I went to the Wednesday night show, and I thought it was fantastic. They managed to mix in songs from Season 2, classic songs from Season 1, and a couple of songs which haven’t appeared on the HBO series. The song performances were solid, and even when Jemaine and Bret made mistakes (Bret couldn’t remember the words to one of the newer songs and Jemaine decided to use a Latin tempo to one of their other songs . . . which managed to screw up the timing of both Jemaine and Bret) they still managed to make those mistakes funny and entertaining. The between-songs banter between Jemaine, Bret, and the audience was hilarious. Some of it was probably rehearsed, but there were definitely more than just a few moments which were competely spontaneous . . . and hilarious. The only mildly disappointing part of the evening was that it seemed like much of the audience just wasn’t that into Flight of the Conchords. Perhaps it was just where I was sitting, but nobody around me (other than my wife) seemed to know any of the songs. Nobody wanted to sing along, even when prompted by Jemaine and Bret. It was like 90% of the audience had never seen the HBO show and were completely unfamiliar with the dry FOTC humor, but bought tickets anyway because they heard enough people talk about them. I can’t speak for those people, but as a fan of the HBO series, I was thoroughly entertained at the Wednesday night show.

Steve & Eydie version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ntpzY5tBKg

off topic

I would have to agree about the difference in the crowd on Tuesday v. Wednesday. I went to the show on both nights, and Tuesday night, the audience brought so much more energy to the scene. The spontaneous back and forth banter between us and Bret and Jemaine added a lot to the show. We fed off each other. The true die-hard fans were out in droves on Tuesday, and it was non-stop. Wednesday was 2nd string as far as most of the fans go; much less laughter and many more uncomfortable silences. The boys even got in a few diggs about our singing as a whole: “Just stick to your ‘jazz hands,’ Chicago,” Jemaine said dryly at one point. Oh, well, you win some and lose some, right? All in all, though, a wonderful (if surprisingly different)’set list,’ was served to us on both nights, with a great mix of songs from both seasons and some funky, well-received new stuff tossed on top the pile. Chicago may bring tough love, but it’s love all the same – and we love the Conchords – See you in 2010!