13 June - Hastings, NZ (Hawkes Bay Opera House)

mattdshane Checking the sounds...

mattdshane Jammin out w the mick jagger-nauts

Amily wrote:

sargifster wrote:Is that a bass sighting?  

Conchords start flight in Hastings
Amy Shanks | Wednesday, June 13, 2012 8:43

Flight of the Conchords touched down at Hawke's Bay Opera House yesterday to rehearse their live stage show, behind closed doors.

The comedy duo, comprised of Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, will open their first New Zealand performance since 2009 in Hastings tonight.

Security was tight at the venue and media were not given even a hint of what fans can expect.

"I haven't seen the show yet," event co-promoter Brent Eccles said. "People will have to wait and see."

Hawke's Bay was chosen as the first of 14 stops, because of its central location."

The tour features a combination of theatres and arenas, "Mr Eccles said. "Routing wise it makes sense for us to start at the Opera House in Hastings, and it's a beautiful theatre."

The fact Flight of the Conchords have spent a lot of time in the spotlight recently served to build excitement, Mr Eccles said.

"Obviously there is the TV series that made them famous, and the other things that came along such as a Grammy Award, Bret's Queen's Birthday Honour and thirdly Jemaine's appearance in Men in Black 3."

Opera House manager Roger Coleman had also noticed a "real buzz" surrounding the concert.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we got some people turning up here at weird times [today] to catch a glimpse of the Conchords, from some of the comments I have heard floating around," he said.

Having the tour premiere in Hawke's Bay was a huge opportunity and showed the Opera House was a major player.

"They really are a national icon and that is exciting not just for us at the Opera House, but the whole of Hawke's Bay."

Tickets to fill the 988-seat venue sold out within hours, leaving many fans disappointed.

caiknbake wrote:it's for real!!!  

mattdshane Getting there...

arjbarker FOTC 2012 Tour Opening Night, Hawkes Bay, NZ

Amazing! Flight of the Conchords were awesome!! 5 costume changes, requests and audience participation @fotc

Good view of @FOTCMB pic.twitter.com/PyIX3SPD

Hands down the greatest show #fotc #hawkesbay http://instagr.am/p/Lz82S7kXm8/

[url=Guy Somerset][/url]: Pleased to report the Conchords joke *is* still funny. Is that enough, or do you want a ruddy review? Oh, if you must ... tomorrow.

Review: Flight of the Conchords
ROBYN MCLEAN
Last updated 00:48 14/06/2012

REVIEW: 'Business Time' finally arrived for fans of Flight of the Conchords as they kicked off their much-anticipated national tour last night.

Nearly 1000 fans - each looking like they'd just unwrapped Willy Wonka's final golden ticket - packed into Hawke's Bay Opera House in Hastings for the first show of a ten-centre tour.

From the moment they stepped onto the stage with their first number Too Many Dicks, Wellington duo Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement had the audience eating out of the palms of their hands.

The back catalogue is there (Hurt Feelings, Business Time, The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room, Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenocerous), but a few new songs are given a test drive too.  Minor crashes along the way only add to the fun.

With a slew of awards behind them, FOTC have garnered a cult following not just here, but internationally too - largely thanks to their popular HBO sitcom series.

Seeing them live proves their comedic and musical genius doesn't come from successful television editing.

While there's a bit of scripting, they don't miss a beat with their ad-lib banter.  Their unique and refreshing low-key, deadpan humour is pitch-perfect. They bounce off each other like Lennon and McCartney and their musical ability isn't a far cry from them either.

They're not trying to be something they're not - they don't need to, the talent's their in droves.

"We should introduce the band,"they say early on. "We've got Jemaine on guitar and Bret on guitar". They are later joined by a lone cellist who they dub the "New Zealand Sympathy Orchestra".

Making their way through an impressive array of instruments, Jemaine and Bret, who have more than 1.5 million followers on Facebook, even manage to give the triangle and recorder a bit of old-school cool. Before long their spell on the audience had them belting out Song for Epileptic Dogs in four-part harmony.

While their solo careers are catapulting them into a space most artists can only dream of - Bret's got an Oscar sitting on his piano at home and Jemaine has appeared on the big screen alongside some of Hollywood's biggest stars - it's fantastic they've teamed up again for this series of concerts. Maybe they got sick of everyone asking, who knows?

Knowing they'd have sellout shows, concert promoters went to lengths to drip-feed ticket sales for this ten-centre tour to prevent ticket scalping.  They still went quicker than Road Runner and extra 'arena' shows have been added in Wellington and Auckland to satisfy their legions of fans who missed out on tickets for the smaller venues.

