The Roots choose Fallon over touring?
When Jimmy Fallon takes over for Conan O’Brien next year, he’ll have all the usual ingredients of a late night talk show: a desk, some couches, an announcer, and a house band. But if you believe the recent comments of one prominent hip-hopper, Jimmy won’t have your standard group of musicians greeting him and his studio audience when he walks out from behind the curtain; he’ll have The Roots.
According to The Roots-founded okayplayer., in an interview this past Thursday in Chicago, ?uestlove announced that the Philadelphia outfit will “temporarily” retire from touring and take on the full-time responsibility of being Jimmy Fallon’s house band begining next March. The story has since been confirmed by AllHipHop.com, which reports that The Roots will finish their remaining schedule tour dates before taking a hiatus from the road.
While the hip-hip group has yet to officially comment on the story, combine the aforementioned reports with 
their recent promotional shoot with Fallon in Philadelphia, and it certainly appears The Roots are up to something fishy. While the six piece-outfit wouldn’t be the first high-profile musicians to provide their talents on a night-to-night basis (see: E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg and Paul Schaffer), this would be the first time that an entire group of The Roots stature made the crossover from full-fledged touring act to full-time house band.
Unfortunately, if you want to get one last dose of The Roots live, you’ll have to head to Europe. Either that, or be prepared to make some ticket requests for some tapings…
The Roots 2008 Tour Dates:
11/17 - Winterthur, CH @ Eulachhalle
11/18 - Geneva, CH @ Salles des Fetes de Thoney
11/19 - Cologne, DE @ E-Werk
11/21 - Lille, FR @ Aeronef
11/23 - Copenhagen, DK @ Vega
11/24 - Stockholm, SE @ Berns
11/27 - Berlin, DE @ Columbiahalle
11/29 - Skope, MK @ Taksirat 10 Festival
12/01 - Nottingham, UK @ Rock City
12/02 - Manchester, UK @ Academy
12/03 - Bristol, UK @ Academy
12/05 - London, UK @ The Forum
12/06 - London, UK @ The Forum
12/07 - Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belguique
12/08 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
12/09 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
i think i might give jimmy fallon’s show a chance now
Nov 22nd, 2008 at 12:47 am
[...] it be? The Roots retiring? Sublime reuniting? LCD Soundsystem prepping? Coldplay retiring? Dylan, McCartney collaborating? [...]