New Zealand natives Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement–better known as Flight Of The Conchords–developed a cult following after their BBC radio series was turned into a TV show in 2007 by HBO, showcasing their unassuming yet hilarious blend of music and comedy. The series (also called Flight of the Conchords) ran for two seasons and was nominated for several Emmys, in both songwriting and overall comedic categories. After a relatively quiet few years, the group returned this year, announcing an extensive summer tour—their first U.S. shows since 2013. Last night, the hilarious duo brought their reunion tour to Forest Hills Staduim in Queens, NY. After opening stand-up comedy sets from Demitri Martin, Eugene Mirman, and John Hodgman, Flight of the Conchords took the stage in their best white tennis gear, a nod to the venue’s past life as the home of the US Open and the Davis Cup. Their relatively simple stage setup served them well, as two screens on either side of the stage helped to capture the performers’ comedic nuance throughout the night while colored spotlights gave their songs that familiar outdoor concert feel.Known as much for their hilarious live shows as their TV stint, Clement and McKenzie settled into the show with ease, their disarming rapport and between-song banter as funny and entertaining as the songs themselves. The duo, joined by accompanying cellist Nigel Collins, commanded the crowd from the get-go, interacting with the audience and ad-libbing jokes throughout, from responding to the crowd’s ironic enthusiasm for the silent Collins by attempting to write a song about him onstage to riffing on the show’s locale (“You’re so beautiful, like Queens–I’m not just talkin’ about transvestites, I’m talkin’ about the place”). Though comedy was at the forefront of the performance, it’s worth noting that Flight of the Conchords are no slouches when it comes to musicianship, utilizing various guitars and basses, a piano, box drums, mini harps and harp synths, and even recorders (yes, the ones you played in fourth grade music class). The group also showcased their adept playing by taking on a string of different sonic styles throughout the evening, from smoky jazz (“Shady Rachel”) to Johnny Cash-style country (“The Ballad Of Stana”) to futuristic robot music (“The Humans Are Dead”), to a medieval ballad (“Summer of 1353 (Woo A Lady)”). The group even invited fellow New Zealand singer Kimbra to help Bret embody a choir of ex-girlfriends on “Carol Brown”. In one particularly satisfying musical transformation, the band closed their main set with a performance of “Bowie’s In Space”, a fan favorite that mimics different stages of the ever-evolving late David Bowie’s career. The song borrows lyrically from “Changes” and “Life On Mars?” and imitates the musical style of Bowie classics like “Space Oddity”, “John, I’m Only Dancing”, and “Sound And Vision”. Check out this hilarious video of Bret and Jemaine riffing on this “stages of Bowie” theme from their HBO series below via YouTube user MrJuniorMovies:Finally, after joking about how they were going to pretend to play their last songs, leave the stage, and then come back and play a couple more “because we’re so rock n’ roll,” the band played a three-song encore featuring new tune “Seagull” (in which Bret sings a song laden with pretty metaphors that are then translated literally by Jemaine, to hilarious effect), hip-hop send-up “Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros” and “Summer of 1353”, which featured a “flute jam” that saw all three opening comedians join the group onstage to round out the show.Flight Of The Conchords will remain on the road for the rest of this month, including a sold-out performance at Central Park SummerStage this Sunday, July 24th. Check out last night’s setlist, below.Edit this setlist | More Flight of the Conchords setlists[Photos appear courtesy of Mark Dershowitz] Load remaining images
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Close Forgot password? Please put in your email: Send me my password! Close message Login This blog post All blog posts Subscribe to this blog post’s comments through… RSS Feed Subscribe via email Subscribe Subscribe to this blog’s comments through… RSS Feed Subscribe via email Subscribe Follow the discussion Comment (1) Logging you in… Close Login to IntenseDebate Or create an account Username or Email: Password: Forgot login? Cancel Login Close WordPress.com Username or Email: Password: Lost your password? Cancel Login Dashboard | Edit profile | Logout Logged in as Admin Options Disable comments for this page Save Settings Sort by: Date Rating Last Activity Loading comments… You are about to flag this comment as being inappropriate. Please explain why you are flagging this comment in the text box below and submit your report. The blog admin will be notified. Thank you for your input. +4 Vote up Vote down g sugar · 267 weeks ago Great story and great idea! Something positive! 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Tweet this comment Cancel Submit Comment Subscribe to None Replies All new comments by Amber Schmitz, Sumner Newscow — Wanting to help meet needs within the community, a group of ladies have started Friends for Charity.The group is made up of volunteers who make quilts and many other hand sewn items to fill a need. Currently, they are working on 100 lap quilts for the Veterans of Foreign Wars to give to the Veterans Home in Winfield by Christmas, as well as burp cloths for Birthline.The ladies ran into Theresa Snider at the library, and she told them that the VFW needed lap quilts for the Veterans Home in Winfield. The group was organize.“The organization was born from that,” said member Ginny Schon. “We found a need and said we can do that, and we need people. We started getting the word out, and people understood what it was for and jumped in. It’s been wonderful.”Schon said that it’s especially heartening doing something for the veterans.“I’m a strong believer if it weren’t for the veterans, we wouldn’t have the freedom today, it makes it nice to do it, “Schon said.There is no charge for the items that the group makes. If anyone has a request, the group wants it in writing, wants to know what need is, the time frame to meet the need and who to contact.“People are so willing to do good for others and want to volunteer,” Schon said. “The word has spread. Someone will mention in church or to friends, etc. and it has grown from there. It all started at library, where we heard about need for Veterans lap quilt. It exploded from there.”Their mission and motto is plain and simple – to fill the need.“It doesn’t make difference if it’s in Wellington, the county, the state, the United States or abroad, if there’s a need, and we can do it, we’ll do it,” Schon said.A way for people get ahold of them if you don’t know charter members of the group, is by calling the Wellington Area Chamber of Commerce, wich have volunteered to give people information when they call.Schon said that Hospice may ask them to make bags to put oxygen in, and that they have lots of ideas. If there’s an accident in rainy weather, and kids are cold and scared, they want to have blankets to give to them to keep. The group would also like to make pillow cases with draw strings for children who are being placed in other homes to put their possessions in.Many people have donated materials, time, and even sewing machines, to make the mission possible.The First Baptist Church has given them a room to keep supplies and work in. The ladies meet twice a month at the church, the first Monday of month from 4-9 p.m., and the third Friday of month, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., when they ask people to bring a covered dish, and have lunch and fellowship there.“People can come for as long as they wish, they don’t have to stay entire time,” Schon said. “If someone is physically unable to sew for whatever reason, they are still welcome to come out and just fellowship with us.”Group age wise, Schon said, runs from the young to the young at heart. There are 4-H people involved, and men are also welcome. 4-H boys who sew can earn their badges by helping. Anyone who wants to participate is welcome.“Every meeting start out with this, we are a faith based group,” Schon said. “If it weren’t for God, we wouldn’t be here and wouldn’t be able to do this.”Follow us on Twitter.
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