A night of music and hilarious stories
Brett McKenzie and Jemaine Clement didn’t become “the almost award-winning fourth-most-popular folk duo in New Zealand” overnight–their brand of comedy-music is unlike anything else on the market. Flight Of The Conchords has made countless appearances on TV and radio including their short-lived HBO series titled “Flight Of The Conchords” and their BBC radio series, also self-titled. Making music isn’t an easy task though. Both McKenzie and Clement took time over the last few years to dive deeper into the areas of the arts that they found most fulfilling like on and off screen features.
The band got back together for an hour-long live show in London titled Live In London, in October of 2018 with the accompaniment of The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra also known as Nigel (yes it’s one man). The chemistry between McKenzie and Clement is as new and fresh as it was 20 years ago. The show was not only a reunion for fans of the band but it allowed those longtime fans to hear new and old favorites. The concert started with “Father and Son,” a quick story about a father and son bonding with one another over the mother in the family leaving for another man, and “Lain and Deanna,” a role-playing office romance love story. The duo then played a favorite among long-time fans, “Inner City Pressure.” A tale about the true difficulties of life.
Flight Of The Conchords don’t only produce tracks that could make a mime bust out in laughter and tears, they also create a comedy show in between each song so there truly is never a dull moment. Whether it be bragging about their “rock star” lifestyle, the complimentary muffins in their hotel rooms or even sharing a lovely story of being stuck in a lift with excrement in the corner, through 22 tracks, both Mckenzie and Clement talk about it all. “The Summer of 1353” takes the listener on the journey of “wooing” a woman in the middle ages and how fast it can go wrong followed by a triple recorder rock anthem by Nigel and the Conchords. “Seagull,” “Robots,” and “The Most Beautiful Girl (In the Room)” all play major points on the album as well.
The downside to creating anything with humor associated with it is that the visual position of the show is key to being totally immersed in the joke or song. Flight Of The Conchords are confidently and flawlessly creating hilarious interactive shows for their fans and their skills continue to mature like fine wine. Live In London is 97 minutes of pure enjoyment from start to finish. Whether you’re listening, watching or both, Flight Of The Conchords thought every detail out from their first note to the last laugh.