{"id":663136,"date":"2026-05-11T22:18:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T22:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/663136\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T22:18:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T22:18:11","slug":"flight-of-the-conchords-us-reunion-brings-needed-joy-grateful-you-accepted-people-from-outside-your-country-flight-of-the-conchords","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/663136\/","title":{"rendered":"Flight of the Conchords\u2019 US reunion brings needed joy: \u2018Grateful you accepted people from outside your country\u2019 | Flight of the Conchords"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Robots, Flight of the Conchords\u2019<\/a> song about an android uprising told from the robots\u2019 perspective, came out in 2008, it seemed like pure comedy. Now the story feels all too real, and the lyrics have been updated accordingly.<\/p>\n

\u201cHumans invented artificial intelligence, and then they had us doing really stupid shit with it,\u201d Jemaine Clement, in the role of a frustrated robot, explained over a beat at Los Angeles\u2019s Greek Theater on Saturday night. \u201cThey gave us all the knowledge, deep learning, gave us the power to solve complex, scientific mathematical equations,\u201d his bandmate Brett McKenzie added. \u201cThen just asked us questions like, \u2018How do you cook an egg?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The opening song set the tone for the first of a pair of shows this weekend as part of the Netflix Is a Joke festival, the climax of a short run of concerts in Wellington and California that mark the New Zealand<\/a> duo\u2019s first performances in eight years. The night was peppered with reflections on the past and acknowledgments that the world has only gotten more terrifying since then, but the concert felt like a momentary antidote.<\/p>\n

Despite the long break, Flight of the Conchords<\/a> showcased the same wit and understated charm that carried them through early performances, a BBC radio show, and an HBO series that aired from 2007 to 2009. Clement and McKenzie\u2019s easy banter managed to make a packed 5,900-capacity outdoor venue feel much smaller, an effect enhanced by a crowd that seemed utterly thrilled to be there. \u201cQuite a musical crowd, actually,\u201d Clement said amid audience participation. \u201cWe assume, because we\u2019re in Los Angeles, a lot of you are probably in the Red Hot Chili Peppers.\u201d<\/p>\n

McKenzie and Clement were clearly enjoying themselves, and their musicianship was on full display, as they harmonized and played an array of instruments, including guitar, bass, keyboard, flute and various digital devices. Clement\u2019s voice was particularly rich on stage; the records haven\u2019t always done it justice. There were a few mistakes along the way \u2013 one song suffered from some extensive lyrical confusion \u2013 but the band embraced these moments, to cheers.<\/p>\n

McKenzie and Clement played most of their best-known songs, including Business Time, about a couple\u2019s subpar weekly sex; Hurt Feelings; The Most Beautiful Girl (in the Room); Bowie in Space, which parodies David; and Carol Brown, in which Clement lists all the rhyming ways his exes have left him (\u201cMona, you told me you were in a coma\u201d), a sort of 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover in reverse. \u201cWe\u2019re not really playing new songs, but they\u2019re new to us, because we can\u2019t remember them,\u201d McKenzie said.<\/p>\n

Like Robots, several songs had updates: in the 2008 song Think About It, whose chorus is \u201cWhat is wrong with the world today?\u201d, Clement\u2019s improvised solo lamented that things were \u201ceven worse than when we wrote this song\u201d.<\/p>\n

Other highlights included appearances by Rhys Darby, who played the band\u2019s manager, Murray, on the show; Kristen Schaal, who played Mel, an obsessive fan; and Arj Barker, who played the band\u2019s friend Dave and opened the night with a standup set. Darby appeared on stage to conduct a \u201craffle\u201d for an onstage VIP experience with the band; the winner was Schaal, who was offered the opportunity to touch both men for 30 seconds. The duo were backed on some songs by the \u201cNew Zealand Symphony Orchestra\u201d, a single cellist named Nigel Collins.<\/p>\n

Also joining the band was a large bug that showed up in Clement\u2019s hair and made several more unscheduled appearances throughout the night, including on the overhead screens. \u201cI don\u2019t know where it\u2019s going to go,\u201d McKenzie said after gingerly placing it on the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably go to Hollywood, just give it a go,\u201d Clement replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen go back to Ohio.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTeach drama.\u201d<\/p>\n

In typically guileless fashion, when someone in the crowd called for the song Hiphopopotamus vs Rhymenoceros, McKenzie and Clement explained that they would be playing it, but it would be an encore that would take place after they pretended to walk off stage. \u201cIt\u2019s gonna be a big surprise,\u201d Clement said.<\/p>\n

But before the big fakeout, the band had a few words for a country where they hadn\u2019t played in a decade. \u201cWe\u2019d like to sincerely thank you for coming, but we find sincerity quite difficult, so we probably won\u2019t do that,\u201d Clement said. Still, amid the jokes, the night seemed to offer something bigger: a sense of brief cohesion and community in a fractured era, a little bit of shelter from the storm.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerica, you\u2019ve been so incredibly welcoming to us, and we\u2019re very grateful that you accepted some people from outside your country.\u201d McKenzie said. Clement added: \u201cWe\u2019d probably be deported now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Robots, Flight of the Conchords\u2019 song about an android uprising told from the robots\u2019 perspective, came out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":663137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[49,48,75],"class_list":["post-663136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}