30 years ago, The Replacements, a groups of rough-and-tumble alt-rockers from Minneapolis, played Saturday Night Live so inebriated that they forgot entire verses of their songs, heckled the audience, and ultimately, were banned for life ban from the show. Looking back at that video now, you see a bunch of kids who foolishly indulged a little too much in the complementary champagne that Lorne Michaels left in their hotel room, not considering the task at hand, which was to show up, sober, and just be the inimitable rock band that they were.

All this time later, after several sobering experiences that led to the dissolution and reformation of the band, The Replacements, in their current formation, played at 30 Rock last night for the first time since that incident. The band’s decision to play “Alex Chilton”–named after the beloved, late frontman of Big Star–came across as act of deference and penitence, as though they intentionally chose a song that took the spotlight off themselves to redress their infamous SNL performance. 

Of course, all this ignores the larger fact that Paul Westerberg, Tommy Stinson, and the rest of the band totally nailed this live performance, proving that they still live up to their rock god statuses. This bodes well for their upcoming tour, and we’re hopeful they’ll tear through Los Angeles soon. Check out the tour dates below:

The Replacements 2014 Tour Dates:
09/13 – St. Paul, MN @ Midway Stadium
09/19 – Queens, NY @ Forest Hills Stadium
09/27 – Tempe, AZ @ Summer Ends Music Festival
10/03-05 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits
10/10-12 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits