19 June - Wellington, NZ

[size=150:1trj7nnm]Conchords fans queue over night
[size=140:1trj7nnm]150 queue early this morning

Last updated 07:19 23/03/2012


[size=75:1trj7nnm]HAPPY FANS: Jessica Heddell-Stevens, Mitchell Leaming and Robyn Lentell got tickets to see Flight of the Conchords this morning.

Glen Peek and Annalese Taylor were the first to secure a spot in line in Wellington for Flight of the Conchords tickets, which go on sale this morning.

Pre-sale tickets for the comedy folk-singing duo's New Zealand tour sold out in just minutes on Tuesday and 300 general release tickets for each of the 10 nationwide shows were to be made available this morning.

At 7.45am this morning about 150 people were queued around the block outside the Michael Fowler Centre hoping to score tickets. As the ticket office opened at 8am, more people continued to join the line.

In the band's attempt to stop scalping, tickets were available to only those who turned up in person, with a maximum of two each.

With inflatable couch, blankets, snacks and a backup tent in the car, Miss Taylor, 33, set up camp at 4pm yesterday. "
We want front row and centre seats."


On securing tickets this morning Mr Peek said "
I'm really stoked to get them"
.

Robyn Lentell, 21, said she and her friends, Mitchell Leaming, 20, and Jessica Heddell-Stevens, 20, drove past the box office after 10pm last night and decided to join the two-person queue.

The trio rugged up with jackets, slippers and blankets, and became friends with Mr Peek and Miss Taylor through the night.

"
We didn't know each other before but we do now and we're all sitting together front row centre,"
Miss Lentell said.

"
We all made a joke that we had nothing better to do, but we just really love Flight of the Conchords,"
Mr Leaming said.

Tickets were still on sale by about 9am, but the queue no longer snaked around the building.

A Ticketek staff member told the waiting crowds that if they were unlucky this morning they were welcome to wait until 12pm when the rest of the tickets went on sale, or to go home and try to buy them online.

Last night a security guard suggested Miss Taylor and Mr Peek take shelter in behind a glass barrier, a spot they would hold until the doors opened. And, at 10pm yesterday, they had no competition.

They had the full box-set series DVD to watch on their laptop, "
to keep us from going mad"
through the night, Mr Peek said.

Flight of the Conchords will perform at Wellington's Michael Fowler Centre on June 19 and 20.

Flying truss and Kudo line arrays at the opera house in wellington for the first of 3 @fotc shows http://instagr.am/p/MCQnHBKlvB/

WgtnVenues: Flight of the Conchords on tonight at Michael Fowler Centre...to the lucky people going, remember to check out the FOTC Cocktail Bar! #FOTC

gezyka wrote:so this just RTed by the board...

WgtnVenues: Flight of the Conchords on tonight at Michael Fowler Centre...to the lucky people going, remember to check out the FOTC Cocktail Bar! #FOTC

...I'm assuming/hoping Bret's bro is behind this? :#ded#:

blondesnotbombs wrote:Yeah, he is. Somebody posted the invite they got from the venue on tumblr a couple of days ago, but I can't seem to locate it now. Sounds like fun.

blondesnotbombs wrote:

gezyka wrote:so this just RTed by the board...

WgtnVenues: Flight of the Conchords on tonight at Michael Fowler Centre...to the lucky people going, remember to check out the FOTC Cocktail Bar! #FOTC

...I'm assuming/hoping Bret's bro is behind this? :#ded#:

Yeah, he is. Somebody posted the invite they got from the venue on tumblr a couple of days ago, but I can't seem to locate it now. Sounds like fun.

Dear Flight of the Conchord ticket holders

Get your best pair of jandals on because the wait is over - Bret and Jemaine are back on stage together - and Positively Wellington Venues and Ticketek are looking forward to hosting you at this much awaited concert.

We know seeing this almost award-winning fourth-most-popular folk duo will be told to generations to come and so we have come up with ways to ensure this experience a legendary one.

You're invited!
• We decided what better way to “Rock the Party” than with a few Bret and Jemaine themed cocktails, and you’re invited!
• From 6:00pm our FOTC cocktail bar will open in the Renouf Foyer at the Michael Fowler Centre and Bret’s brother Justin McKenzie will be behind the bar shaking up some cocktails.
• Try “Business Time”, “Hurt Feelings” and “Freaky” along with a host of hot Foux du Fafa bar snacks.
• At the bottom of this PDF is a voucher for “buy 4 cocktails &
get a free pizza” – print it out and bring it along to get the deal – the voucher is only valid for pre show redemption.