Arj Barker, a sometime cohort from the FOTC telly series, kicks off the show as special guest. He's a comic genius in his own right and the audience responded as such.

Those lucky enough to have secured themselves a ticket for one of the upcoming shows are in for a treat. [size=150]This show is utterly brilliant. With every audience member on their feet at the end, it proved there ain't no party like a Conchords party.

blondesnotbombs wrote:I can't wait to hear the new songs! :#excited2#:

emira wrote:

Amazing! Flight of the Conchords were awesome!! 5 costume changes, requests and audience participation @fotc

[url=twitter][/url]

sounds like a proper Madonna show! :#lol#:

Amily wrote:I just wanted to say that it's so nice to have you around again Caitlin!!! :#glomp#: :#iheartu#:

[size=200:3w4el0h3]Review: Flight of the Conchords live
TRACEY CHATTERTON
HAWKE'S BAY REPORTER
Last updated 08:55 14/06/2012

REVIEW: Flight of the Conchords

Hawke's Bay Opera House, Hastings, June 13

The Conchords landed in Hastings last night with their clever wit and catchy tunes, wooing the sold-out crowd in their first New Zealand show since 2009.

American comedian Arj Barker, also known as Dave, the pawn-shop guy in the pair's TV sitcom, warmed up the audience with lines packed full of punch.

But it was Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie that the fans came to see – and they didn't disappoint.

Silhouettes of a robot-shaped duo sent the crowd into a frenzy, as did the Conchords' robotic moves during Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor.

They kept up the techno pace for Robots, apart from the odd costume blip as their spray-painted cardboard helmets bumped the microphone. But there was always an awkward joke or anecdote to make the crowd laugh.

[size=150:3w4el0h3]The lads invited the audience to share in their "
intimate relationship"
by offering a new piece, during which Clement took on the woman's role to match McKenzie's masculine part.

The band were then joined by [size=150:3w4el0h3]Nigel, "
a sympathy orchestra"
or lone cello player.

Business Time proved to be the biggest hit, with [size=150:3w4el0h3]the crowd singing along to the catchy chorus.

With the audience eating out of their hands, the pair conducted a sing-along of Epiletic Dogs – with the crowd again carrying the song home.

The pace picked up again for Bowie, before a brief blackout allowed them to strip down to sparkly Bowie-inspired tops.

But not satisfied with a little bit of glitter, they added capes and [size=150:3w4el0h3]revealed the full-length Lycra outfit hiding beneath their shirts.

[size=150:3w4el0h3]Clement said that, after seeing Lady Gaga, they felt they had to up their game – and they did as they rocked Demon Woman home.

Each song offered something different, proving just how versatile and talented this duo really are.

[size=200:3w4el0h3]Excited Conchords fans receive comedy treat

Amy Shanks | Thursday, June 14, 2012 8:57

Hours of waiting in line for tickets paid off for Flight of the Conchords fans of all ages who were last night treated to a premiere performance from the comedy duo.

Excitement bubbled over for many diehard supporters as they filed into the Hawke's Bay Opera House for the 7.30pm show, the first of the duo's latest New Zealand tour.

Palmerston North friends Amy Burlace and Samantha Fletcher had driven over after work - and admitted that missing work had got them the tickets in the first place.

"
I took a sick day to get the tickets,"
Amy said. But not without additional help.

"
We were on the phone together and her credit card wouldn't work so I had to give her mine,"
Samantha said.

The pair had initially missed out on tickets to the Wellington show but were last night glad to be in the Bay.

"
It's great we get to see them first,"
Amy said. "
It's a smaller venue so we're really excited. I think they could possibly get lost in a bigger venue."


She said the awarded comedy act appealed to her because they had a "
similar sense of humour"
to her mates.

"
They're just normal guys."


Opening act and fellow Flight of the Conchords TV series star, Arj Barker was a hit with the crowd causing regular outbreaks of genuine laughter.

Then it was a nervous wait before the men of the moment, Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, took their spot on stage.

New Zealand's iconic comics were dressed as robots and opened with their classic "
Too many dicks on the dance floor"
to a roar of laughter from the packed room, and that's how it stayed for the rest of the night.

The Hawke's Bay concert was the first on a 14-date tour.

[url=Ashton Ireland][/url]: Flight of the Conchords were cheek hurtingly funny last night in Hastings. Felt like Mel (their stalker fan) back stage afterwards

Great gig100%! Made a couple of tech probs very funny too.Awesome new song-Pecs.Backstage Brett already gone Jemaine signed not seen

ROBYN MCLEAN
Last updated 00:48 14/06/2012

...From the moment they stepped onto the stage with their first number Too Many Dicks, Wellington duo Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement had [size=150:30lvjq0w]the audience eating out of the palms of their hands....

