URGENT FANGIRL BULLETIN, part deux: More from the Radio City Late Night Dance-off

Here you go, Zoners, a little more of what those of us at Radio City Music Hall witnessed last night. This was the scene just moments before the dance-off: Stephen and Conan arguing nose-to-nose. “You want to fight, Irish?”

More on the rest of the show after the jump!

So now that I’m home from the Conan O’Brien Lovefest at Radio City, I’ve had a chance to see how the Internets exploded with news about the show while I was sitting on the train back to New Jersey. You’ve all seen the video by now (probably many times, if you’re like me), but that can’t convey the excitement of hearing Conan introduce Stephen onstage, or the sheer surprise of having Jon Stewart make a grand entrance from the back of the theater dressed as a “Mexican waiter.” Both Stephen and Jon got a tremendous welcome from the audience. Their appearance lasted little more than ten or twelve minutes, but it was clearly the biggest highlight of the show. The hugs exchanged between them all once it was over said so much about the respect and affection these amazingly funny guys have for each other. Conan admitted it was the most unrehearsed thing they’d done because Stephen and Jon arrived only about fifteen minutes before they went out onstage. What I loved most about the appearance was how much they made each other laugh as well as the audience. The best moment, for me, was when Conan came out with the “Mexican waiter” line, and Jon and Stephen cracked up together. A very, very close second: “Can I have eleven o’clock?”

The rest of the show was every bit as wonderfully funny as you’d expect from Conan. It was structured roughly like his TV shows were, with an extended monologue at the beginning, some fun with the band (essentially his Late Night/Tonight Show band minus Max Weinberg), a few videos, and other guests in addition to Jon and Stephen. The musical guest, Vampire Weekend, played one song with Conan joining them on guitar. Triumph the Insult Comic Dog appeared via video (best line: the New York state flower is Anderson Cooper), the Masturbating Bear “Self-Pleasuring Panda” made a quick appearance, and the Walker, Texas Ranger Lever (which is now called something else, but I can’t remember what) was operated by Bill Hader from SNL, John Krasinski, and Paul Rudd. Conan sang a few songs with the band, including a couple with words changed to fit his situation. He’s a pretty decent singer, but someone on Twitter commented that the volume on his guitar must have been set to -3, since you couldn’t hear it at all. Overall, I thought it was an exceptionally fun show, and no one was having more fun then Conan himself. At the very end, he went out into the audience and high-fived and hugged people all down the aisle, then he made his way up to the first mezzanine, where I was sitting, to do more of the same. After the show, he even ventured outside to greet fans who were waiting outside of Radio City. He’s such a great guy, he was very happy to be back in New York, and New York gave him a lot of love. I was overjoyed to be part of it.

The first reviews are starting to show up around the web, on HuffPo, at E! Online, and at the New York Post. The HuffPo review brings up a good point: how are Conan & Co. going to top themselves at their second Radio City show tonight? I can’t wait to hear about that!

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Edit: I can tell my brain is fading fast — as it should, since it’s 5 am and the birds are already getting vocal outside — because I found a few more pics earlier, and neglected to add them to the post. Twitter user @karathon posted a few pics from the entire evening on her blog, and included one very nice pic of Jon and Stephen together: