Written by: Alex Green

(Photo by Geoff Tischman)

Breaking an almost 30 year drought at 30 Rock, the reunited Replacements are set to play “The Tonight Show” Tuesday, September 9.

Rumors have been swirling for weeks about their return to NBC and the band even posted this cryptic video on their YouTube channel:

In their prime, The Replacements could be the best live band on the planet or the worst. But even when they were the worst–their boozy rebellion a mixture of sabotage and irreverence–they were still pretty much the best. Compulsively watchable, even when the Minnesota outfit were train wrecking the hell out of a performance, you couldn’t take your eyes off of them because they oozed charisma.

They had it to burn.

They played “SNL” in ’86 and their performance was a glorious mess of garbled verses, drunken shouts of profanity and profound disarray.

Or was it?

It was, but it may very well have been an orchestrated bit that The Replacements carried out just to mess with the audience. It was a post-modern shove of punk rock beauty, enacted by a band that were far smarter than they let on.

NBC didn’t see it that way and banned The Replacements from “SNL” for good.

Although it’s not “SNL,” playing Fallon’s show is close enough, both in proximity and for the fact that Fallon used to be an “SNL” cast member.

The guests for Tuesday’s show? Debra Messing and Keith Richards.

We’re hoping one of those two might pick up a guitar and join the band on stage…

Not only that, but the ‘Mats are going to play New York City for the first time since 1991. Supported by Deer Tick and The Hold Steady, the band will headline Forest Hills Stadium on September 19.