The Conchords Destroy 'Scotchdale'

On this fine summer evening in Phoenix, the winds blew through the concrete canyons of the downtown area like Satan's own hair dryer. Why would anyone drive up from a nice little town like Tucson to such a pit of crass consumerism and vapid suburbanites run amok?

Well...it wasn't college football season, and it wasn't a job interview. The only reason remaining is a damn good show, and that's what Rob, Casey and I came up to see. Our New Zealand folk heroes in rollicking bearded form...Flight of the Conchords. We expected them to rock the party, and rock the party they did at the Dodge Theater.

First of all, thanks to Rob...we got ridiculously good seats. Second row, just off to the right of center. This, of course, accounts for the fantastic pics Casey was able to shoot.

Arj Barker, who plays Dave on the show, kicked it off with a nice little 30 minute stand-up set. His stand-up persona is basically identical to the Dave character, and his subject matter ranged from global warming ("I blame the sun!") to his friend's arrest for marijuana possession, and it was quite funny. He also looked pretty damned lit...substance unknown.

Then it was time for the Conchords. Our heroes donned their robot suits, but instead of "The Humans Are Dead", they went right into "Too Many Dicks". Arj Barker even came out and did his verse. Utterly awesome. The next song wasn't one I had heard before, but it was a wildly long and wooly track about a town molester named "Stana". Jemaine's beard seemed right at home with this track, about a crazy mountain anti-Santa who comes to town and molests everyone, until he meets his match. Jemaine also later referred to Scottsdale as 'Scotchdale'.

The set included many favorites, such as "I'm Not Cryin'", "Too Many Mutha Uckas", 2nd season gem "Carol Brown", "Part-Time Model", and most of the others we know and love. I was a bit sad to not hear "Sellotape" or "The Humans Are Dead", but it was still an amazing 90 minute set.

Two highlights worth mentioning: Their cover of "Freebird" was FUCKING HILARIOUS. Starts out like a very capable version of the original, and then has a lot of seemingly spontaneous lyrics from Jemaine about him being a bird and just wanting to have sex and leave. My face hurt after this. Also, they ripped into "When Doves Cry" for about one verse, and then they stopped.
"Indulgent," they said.

They also at one point had their stage assistant run off and grab them some jackets, which they would then put on just to take off, given the insistent pleas from the crazed female fans for them to "Take it off!". Quite funny.

They scurried off stage at the end of the set, then came back on for the encore. Yes, it was "Business Time". Last but not least, much to the crowd's shrieking delight, "Bowie's In Space".

The show may have ended with Season 2, but I get the feeling the Conchords will be around for a very long time. Their live show just oozes with talent and showmanship, and it's the real strength of what they do. They trade barbs with the crowd insanely well and you just cannot leave without a massive smile tattooed on your face. I know all three of us did.