REVIEW: Flight Of The Conchords in Orlando

Some might think the intimate, no-frills, two-chair stage set up of comedy folk duo Flight of the Conchords may not translate well to an arena setting. But the show at UCF Arena in Orlando last night proved otherwise – for the most part.

The arena was at half capacity as requested by the band’s management and the band definitely filled it up. Anyone familiar with the HBO show “Flight of the Conchords” knows the quirky, dry humor of New Zealand bandmates Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement and they brought that and plus to the stage. Those that know their current hit “Business Time” and never watched the show may have found it sluggish at times and might have missed the joke. From what I saw, that was mainly college students in the audience that seemed more interested in the bar than the act on stage.

Entering the stage donned in cardboard robot helmets and shiny jackets, the duo immediately broke into “Too Many Dicks (On The Dance Floor),” a popular song from their new season on HBO.

At the end of the song the crowd shouted out more “I love you”(s) to both members than I’ve heard at most boy band shows. The admiration continued throughout the evening, also coming from the men in the audience to which Jemaine made the observation that both he and Bret “have a frat boy each.”

This kind of fun, jabbing banter continued between songs. Some of the best coming from Jemaine — at one point he told an audience member who was making some noise, “Don’t feel like you have to entertain because we have it under control up here.” Later in the evening, one person confused a song title while yelling a request to which Jemaine responded “You can’t just yell out any random thing and expect us to spin it into gold.”

But when it came to the songs, they did make the crowd happy with songs like “Girlfriends From The Past,” “If You’re Into It” and of course, “Business Time.” A smart move on the guys’ part was playing “Business Time” in the middle of the show, avoiding the audience yelling for it the whole evening.

With an average of two songs per TV episode, favorites are going to be missed in a live show but they covered the majority. There were a couple of screw ups — at the end of “I Told You I Was Freaky” their cellist Nigel (otherwise known as the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra) kept playing shortly after Jemaine and Bret stopped, to which they let the audience know he was actually the one on cue, and let Nigel know he would be fired if he plays the song right again.

Remember, first and foremost this is a comedy act.

Nigel was the only backup for the duo that along with playing guitar, also played keyboard, drums, omnichord and a pocket xylophone.

Opener Kristen Schaal, who plays uberfan Mel on the show, was a great lead in to the duo with jokes about being on tour and afraid of turning to marijuana or assimilating to the girls on the “Rock Of Love” tour bus.

Overall the minor technical issues and handful of obnoxious fans didn’t deter from the overall experience that both the live and TV show provide: A damn good time.