Flight of the Conchords land at Orpheum
Posted on May 14th, 2008 – 9:05 AMBy Chris Riemenschneider
What kooky Kiwis. They went on for over two hours, at least half of which was witty stage banter, everything from the typical “Where’s Prince?” query (”There he is,” Jemaine pointed) to a funny response to an audience member’s marriage proposal (”Who? Both of us? OK”).
Look for the full review at www.startribune.com/music, but in the meantime please let us know what you thought of last night’s show. Here’s the setlist:
Robots / Jenny / Foux du Fafa / The Most Beautiful Girl (In the Room) / Ex-Girlfriend Song (new one) / Mutha’uckas / Bowie / Business Time / Busdriver / Crying / If You’re Into It / Think About It / Hiphopopotomaus vs. Rhymenoceros
Encore: ?? (new one) / Bret You’ve Got It Going On / Sellotape
11 Responses to "Flight of the Conchords land at Orpheum"
What a fun show! I was a wee bit disappointed that they didn’t play “Inner City Pressure” or “Ladies of the World” The banter was definitely a highlight - I think they’re better experienced live than on the small screen. And is it just me or have Mpls audiences been extra vocal and obnoxious lately? Maybe I’m just getting old, but I quickly grew tired of all the wooing from the crowd.
It was a blast! That letter thrown up on stage must have really been something… I agree that the audience was a bit vocal but I think that was part of the fun and to be expected. Based on reviews of other shows it doesn’t seem like the audience participation has been isolated to the MN show.
My only complaint is that the sound was a bit quiet. In many cases you couldn’t hear the band (duo?) over the screaming and laughing.
The crowd was a little bit too vocal. The first few interactions are a lot of fun, but pretty soon that empowers the stupider people to try and make their own jokes and yell out song requests (often by the wrong name).
Still, it was the banter that made the show great, especially Jemaine’s story about his acid trip time travel conversation about leaving Ike with young Tine Turner and old Tina Turner.
Definitely one of the best shows I’ve seen in a very long time. From Arj to encore it was nearly non-stop laughter, although I think no one had more fun than the girls in the front row. 
I also agree that the audience participation was a bit excessive. When shouts derail the routines, it’s a little overkill. A few well-timed comments are almost always funny and well received, but it’s easy to reach the point of disruption. The band (still funny) did an exceptional job of managing the unruly crowd.
leathersuit-
Perfect comments. I paid to see professional musicians/comedians, not some jerk frat boy shouting the name of a song he wants to hear any time there was a break in the action. And, I think those girls in the front row must have thought they were going to a Dave Matthews concert or something…
Cheers to the band for coming, and also for driving the unruly crowd back into their court. I don’t care how rehearsed some of the “band talk” was, I enjoyed every bit of it.
I am glad to see that it was not just my husband and I that thought the people yelling stupid and predictable comments were annoying. We were really looking forward to the concert and it was tainted by the audience’s behavior. The Conchords were still terrific but it must be very difficult to do a show where your timing is CONSTANTLY being interrupted!
It seemed like alot of the people have not watched the show, but have only watched clips on youtube or myspace so they didn’t get the “bits” in between the songs.
Even though I have a sore neck today, I couldn’t have been happier to be in the front row for the show as I didn’t miss too much of the banter. Luckily, I wasn’t right next to the most, umm, vocal front-row member - a bit too much. I’m also lucky that I didn’t get hit by the microphone - I need my face for work!
My wife and I are huge FOTC fans and fans of live comedy in general, so we were thrilled that they decided to play in the Twin Cities on a very brief tour.
Bret and Jemaine are comedians who play music, and comedy is the primary force behind what they do, and they do it very well. I appreciate their low key humor very much, both in the songs and in the stage act and TV show.
I was definitely annoyed by some of the crowd behavior, and saddens me to still hear some Yahoo yell out the lamely predictable “Freebird!” and think they’re being funny. Leave the comedy to the people on the stage, please. Unfortunately, this seems to be a trend as I encountered the same problem with the crowd when I saw “The Kids In The Hall” perform at the Orpheum two weeks ago.
Despite the crowd and a few technical glitches, I thought they were great. I loved the banter, be it canned or off the cuff. They’re still funny guys who write intelligent and witty songs.
I rarely go to concerts anymore, in no small part to the fact that drunks can make just about any show unbearable.
I don’t subscribe to the Flight of the Conchords school of humor. I hate to be a buzzkill, but I just don’t find it funny in the slightest.
Mana, teh cowrd wases full of maroons. Coulden’ not hear the batner between singwriters.
Mac, me either… it’s humorous, but more of a light chuckle kind of humor to me, certainly nothing i’m gonna tear up from.
while i can appreciate subtle humor too, it’s not something i’m exactly going to pay $50 to see in person either.
as for annoying people at shows, that’s too bad that you can’t learn to ignore them. i’d never let someone else ruin my concert experience. you can always move, or have them removed.
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