UPPER DARBY, Pa. — From the Rat Pack to the Smothers Brothers to Tenacious D, music and comedy has made strange — and sometimes hilarious — bedfellows. So the question entering Monday night’s Flight of the Conchords show at the Tower Theatre was this: How would the New Zealand folk/comedy duo translate from the small screen to the big stage?
After nearly an hour and half set by the HBO series darlings at the sold-out Philadelphia-area venue, the answer still wasn’t clear. Jemaine Clement’s and Bret McKenzie’s laidback rapport with each other shone through. Their occasional flubs and nervousness — it was the Conchords’ second show of their first major tour — were endearing. But one couldn’t help ignore the fact that the duo’s most engaging moments came during the banter before the tunes.
Jemaine and Bret opened with the Pet Shop Boys-esque “Inner City Pressure,” from their recently released Sub Pop Records debut album, bathed in eerie green lights, Jemaine on keytar and Bret on acoustic guitar, singing about the dangers of the city: you know, monkeys with diseases, fork-and-knife attacks, those sorts of things.
After “Pressure,” the affable New Zealanders chatted about their band status. Why are there one-man bands and three-man bands, but two people are called a duo? It shouldn’t be, we’re a band. they said. Before “Think About It, Think, Think About It,” Jemaine and Bret talked about Bret’s imaginary children and imaginary wife. The song included a laugh-out-loud moment: “AIDS? No thank you,” sung a cappella.
A song so new “we don’t even know it” was a musical highlight, even with Jemaine reading from yellow lyric papers. With Jemaine on a mini synthesizer and Bret on guitar, the song exuded a pretty melancholy.
About halfway through the show — both commendable and ripe for criticism for its length — things started to drag. But that was repaired when Flight of the Conchords launched into the faux sexy, falsetto-drenched “It’s Business Time.” Folk rock and ’80s synth pop are the duo’s major touchstones, and it was the latter at work here.
A late-set highlight was crowd favorite “Hip-Hopopotamus vs. The Rhymenoceros,” which was short and fun. During a new song, Bret jumped into the crowd, wailing away on keytar. “Albi The Racist Dragon,” kind of a takeoff on “Puff The Magic Dragon,” was heartfelt, touching and funny. Two encores, including “Angels,” a hilarious romp about angels having sex, complete with an impressive two-man-choir segment, followed.
At the Tower, Flight of the Conchords were fun, self-effacing and charming. But it just made you want the show’s second season on HBO, complete with their band manager Murray and Mel, their one fan, to arrive that much sooner.
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