Saturday was a big day for Gilmore Girls fans: The cast was getting ready to reunite, along with series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, at the ATX Festival in Austin, so nostalgia for all things Stars Hollow was really reaching a fever pitch. The lead-up to the reunion proved to be pretty magical in and of itself and Hep Alien, Lane Kim's band in Gilmore Girls, played a secret reunion show at the San Jose Hotel on Friday — and even better, they were introduced by Jackson Douglas (aka, Sookie's husband Jackson himself). Those lucky folks who were in attendance were treated with covers of everything from The White Stripes to Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" to the Gilmore Girls' theme song.
While a couple of band members could not make the gig (Adam Brody, who portrayed Dave, and Sebastian Bach, who portrayed Gil were not on hand for the show), Keiko Agena (Lane), Todd Lowe (Zack), and John Cabrera (Brian) rocked out hard alongside the real-life Dave Rygalski. (Yes, there is a real Dave and he's not Adam Brody — instead, he's actually the guy who played bass off-stage on the show whenever Cabrera was seen playing his guitar.)
If you're as diehard of a Gilmore Girls fan as I am, this unexpected jam session will give you all the feels. Remember how the last time Lane appeared on the show, she committed to staying home and taking care of the twins while her husband Zack went on the road with the band for two months? While I know it was Agena up on the stage, seeing the actress back behind her drum set was like seeing proof that Lane did not give up on her dreams after all. Is there any better feeling in the world than knowing Lane is still committed to the rock-and-roll life? There isn't — and yes, that is pure elation you are feeling, friends.
After the performance, Agena spoke with Bustle about the Hep Alien reunion, and reveals she and the rest of her former band mates almost let the secret out more than once. "It was a pretty secret thing," Agena tells Bustle's Samantha Rullo. "We were trying to keep it secret, although I think we slipped a few times."
She also reveals that whole concert idea was the brainchild of Lowe and the festival directors. "Todd [Lowe] was in contact with the people at the festival, so I don't know the names exactly, but basically they contacted him, so we put it together a few weeks ago," she says. "Then we did some little rehearsals."
That's not even the best part, though: During the interview, Agena hints there may be another Hep Alien reunion on the way, via the Gilmore Guys podcast. If you hear a high-pitched squeal in the distance, that is me, fangirling at the prospect of this.
"We were just talking about doing a Hep Alien episode [of the podcast], so not where they would do a full episode, but maybe where they would pull together some clips from over the course of the seasons," Agena reveals "So of course after last night we were like 'oh maybe we should make it into a show!'... So we're talking about it, hopefully we make that happen and that'll be in LA, so that'll be easy, because we're all actually still there."
Show of hands: who wants to see this happen? Everyone? That's what I thought.
If you are not feeling complete emotional overload yet, then let me drop this bit of information on you: During the first few songs of Hep Alien's performance, Lowe stayed completely in character. Not only did he introduce everyone by their Gilmore Girls' names, he also referred to Agena as his "wife."
In tears yet? No? After you watch this final video of the band playing "Where You Lead, I Will Follow," chances are you will be crying. (Happy tears, though, because clearly the Gilmore Girls' cast is clearly still the most amazing cast on the planet.)
See? I told you there would be tears.
Image: Warner Bros. Television
Reporting by Samantha Rullo