Clothing
• Wear socks with your jandals as it may be cold and we don’t want anyone to get frostbite.
• You can buy a Flight of the Conchord t-shirt if your mates think what you are wearing is just uncool. The merchandising stand will be outside the FOTC Cocktail Bar.
• Make sure you don’t bring an umbrella – everyone in Wellington knows that would just be stupid.

Soundcheck, Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington #fotc instagr.am/p/MDAcXBzVlT/

Flight of the Conchords. @ Michael Fowler Centre http://t.co/LjWTXeXV

[size=150:13355ozl]Hometown show for Flight of the Conchords
New material wows fans in Wellington
Last updated 05:00 20/06/2012



The hometown Flight of the Conchords boys, Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, returned to the capital last night for the first of four Wellington concerts on their first national tour.

The award-winning pair, who sold out Wellington's 1700-seat Michael Fowler Centre three times over, played lots of new and funny material, said 25-year-old Irishman Conor Loughran.

Jeff Harris, self-employed, from Ngaio, said: "
They're an international act and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves."


Anthony Pratt, an Auckland builder, and Thirza Moors, a policy analyst, both said the show was very creative. "
They're very talented, and the number of musical instruments they played was amazing,"
Ms Moors said.

Clement and McKenzie have performed at the landmark Hollywood Bowl, New York's Radio City Music Hall and London's Wembley Arena.

On this tour they have already performed in Hawke's Bay, Hamilton, Auckland and New Plymouth.

Comedian Arj Barker provided the warm-up act.

The band will perform the final show of their tour at TSB Bank Arena on Monday July 2.

Spoiler:

Amily wrote:

[size=150:2n9dljs9]Live Photos and Review: Flight of The Conchords - Tue 19 Jun, Wellington
Written by Sendaria Johnston and Tim Gruar on Wednesday, 20 June 2012

The weather in the Capital last night was utterly appalling. But inside the Michael Fowler Centre it was heating up in anticipation of the arrival of New Zealand’s arguably best-loved comedy duo.

Once settled in, the show kicked off with a 20-minute set from Arj Barker – or Dave, as you might know him better, from the Flight of the Conchords’ TV show. His set was pretty fluid, but for some reason it never really fired up the winter crowd, whose response was a bit luke-warm. Nonetheless, comments at interval and the crowd around the merch tent signing still indicated a warm appreciation. Wellingtonians are a quiet bunch when it comes to comedy.

After the interval: Business Time. Although that particular number turned out to be absent from the bill – shame that. But from the first moment the lads stepped on stage in silver space tops and dinky cardboard helmets for opener ‘Too Many Dicks’, hometown heroes Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement had the punters licking the salt from their sweaty fingertips.

They mixed back catalogue (‘Hurt Feelings’, ‘The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room’, Ladies’, ‘Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenocerous’ and more) with some fine and well-rehearsed improvisations and intentionally clunky “lulls” (yep, they were actually on the set list). With almost rehearsed-sounding “stuff-ups” no beats are dropped. The Conchords' geeky, nervous, ad-lib banter is the same refreshing, low-key, deadpan humour, delivered in a fashion that only true Kiwis can appreciate

Brett and Jemaine were surrounded by a vast array of electrical toys – synths, guitars, a toy piano, drums – and accompanied halfway through by lone cellist Nigel, introduced as the New Zealand Sympathy Orchestra. Nigel proved himself highly erudite especially during the final number ‘Bowie’s in Space’, when all three stood, whipped off their clothes like male strippers to reveal matching sequinned jumpsuits. They then proceeded to tear up ‘Demon Woman’ in true glam style, with capes held up with wire and a major shred-solo by Brett on a kid-size Flying V guitar.

To add even more fun some new numbers got the test drive, too, including 'Back On The Road', a number that dryly apologised for the poor performance and longed for the next town so they could set up and disappoint all over again. "
Um, yeah,"
Brett explained, "
We've gotta get back on the road…gotta get going because were playing here tomorrow night."


Of course, we've all caught the HBO effort, we know about the Muppets, the movies and all that, but nothing really compares to the on-stage experience. The Conchords still rock the party!

Review courtesy of Tim Gruar

Photography courtesy of Sendaria Johnston
facebook.com/NayaBluesPhotography

emira wrote:Photos are at the source and on [url=facebook][/url]. If anyone has time to post them here, go ahead. If not, then I can do it later.