NEWS: Welcome to Thunderdome: Colbert vs. Meloy

CELEB: Welcome to Thunderdome: Colbert vs. Meloy

Music press darlings The Decemberists may be a swashbuckling bunch of swaggering rapscallions, but wordsmith Colin Meloy et al may have just met their match in Stephen Colbert. Or at least Colbert hopes so. Either way, who cares? It's good TV.

A few weeks ago, Colbert called out the band for ripping off his "Green Screen Challenge" with their own contest, in which fans are encouraged to splice footage of the Decemberists, playing their new single "O Valencia!" against a green screen background, into a music video. Colbert got his elephant-print manties in a bunch because he claims to have pioneered the Green Screen Revolution back in August, when he asked viewers to create a background for footage of Colbert prancing around with a lightsaber. Charging, "Why can't they just be like every other indie rock band and rip off the Pixies?" (touche, Stephen, touche), Colbert urged his own audience to edit HIS sweet Jedi action footage into the Decemberists' video.

Not easily intimidated by the "right wing," the Decemberists made a counter-challenge (for those of you who are detail-oriented, that's actually a counter-counter challenge) on their Myspace page to edit Colbert into "O Valencia!"—but featuring him going down like that gangster's ill-fated sweetheart in the song.

And thus an epic feud began, which will be consummated on tomorrow's extra-truthy edition of The Colbert Report. Colbert will reportedly duel with Decemberists' jack-of-all-instruments Chris Funk in a guitar-solo fight to the death. Given the audience overlap between said combatants, it is this SG staffer's opinion that the Decemberists and Stephen Colbert go together like Pabst and Parliaments, like pantaloons and prog-rock, or political extremism and the resulting satirical backlash, if you will.

So even though my spider-senses tell me a throwdown between Stephen Colbert and the Decemberists is going to look a hell of a lot more West Side Story than Boyz N The Hood, that's exactly why we'll tune in.

I am so, so psyched for this. The Pixies line was brutally funny when he delivered it.

Team Colbert.

ditto

me too,
even though i have no cable and i have to watch it at my boyfriend's house.

i can't really choose, but solely out of allegiance to my fangirl crush on colin, i have to pick team decemberists.

That settles it... I need to get a TV.

i'm gonna have to +1. it makes it even better than chris funk shall be dueling, he rules.

O Valencia is a happy Love Will Tear Us Apart remake.

Colbert all the fucking way

"it's called a whammy bar. deal with it."


haaaahahahahhaha

Its Colbert's Nation mofos!!!!! Steve's gunna lay the smack down on those indi rock punks! I wouldn't even be suprised if they are behind the horrible War on Christmas!

*DVRs it*

leslie, youre my favorite.

end of story.

best article on the newswire EVER!

Ha! Earlier today I was telling other people to watch this tomorrow.

I need to find someone who has comedy central who will let me watch this tomorrow.

Fyi, people may have noticed Colbert's ears are uneven...it's because he had a tumor in one of them when he was a kid, and now it's deaf. So that means he'll be entering a musical challenge with only one ear to hear with!

Info obtained from Rolling Stone, who interviewed Colbert and Jon Stewart.

wow, so he's got a hardship?
i didn't know that.
but if colbert can fight the cancer, he should be able to give our saucy oregonians a run for their money!

this is the most amazing thing that's been on cable tv all year and i can't wait.

hahahahaha

go team colbert!

colbert will take him. easy. decemberists are sissies.

but i love them both so much

This is so getting Tivoed.

Oh my pop-culture loving christ, this is sweet. Finally gives cable TV a reason for existing beyond IFC and Adult Swim.

I love Colbert. I love Colin Meloy. Colbert + Meloy =

Team Colbert all the way.

the Stephen and the Colberts video is pure gold

i'm probably the only person in france waiting anxiously for this to happen, love my tv torrents

I'm glad to hear this is actually happening. I hadn't heard anyhting after the episode when he issued the challenge.

Too bad I won't be able to watch it.

hells yes!