Watch Big Red Machine Play “Gratitude” on ‘The Late Show’

Matt Inman on November 12, 2018
Watch Big Red Machine Play “Gratitude” on ‘The Late Show’

 

On Friday, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and The National’s Aaron Dessner brought their new collaborative project Big Red Machine to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert for a performance of “Gratitude,” one of the tracks from the group’s eponymous debut.

Backed by a rhythm section and guest vocalist Lisa Hannigan—and armed with a healthy dose of vocoder effects—Vernon and Dessner led the band through the track, mostly sticking to the album version with its springy picked guitar riff from Dessner and Vernon’s signature falsetto vocals.

With no dates currently on Big Red Machine’s schedule (they played New York’s Terminal 5 last week), it’s nice to get a taste of their live show through more than cell-phone footage, and the inclusion of Hannigan (who also sat in at the NYC show) is a nice addition to the glitchy-yet-beautiful sound BRM cultivated on their album.

Watch below.