Flight of the Conchords/ Kent State University’s MAC Center/ April 19th 2009

by Eriq

Flight of the Conchords are not hack musicians, they just play them on TV. On their popular HBO television series, Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie play a pair of bumbling idiot musicians from New Zealand, struggling to hit it big in New York City. In the fictional world of the series, only one fan shows up to their shows, played with gusto by Kristen Schaal. At a real life concert on Sunday night, Kristen Schaal was there again... but so were several thousands of other fans.

At this point, it would be pretty futile for Bret and Jemaine to continue acting like no one has ever heard of their band, especially since at several points in the show, they had difficulty talking over the crowd yelling "BRET/JEMAINE I LOVE YOU!!!!!" Also making the wise choice to drop character for the evening, Kristen Schaal performed a quirky, adorable, and hilarious opening set that included a sex scene with a pot and its lid (enough said about that, really).

Amateur theater night continued at Kent State University's MAC Center, as the Conchords took the stage in homemade robot outfits to perform their techno pastiche "Too Many Dicks On The Dancefloor." The new millenium's most unlikely heartthrobs then plowed on with a mix of old favorites from the first season of the show, new classics from the second season, and a few unrecorded "new old songs." Joined onstage by The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (a single man named Nigel playing the cello), the Conchords' compositions benefited from a live setting, with the instrumentation alternately stripping down or building songs up. The large venue seemed to suit the Conchords, whose images were projected on large screens flanking the stage, communicating their subtle eyebrow raises and smirks to a few thousand people who otherwise wouldn't have seen much of anything. Maintaining their trademark cooler-than-cool deadpan demeanor, the Conchords rarely left their singer-songwriter stools, but when they did, it was worth the wait, like the goofy dance breakdown accompanying the end of "Sugalumps." And with Jemaine pulling double duty on guitar and drums, "Demon Woman" transformed into a primal proto-Doors stomp that seemed downright possessed.

With the future of their TV show up in the air right now, the Conchords seem to be at a crossroads in their career. It seems possible that they could coast on their success and rely on their considerable cult following. Experiments with a backing band might also provide new comedic fodder for the New Zealand duo. Nothing is out of question for a couple of guys who can make a few thousand people laugh by doing nothing at all. Whatever these two decide to do, their faithful audience seems ready to follow.