Flight Of The Conchords – The Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney 6th July 2012

When I first moved to Wellington, many years ago, I would see Peter Jackson walking around in shorts and Jandals.  I was a fan of Peter Jacksons Bad Taste and it was a very surreal experience.  A kiwi I had seen on TV and who had actually managed to break out of New Zealand.  I had a similar experience with Flight of the Conchords.  I remember seeing bits and pieces on TV and in Magazine and then I would see Jemaine Clement walking around but I never saw Flight of the Conchords, live until now.

The Sydney Entertainment Centre was packed and everyone was ready to have a good time.  The night began with a short stand up set by Arj Barker.  Arj is interesting in that he has a tendency to telegraph jokes but still manages to pull them off.  There were a number of laughs and it got everyone ready for when he introduced The Flight Of The Conhords. 

They came out with a bang opening their set with “Too Many Dicks on the Dancefloor”.  Decked out in homemade helmets and silvers jumpsuits they moved and sang along with sampled backing rocking the room in quite an unexpected way.  They used the same suits for the following tune “Robots” before changing into their regular stage gear.  The main setup for the show was the two Conchords on acoustic guitar and vocals with backing coming from an interesting looking gent called Nigel who played cello but also played Keyboards and drums when needed.

The problem with live comedy songs are that you know the punch lines and allot don’t have any replay value.  But FOTC’s songs are different as they are really good songs.  With a little tweaking of the lyrics here the songs sounded fresh in a live setting.  Of the existing material The Most Beautiful Girl (in the Room), Hurt Feelings, I'm Not Crying and a super funky Business Time were the highlights.

FOTC played three new songs during their set.  “Fuck On The Ceiling” which was ok but fell quite short. 

“The Summer of 1353” was the best of the three.  An English folk song about “Wooing a Lady” and all the things that need to be done to get ready to do this.  The song was great and had really strong melodies and backing, in particular Jemaine’s guitar.  I Really want to hear a fully realised studio version of this track.

“Back On The Road” was a song that tied together allot of the stories mentioned in the between song banter.  It even included the punch line to a joke setup midway through the set regarding a fish and a groupie.  Clever stuff.

It was a great night when everyone was out for a good laugh and a good time which Flight Of The Conchords delivered.

I like the fact that a kiwi comedy duo has managed to get so much success.  But also know their limits in particular when they turned down a third season of their HBO series.  Lets hope that they can get their rumoured Movie together and give us some more new tunes to enjoy.

Flight Of The Conchords Setlist:

Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor

Robots

The Most Beautiful Girl (in the Room)

Fuck on the Ceiling

Think About It

Jenny

Bus Driver's Song

Hurt Feelings

The Summer of 1353

Carol Brown

I'm Not Crying

Inner City Pressure

Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros

Song for Epileptic Dogs

Business Time

Bowie

Demon Woman

Back On The Road

Albi the Racist Dragon

We're Both in Love With a Sexy Lady

Sugalumps