Flight of the Conchords Live

Last night Eric and I went to see Flight of the Conchords perform at Constitution Hall. It was so much fun. Eric's not as big a fan as I am, but he loved the show, and we were both laughing from start to finish.

Kristen Schaal (Mel from the show) was the opening act and she was hilarious. This is her tribute to Law and Order SVU.


Bret and Jemaine came out (inexplicably dressed as robots) and gave a rousing rendition of "Too Many D*#$s on the Dance Floor" - adult language notwithstanding it was hilarious. Then they removed the robot costumes and settled down into acoustic mode for a long setlist, not in this exact order but including:
"The Most Beautiful Girl (in the Room)"
"Stana" this one was new to me - it's a Johnny Cash-style story about a man whose name is an anagram of "Satan." Really funny.
"Hurt Feelings (Tears of a Rapper)" - the clip is from last night's show and opens with dialogue about how they've been wondering how DC is doing since they were here last year, but they've been unable to find out since we're never all in the same place at the same time. Best line: "The day after my birthday is not my birthday, Mum!"

"Bowie"
"If You're Into It"
"Carol Brown" - girls in the audience got to sing along with the chorus
"Motha'uckas" (with Bret on drums)
"Not Crying"
"Robots"
"Jenny" - one of my all-time Conchord faves

"Hip-Hopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros"
"You Don't Have to be a Prostitute"
"Bus Driver's Song" (this was new to me too)
"Business Time"

On a lot of the songs they were joined by what they referred to as the New Zealand National Symphony Orchestra - otherwise known as a guy named Nigel who plays the cello. The cello added a lot to the arrangements of the songs and sometimes doubled as a bass. Well done, Nigel!

Some of the funniest parts were the banter between songs. At one point lots of people were yelling out requests and Jemaine went into baby-talk mode to tell everyone to shush. (I took this video on my iPhone, which is why the quality is so bad.) He went on like this for a while, and Bret finally said "Seriously, if you don't listen to him he'll carry on. He did this for 45 minutes in Orlando."

Later in the show Jemaine said "Hmm, this isn't going very well. We shouldn't listen to you when you tell us what to play. Sometimes democracy doesn't work, DC." Several people cheered and he continued, "Ah, I see we have quite a few fans of dictatorships here tonight!" Another time when people were yelling out requests someone yelled "Free Bird!" Jemaine said "I've always wondered - is there one person in every town whose job it is to yell 'Free Bird'?" Bret: "Or is it the same guy, following us around?" Jemaine: "Do you even know 'Free Bird'?" Bret: "Never heard it."

And my favorite of the night - a medley of "We're Both In Love With A Sexy Lady" and "Sugalumps." It was not only hilarious but also really cool musically. Near the end Bret reached out into the audience to touch the hand of a girl near the stage - but right before she got close enough he jumped back and called the bouncer over to get her. So funny!