The New Zealand duo Flight of the Conchords performed their first US shows in eight years over the weekend, bringing their signature blend of comedy and music to Los Angeles. The concerts, part of the Netflix Is a Joke festival, featured updated versions of classic songs and reflections on a changed world.
Opening with 'Robots', a song about an AI uprising, Jemaine Clement and Brett McKenzie updated the lyrics to comment on modern artificial intelligence. 'Humans invented artificial intelligence, and then they had us doing really stupid shit with it,' Clement said, as the crowd at the Greek Theatre cheered.
The duo played fan favourites including 'Business Time', 'Hurt Feelings', and 'The Most Beautiful Girl (in the Room)', with some songs receiving lyrical updates. During 'Think About It', Clement improvised a solo lamenting that things were 'even worse than when we wrote this song'.
Special guests included Rhys Darby, Kristen Schaal, and Arj Barker, reprising their roles from the HBO series. A large bug that landed in Clement's hair also made several appearances, adding to the night's lighthearted atmosphere.
Despite a few musical mistakes, the band embraced the imperfections, to the delight of the audience. 'We're not really playing new songs, but they're new to us, because we can't remember them,' McKenzie joked.
The concert ended with a planned encore of 'Hiphopopotamus vs Rhymenoceros', after the duo pretended to leave the stage. Clement thanked the US audience, saying, 'We'd like to sincerely thank you for coming, but we find sincerity quite difficult.'