TRACEY CHATTERTON
HAWKE'S BAY REPORTER
Last updated 08:55 14/06/2012

...[size=150:30lvjq0w]With the audience eating out of their hands, the pair conducted a sing-along of Epiletic Dogs – with the crowd again carrying the song home....

caiknbake wrote:these reviewers make it sound like the show was held at the cheap zoo :#haha#:

Hair is like silk. Curdling my milk.



First show down!

[size=200:upjwb33o]Flight of the Conchords review
By Guy SomersetGuy Somerset | Published on June 14, 2012


[size=130:upjwb33o]
Unpacked from their polystyrene boxes and on tour.

With Jemaine in a red checked shirt and matching coloured jeans, and Bret in a blue shirt and jeans, they look as though they could have wandered in off Wellington’s Cuba St. At least they do once they’ve shed (“The whole time it was us!”) the shiny silvery tops and crappy cardboard robot helmets of daft Daft Punk opener Too Many Dicks (On the Dancefloor) and retro sci-fi second number Robots, and before they switch to spangly satin blouses for the heavy-metal pre-encore finale Demon Woman, telling us: “We saw Lady Gaga and thought we needed to pick up our game.”

It’s two years since the Conchords last played live (“We’ve just been in polystyrene boxes”) and three years since the second of their two TV series aired in New Zealand and its accompanying album, I Told You I Was Freaky, was released here.

We never got to see those live shows at the time, of course;
this tour’s support act Arj Barker has been a more familiar presence on New Zealand stages than the Conchords. But the success of their US and European concerts, not to mention Jemaine’s burgeoning Hollywood film career and the small matter of Bret’s Oscar for Man or Muppet, have not gone to their heads nor to their budgets. (Lady Gaga needn’t worry;
their Demon Woman outfits are endearingly inept, including a costume malfunction for Bret – involving a cape and thankfully no nipple.)

This is essentially the same set-up as when I last saw the Conchords, pre-TV series, at Wellington’s Downstage Theatre, but with bigger auditoriums. “We should introduce the band,” says Bret. “That’s Jemaine on guitar.” “And on guitar that’s Bret.” Actually, there are more instruments than that, and there’s also Nigel, playing cello among other things, supposedly on charitable loan from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (“the New Zealand Sympathy Orchestra”).

The big fear after so long – to borrow from the Smiths, two of whose songs played over the soundsystem pre-concert on the opening night of the tour at Hawke’s Bay Opera House, Hastings – is that the joke isn’t funny any more. In many ways, it’s a miracle it was funny in the first place. Musical parody isn’t a genre covered in glory. But the Conchords’ songs have consistently passed all the tests: funny in the context of the TV show;
funny outside the context of the TV show on their albums;
funny – in my own case – after seemingly endless repeat plays in the car at the behest of my children.

That the songs bear repeating – and repeating and repeating and repeating – is due to the sheer brilliance of their conception and execution, and it’s a brilliance that shines through no less in concert than it does on record – possibly more so, with all the additions and quick-witted ad libs they bring to the songs.

There is great intelligence at play: a nimble, dexterous sense of both musical and lyrical absurdity that could only come from being steeped in songcraft, from folk (The Summer of 1353, Albi the Racist Dinosaur) to soul (Business Time – combining the recorder and Barry White) to rap (Hiphopopotamus vs Rhymenoceros, Hurt Feelings) and all stops in between, including pop’s nadir, the charity record. In the Conchords’ hands, that nadir becomes a concert highlight, with the audience dragooned into singing the various parts of Epileptic Dogs.

The Conchords’ own singing, and musicianship, in so many different guises, is as always a wonder – whether channelling David Bowie, holding a falsetto note for a surely dangerous length of time (and more impressive still fading out a song in falsetto) or rapping at a rate that puts Home Brew to shame.

And never mind too many dicks, this is a band with too many songs;
so many they can leave out ones as good as The Prince of Parties and Ladies of the World, but happily their best – Bowie and the spot-on Pet Shop Boys spoof Inner City Pressure – are present.

There are a couple of new songs, too, including – as befits a band at this stage of their career – the road song, a tired staple reinvigorated and sent up with such lines as “another hotel, another complimentary muffin … another passed-out groupie with a goldfish in her arse”.

Catch this unmissable tour if you can, but don’t let your enthusiasm get the better of you. Those goldfish are terribly difficult to remove.

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS, touring, until July 2.