The Flight of the Conchords show at the Chicago Theatre sold out in about 15 minutes. Such a development would likely send the group’s TV manager, the supremely fussy and easily excitable Murray, into paroxysms of glee.
The self-proclaimed “4th most popular, guitar-based, digi-bongo, a-cappella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo” got its start in Wellington — that’s in New Zealand, not Australia. Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement were students at university when they were drawn together by the magical twin pull of music and comedy. They now have a hilariously deadpan show on HBO that delves into living in New York, being mistaken for Australians, meeting hot chicks, dealing with nasty fruit vendors and toiling in a band that has only one true fan.
If you don’t have concert tickets, you could create your own Conchords experience by listening to the duo’s recently released (and No. 3 on the Billboard charts at press time) CD — featuring skilled parodies of Prince and Pet Shop Boys songs — and watching some clips from the show on HBO and YouTube. Fans should also slide “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” into the DVD player (McKenzie is briefly visible as a hobbit during the dramatic ring council scene; he also has a scene in the third “Rings” movie). You could also cook something authentically New Zealandish — shrimp on the barbie, perhaps? OK, that’s Australian, and a cliche. Sorry.
Wednesday, Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State St.; 312-462-6300; sold out.
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