Flight of the Conchords: ‘Business Time’ in Vegas

By Michael Mishak

Sunday, May 24, 2009 | 5:30 p.m.

Maybe it was Bon Jovi's jeans.

Or the "so rock and roll" vibe of the Hard Rock.

But Flight of the Conchords — "New Zealand's fourth most famous folk parody duo" — brought their A game to the new Joint Saturday night, turning in a riotous 90-minute set of acoustic numbers about love, ladies and killer robots, culled from the two seasons of their hit HBO comedy series.

The duo, Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, opened with their lesson about the "bro-ho ratio" on the dance floor. ("Not enough ladies, too many man!") And the cardboard-and-tinfoil robot outfits made clear that the Conchords would have no trouble translating their quirky brand of awkward, nerdy cool for the stage.

Jemaine marveled about the "so rock and roll" vibe of the Hard Rock, enamored with the Bon Jovi jeans exhibit. Bret told the mostly-seated crowd to "take a few deep breaths because everyone up front is getting crushed." The audience loved it, throwing tighty whiteys to the band after the sensitive rocker "I Got Hurt Feelings." (Official Conchords tighty whiteys were available for $25 at the t-shirt stand.)

The two, seated on stools and lit by spotlight, played two of the best numbers from the show's first season — "Most Beautiful Girl (In the Room)" and "Robots" — before being joined by the "New Zealand Symphony Orchestra," which was really just one guy on cello. As Jemaine explained, "It used to be a full orchestra. But budget cuts, you know. Now it's just down to Nigel."

No one even had to scream "Free Bird." The Conchords just played it. It was that kind of show -- one big joke that the entire crowd is in on. A few more songs and then the duo closed their set with "Business Time," an ode to regularly-scheduled, two-minute lovemaking.

"It's 51 minutes away until midnight," Jemaine said afterward. "That's how rock we are."

The guys came back for an encore of "Albi the Racist Dragon," "A Kiss Is Not A Contract" and "Bowie," an acid-inspired celebration of the "freaky old bastard."

Murray, the band's well-meaning yet incompetent manager, would have been proud. He would probably have wanted the guys to get more mileage out of the robot costumes though.

Band meeting.