Live Review- Flight of The Conchords @ Hollywood Bowl

Possibly the most impressive venue I've ever attended and it's to attend the show of two New Zealanders who five years ago were reasonably unrecognisable (with the excesption of Bret as 'Figwit', the fanboy phenomenon of LOTR). A surreal experience as I walked up Highland Avenue surrounded by people of all ages, from all backgrounds.

These guys have made it. And after two series on HBO, Flight of the Conchords have cemented themselves in the conscience of American culture. Perhaps a kick in the teeth for their more die hard fans back in the United Kingdom who were only given a handful of gigs at an extortionate price, despite it being FOTC's first UK tour. To my fellow bloggers it was not worth the expense. To myself, who after endlessly waiting for the announcement of a UK tour, only to find out its when i'm travelling the US that the gigs are taking place. Irony is a bitch. However, through a bit of luck I was in LA at the same time the final gig of the tour at the aforementioned venue.

Support came from three main supporting actors from the HBO series. Sadly, it was only Mel, Dave and Eugene. No Rhys Darby on the bill, but somewhat compensation having three support acts compared to just one for the UK shows. Kristen Schaal was the opening act, providing the right balance between silly and perfect delivery. Whilst many of the audience were yet to take their seats, Schaal was whipping out lines ripping the hollywood lifestyle. Next up was Arj Barker (Dave) who was surprisingly good, focusing on the new Arizona immigration laws and California's impending legalisation of marijuana. Next up was Eugene (the landlord, not bothering to google his name), reasonably funny but very brash american comedy- nevertheless it went down a storm at the Hollywood Bowl.

The main event. Opening with 'Robots (The Human's Are Dead)', complete with an ad-libbed introduction. This is something that continued throughout with anecdotes of FOTC's on the road antics, including a muffin and drugs. In typical conchords fashion, the focus was on how un-rock'n'roll their antics actually are. The performance itself was given with perfect delivery. Jermaine appeared the stronger of the two, both musically and his comedy performance. The lull points (of which Jermaine pointed out specifically to hilarious effect), included the Korean Karaoke and 'You Don't love me anymore' (both from Bret). Despite this, a premature Business Time was still performed excellently. The high points included a performance of Bowie/ Demon Woman, complete with stripping down to silver leotards, as well as the rap-filled encore performances of 'Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros' and 'We're Both In Love With A Sexy Lady'. This was every fans dream and yet I couldn't help the niggling fact that I was sitting down in this huge venue next to a family of four, instead of amidst a mosh-pit of young people in a small comedy club. Yet, this is the place that they are at, they are huge and deservingly so as they had fathers and daughter laughing and singing along- a feat that many bands would struggle to achieve.

All of this culminated in a ballad version of 'Sugar Lumps', accompanied by Arj Barker. This embodied everything about Flight of the Conchords, funny as hell whilst at the same time being extremely talented musicians. It's hard to be objective when its oen of your favourite performers ever, but you'd struggle to find anyone who couldn't enjoy a show like that. The only thing that would improve it would have been an appearance from the A-lister Rhys Darby and a performance of 'Leggy Blonde'. Nevertheless, an awesome spectacle and I have to give it 9.5/10.