Tag Archives: Flight of the Conchords

Flight of the Conchords announces summer tour featuring new material

Your favorite folk comedy duo is going on the road again! Bret MacKenzie and Jemaine Clement, the two halves that make the whole band Flight of the Conchords, are kicking off their first U.S. tour since co-headlining 2014’s “Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Tour.” The name of the tour, fittingly, is “Flight of the Conchords Sing Flight of the Conchords” and it will make 28 stops this summer. It begins in Cleveland, OH on June 11 and wraps in Los Angeles, CA on July 27. In between it will hit up major cities including Philadelphia, Chicago, San Fransisco, San Diego, New Orleans, Atlanta, Nashville, Boston, and New York City. Jump after the break to see all tour dates and locations, and click here to point your browser to ticket landing pages. Tix go on sale this Friday, March 4 at 10am.

According to a press release, Bret and Jemaine will showcase brand new material on the summer tour. Longtime fans are well aware that new FOTC songs are rarities ever since the band’s HBO sitcom ended after two memorably fun seasons. The Grammy-winning duo referenced a U.S. tour this past summer and shared their enthusiasm about bringing their music back to the stage. “I really don’t like the studio part of music. I more enjoy playing live and letting others take care of the recording,” said Clement.

Set to electric mandolin–Flight of the Conchords are coming to town! Continue reading Flight of the Conchords announces summer tour featuring new material

Jemaine Clement of ‘Flight of the Conchords’ is working on a new project for HBO

Big news, but not so fast. Initially, in an interview with The Guardian promoting his new film What We Do in the Shadows, one half of the New Zealand comedic folk duo Flight of the Conchords Jemaine Clement shared the following:

HBO have commissioned a new, four-episode comedy show from Clement and [director Taika] Waititi, he reveals. “It was supposed to be this year but then we decided to put What We Do in the Shadows out ourselves,” [said Clement].

The interview made the rounds, the Internet went into a frenzy (myself included), and shortly thereafter Clement jumped onto Twitter to clarify his statement. He posted Complex’s article covering the exciting news and attached the tweet: “Before this rumour gets out of hand – we are not working on a 4 ep Conchords show for hbo…” He concluded, “I am working on another idea with them though, hence the mix-up.”

In other words, the new project from Clement is not a continuation of the cult musical comedy Flight of the Conchords but instead an entirely new concept. Still, you must admit your level of excitement simply cannot drop at that. Any new material from this guy (whether or not it’s directly related to FOTC) is sure to be pure comedic gold with, of course, more than a hint of some beautiful, beautiful sounds.

Since FOTC ended its two season run on HBO in 2009, Clement went on to star as the baddie in Men in Black 3 while his Conchords partner Bret McKenzie continued to star in the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit films and contributing to the new Muppets movies providing the lyrics and music for the soundtracks. (In 2013 the two participated in the sequel Muppets Most Wanted with Clement acting and McKenzie producing the music.)

In sum, Clement and McKenzie are not resurrecting Flight of the Conchords for HBO. Clement is working on a new project with the premium cable network with director Taika Waititi, and we can only hope and pray McKenzie is involved.

Now, you might be asking yourself, what is the future of FOTC, then? Clement did touch upon that in his aforementioned interview. “We talk about a movie every so often,” he said. “Sometimes it feels like we lost a lot of impetus over the last couple of years. But Bret, James [Bobin, lead director] and me, we all want to do a musical. It would be good to do something all together … I miss playing Flight of the Conchords gigs.”

Future episodes? No. A movie, a musical? Maybe. Long live Flight of the Conchords!

Stick it here to learn more about Clement’s in-development HBO project as soon as details release.

Flight of the Conchords returns for charity

Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement–the duo that makes up parody folk band Flight of the Conchords–reunited this summer for Red Nose Day 2012 to support Cure Kids, a New Zealand charity whose proceeds fund medical research into life-threatening childhood illnesses. The 14-minute clip starts off like a typical Flight of the Conchords episode that would air on HBO. Band manager Murray Hewitt (Rhys Darby) plays the “present” game with the guys and informs them that they’ve got a new gig to play. After some nostalgic back and forth between the three of them, the bulk of the clip features Bret and Jemaine interviewing schoolchildren from Auckland and Wellington about a range of topics including what it means to be sick and how to raise money. The video concludes with a brand new Conchords track featuring other NZ celebrity voices; the lyrics are born out of the entertaining answers provided by the kids. Bret and Jemaine are known for their comedic timing and keeping a straight face, so when they break out in fits of laughter during the interviews it makes it all the more fun.

Revisiting the band meeting and watching Bret and Jemaine back in full form is such a treat, but let’s not forget why they did it. After watching the video embedded above, purchase the song “Feel Inside (and stuff like that)” at iTunes and .91 cents from the sale of the track will go to the Cure Kids organization. Continue reading Flight of the Conchords returns for charity

Flight of the Conchords (the show) is over

Though news of Flight of the Conchords not returning to the small screen does not come with much surprise, the finality of it all still makes me really, really sad.  The show had a great run with two seasons filled with much joy, laughter, and nonsense that will truly be missed.

