Flight of the Conchords!!!

For Chris’s birthday this year, his brother Mark went all out and got him tickets to the upcoming Flight of the Conchords concert at Red Rocks in Denver. Chris was over-the-top excited! We never thought we would see these guys perform because the last time they came into town, the ticket prices were amazingly high. Somehow, Mark got a deal. The concert was last night, so we drove up. I had never been to a concert at Red Rocks and had heard so many awesome things about it. It was a pretty incredible place! The rocks were so beautiful. Amazing how they just naturally fall in this shape, perfect for an amphitheater! It sits up high on the mountains, and you get this amazing view of the Denver lights just beyond. Nature and city together. Awesome.

Being at Red Rocks 7 months pregnant was an interesting experience.

Drawbacks:
1. Dodging all the cigarette and pot smoke.
2. The HILLS!! Oh my goodness, when I am 9 months pregnant and desperate to get this boy out of me, I think I will need to go take a walk at Red Rocks. It made for some precarious walking, but we just went slow and took breaks. As a matter of pride, I refused to let it beat me so we kept going!

Upside:
1. When we finally got to the top, and I had caught my breath, next order of business was to find the ladies room. There was one bathroom up there (a onesie one too) and a line that was kind of long. I am pregnant and have a little one punching on my bladder, so what’s a girl to do? I got in line. As soon as I did, everyone in line around me started yelling “hey, let the pregnant lady go first!!” It embarrassed the crap out of me, but they insisted, so I got to go to the front of the line!
2. Then, after we made the rounds exploring the pavilion up there, the opening band had finished, and they were moving on to their second opening act. I was ready to sit, so we found this little area with a ton of empty chairs with a good view of the stage. There were a lot of people standing around behind it, but I didn’t pay much attention to them. I went and sat because that was what I needed to do. Turns out, that was the handicapped/medical risk people area! Because I am obviously pregnant-out-to-here, no one made us move! One security guard came by to check in on us to see if we were ok, but otherwise, thanks to my big belly, we got to have padded seats in an un-crowded area with an awesome view of the stage that was also right next to the bathrooms! Once the show started, there were pretty much no lines at the bathrooms, so we were all set! (Funny what becomes important to you when you are pregnant!)

The second opening act ended up being Arj Barker, the guy who plays Dave (pawn shop guy who is Bret and Jermaine’s good friend). He did some stand up comedy for a while and was incredibly funny. After he wrapped up his set, it was time for the main act, the Conchords! They came out in their robot costumes, and they didn’t do any upgrades on it since the show. It was seriously cardboard boxes painted silver. They did their first song in the costumes, and then they took those off and just wore their normal stuff. It was a really great show! No flashy sets or props or anything. They just sat up there and sang songs from both the first and second seasons of the show, and did funny banter in between.

They made fun of the audience every so often. Like they thought they saw someone holding a British flag. Jermaine asked if that was one quarter of a New Zealand flag. Upon closer inspection, it turns out it was in fact a New Zealand flag. Another point in the show, they announced that they were one of only two bands fortunate enough to tour with the New Zealand Orchestra. The other band with that honor was OMC – the band that had the hit 90’s single “How Bizarre.” Brett did a quick bit with his guitar making fun of the song. They brought out the New Zealand Orchestra at that point, and it turned out to consist of one cello player. They used to have a guy who played trumpet, and another guy who would dance in the background, but due to cutbacks, all they had now was a cellist. They were just regular guys! Every so often, they would ask their tech guys to raise the lights on the audience so they could see how many people they were performing for. They would then get freaked out and tell the tech guys to turn it off! They did songs like Business Time, Hip Hop-oppotomous, Mother-uckers, I’m Not Crying, Too Many D***’s on the Dance Floor (they opened with this one), and several others. Their encore consisted of a new western song they’d written and Alby the Racist Dragon.

It was a late night! We got home at 1:30am. So worth it though. We didn’t stress about getting up there or getting home. We just took our time and enjoyed ourselves. Thanks to Mark for a really fun evening!!