“There are a lot of rumors going around that we’re not a band, just because there’s only two of us,” Bret McKenzie told the audience. “Even a one man band gets called a band,” Jemaine Clement responded. Laughter and applause filled the room. New Zealand’s comedy folk duo, Flight of the Conchords, performed to a sold out crowd at the Orpheum Theater Friday night. Lines, filled with grandparents and teens, wrapped around the venue as they eagerly waited to get in. Once inside, fans collectively lined up at the merchandise booth to take a piece of the night home in remembrance of the event.
The show began around 9 pm and as the audience waited in anticipation for the duo to take the stage, two opening acts paved the way for the band. Fellow New Zealand singer-songwriter Bic Runga, sang melodic acoustic songs about love. Runga opened her set with “Sway,” which was featured in the American Pie Soundtrack along with her 1997 album titled Drive. Next on the bill was actor/comedian Aziz Ansari, who performed a hilarious stand-up comedy routine. Fans of Flight of the Conchords may recognize the comedian as the racist fruit vendor on the HBO show. One of the highlights of Ansari’s performance was when he vented about some of the ridiculous shows on the MTV network. Although the comedian stars in his own MTV sketch comedy series called, Human Giant, he said, “Some of the shows on MTV are just not my cup of tea I don’t like pieces of shit in my tea.” The crowd screamed and applauded as outbursts filled the room.
Finally, the witty duo, Flight of the Conchords, hit the stage and immediately opened with a sci-fi favorite, “Robots (The Humans Are Dead).” As soon as McKenzie sang the binary solo consisting of zeros and ones, the audience went crazy. In between songs, the usual banter from McKenzie and Clement entertained the audience as they explained “band talk,” musical terminology, the benefits of touring and joked about groupies. The band also discussed imaginary children, imaginary wives and beached whales trying to call 911.
The band’s set featured hit songs including, “You’re So Beautiful,” “Muther Ucker” and “Think About It,” to name a few. Unfortunately, it appeared that Clement forgot some of the lyrics to the song, “If You’re Into It.” Of course, Clement poked fun at his forgetfulness and the audience laughed it off.
The band invited Bic Runga back onstage to perform a new song titled, “Ex-Girlfriend Choir.” In the song, Clement plays himself while McKenzie and Runga perform as the choir of ex-girlfriends from the past.
Another new song was introduced to fans titled, “I Told You I was Freaky,” where McKenzie sang, “I’ll get some leaves and pretend to be a tree. You can be a squirrel and store my nuts for me.” During the song, McKenzie with a pink keyboard in hand, jumped over a few fans in their seats and ran up and down the aisles. Later, McKenzie said, “I’m sorry to the people in the front. I thought I could climb over you and stand on the little handles. It was terrifying.” Clement responded, “You were like a caged animal, in a really huge cage.”
After a three hour set filled with laughter, jokes and music, the band finished the night with the song, “Bret, You Got It Going On.” The show ended with a standing ovation as the band walked off the stage. Without a doubt, it’s the combination of funny banter, random wittiness and catchy choruses that draw fans to the band. Apparently, looks play a part in the bands success as female fans evidently threw steamy notes on stage and yelled for McKenzie to take off his pants. One female fan in the audience yelled, “Jermaine, I love you!” Clement responded, “You don’t love me. You think you love me. You can’t handle my love.”
For more Flight of the Conchords, check out the first season of their HBO show on DVD and keep an eye out for future shows as the boys just moved to Southern California.
They will be playing again tomorrow night at the Orpheum Theater at 8:00pm. They might be sold out but you can try and buy tickets on Tickemaster now.
Concert Ticket Photo and Story by Guest Writer Christy Buena
Subscribe to our RSS Feed And checkout our coffee competition to win a $30 gift voucher to your favourite coffee shop : click here
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
1 response so far ↓
1 Sigh // May 31, 2008 at 8:48 pm
There’s no “r” in Jemaine.
Leave a Comment