (The National will become eligible for Rock Hall induction in 2026.)
Following First Two Pages of Frankenstein, the National released the new album Laugh Track in September.