Flight of the Conchords - Tower Theater (Philadelphia, PA; Apr. 18, 2009)

By the end of Flight of the Conchords’ early show at the Tower Theater, part of me was wondering how much of a killing Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie were making by squeezing two sold-out shows into one evening, and how the 10:00 pm audience were going to make it home safely. This, of course, mostly reflects the fact that I was in a morose, uncharitable mood that has little to do with the quality of FOTC’s show.

Or not. Maybe I did have very high expectations for Jemaine and Bret that evening, and the fact that I left feeling that they hadn’t delivered leaves me in a quandary as to whether the blame lies with me or with the quality of their set. Maybe I was pissed that they didn’t play my favorite songs (“If You’re Into It”, “Ladies of the World”, “The Most Beautiful Girl (In The Room)"). If I was, then the blame surely lies with me. FOTC kicked off with a energetic rendition of “Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor,” complete with costumes that recalled the phone-camera video for “Robots” in their first-ever HBO episode. They followed this with one of the night’s highlights, “Hurt Feelings”—one of the better songs from their second season—including an intro monologue where Bret complained that one of the members of the band was 20 minutes late because that member didn’t take the band seriously enough. Of course, Jemaine pointed out that the other member of the band was also 20 minutes late, meaning that they both arrived at the same time. Such clever witlessness is the bread and butter of the TV series, and the audience’s laughter as Jemaine and Bret settled in to tell us that “some people think that rappers have no feelings” –and botch the rapping shortly afterwards— indicated that they felt right at home with them. This was further emphasized when one member of the audience decided to express his affection for FOTC with a gift of two earthenware bowls, prompting a sly joke on Bret’s part on Philly’s rock credentials

Other highlights included “Albi the Racist Dragon,” which remained satisfying live even as it remains one of their slighter tunes, and “Sugalumps,” a boisterous number where the pair challenged audience members to touch their...uhmm….sugalumps. “Carol Brown” was pleasing enough, but without the Michel Gondry video for distraction, the song amounted to little more a rhymed list of ex-girlfriends’ names. The final song of the night, “Cello-Tape” was another highlight of the show, with a false start, melodramatic vocalizing, and a hilariously senseless spoken monologue mid-song where Bret advised the audience to use love, and not tape, to mend relationships. The show ended with Bret and Jemaine waving their microphones madly at the audience and encouraging them to sing the song as they exited, so that the 10:00 pm crowd could come in.

Given this type of triumphant send-off that only FOTC could manage, why did I leave feeling less than satisfied? Maybe it was their rendition of “Jenny,” one on my favorite songs and a staple of their early act, which came off as under-rehearsed and poorly phrased, especially compared to their earlier live versions. Maybe it was my response to Kristen Schaal’s (“Mel”) scatological opening act, which was very funny in patches (for example, the story about her father’s patriotic tattoos) but which wore me down by the end. Not that it was her fault; I think I just have a threshold for her offbeat and slightly threatening humor.

Come to think of it, my mixed reaction to FOTC that night probably had more to do with my own misanthropy than any failing on Jemaine and Bret’s part. How did I arrive at that resolution? Well, upon further reflection, I realized that it was very refreshing to see that, despite the overwhelming success of the FOTC brand, Jemaine and Bret’s live act remains as loopy, spontaneous, laid-back and self-aware as ever. There was no sense that success had imposed any restrictions or formalities on their act. That it took me a while to appreciate it just makes me quite the sad bastard.

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