Stars Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement met with show director James Bobin to discuss the future of the show.  Unfortunately for us, the fans, they decided not to create another 12 episodes and 24 some-odd new songs for a third season.  The duo broke the hard to swallow news on their new website:

“We’ve noticed the less we say about the future of the show, the more people want to talk about it, so in an effort to reverse this trend we are today announcing that we won’t be returning for a 3rd season. We’re very proud of the two seasons we made and we like the way the show ended. We’d like to thank everyone who helped make the show and also everyone who watched it. While the characters Bret and Jemaine will no longer be around, the real Bret and Jemaine will continue to exist.”

I’m glad to hear that “the real”  Bret and Jemaine are sticking around.  I hope they continue to share with us their awkwardly groundbreaking comedic brilliance by adding to their collection of two full-length albums and coming back to America with another US tour.  I know I will never get too tired of listening to “Too many mutha’ ‘uckas, ‘uckin with my shi’! and “They call me the Hiphopopotamus, Flows that glow like phosphorous, Poppin’ off the top of this esophagus, Rockin’ this metropolis…”  And I’ll always remember that “a kiss is not a contract, but it’s very nice, yes it’s very nice.”

Oh, be sure to check out their newly renovated official website.  It includes FOTC news updates, merch, video, photo galleries, fan art, chords and lyrics, and more.  Also, you can follow Bret and Jemaine on Twitter; they’re @fotc.

[Via IGN; image via FOTC website]

Jemaine Clement talks future of Flight of the Conchords (forecast: gloomy)

Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords fame has stated that his comedic duo (which also includes Bret McKenzie) “very likely might not” return to HBO for a third season of critically acclaimed and hilarious Flight of the Conchords.  The reason?  Family commitments.  Clement on the matter: “Bret and I are both fathers.  We know if we take on another season, that means we’re not gonna see our family for a year.”  Clement now stars in the movie Gentleman Broncos  and states that starring in a movie is a much different experience than making and starring in a TV series: “Films actually don’t take a lot of time, but TV shows are so fast-paced. Even though they’re both acting, they’re almost totally different jobs.  People think actors wanna move to film because it’s high profile, and I don’t think that’s the reason. I think it’s simply that they have more free time.”  He also adds: “We’ve got to write the series, but we’ve also got to write the songs, and just dividing your time into those two writing tasks is really tricky.”

Though Flight of the Conchords the series might be over, Clement added that “It could come back in a shorter season or like a special.”  It’s also good to know that HBO has left the door open for them to return; HBO spokeswoman Nancy Lesser: “We’ve left their future entirely in their hands. “We would love to have more…”

I’ll take FOTC in any form, whether it be a shorted season, a holiday special, or whatever.  For now, enjoy seasons one & two on DVD and their two studio albums, and let’s look forward to playing some FOTC tracks on Rock Band soon!

[Via NY Mag, here & here; Yahoo]

Flight of the Conchords releases second studio album

Bret McKenzie & Jemaine Clement, the comedic folksy duo that comprise Flight of the Conchords, have released their second studio album with I Told You I Was Freaky.  This follows their hilariously successful first hit, their self-titled Flight of the Conchords.  Just like their first album, I Told You I Was Freaky contains all of their songs performed during the second season of the hit HBO series Flight of the Conchords.  Some stand-out, personal favorites include “Hurt Feelings,” “Sugalumps,” “Too Many Dicks (On the Dance Floor),” and “You Don’t Have to be a Prostitute.”  You can purchase the new album at Amazon or on iTunes.  While the iTunes version contains a bonus track with “Pencils in the Wind,” the hard copy version packs a poster and a songbook that features the lyrics and chords to each song.  (Read: get the hard copy version.)

If you haven’t heard of Flight of the Conchords, do yourself a BIG favor and watch the first two seasons.  Get Season 1 here and Season 2 here.  The New Zealander’s perfect blend of comedy and music takes you on fun, stupid, and sometimes trippy worthwhile ventures.  Bret and Jemaine are laugh-out-loud hilarious.  But please, don’t take my word for it.  Check out Seasons 1 & 2 on DVD.  And once you become fans of these relevant off-beat musicians, go ahead and enjoy their CDs.  It’s a riot.

Though the duo has gone on the record of saying that this is the end of the road for the Flight of the Conchord HBO series, they do leave room for a possibility.  Check out an old but good interview that took place during the production of Season 2 after the break.  Good news is that Flight of the Conchords was a “folk” music group before it was a TV series.  So even if the show does not air a third season, there is much hope for another studio album or tour.  Also, we can’t forget that a few FOTC tracks will be making their way to Rock Band soon!

[Via Wikipage]

Continue reading Flight of the Conchords releases second studio album

FOTC’s Bret & Jemaine confirm songs coming to Rock Band

This Sunday at the Emmys TV Guide caught up with Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords fame.  You can see and hear with your own eyes and ears, respectively, the brilliantly hilarious duo confirm that three of their songs from the hit HBO series will make their way to Rock Band sometime soon.  This is very exciting news for all FOTC fans out there.

This calls for one thing, and one thing only…BRET’S ANGRY DANCE.  Just do it, it relieves so much stress.

[Via Gizmodo]