Flight of the Conchords at UC San Diego 2009

This show was everything I hoped it would be. Flight of the Conchords at the peak of their HBO fame, performing on campus at UCSD - it felt like getting access to something special without having to fight for tickets at some massive venue.

For those who somehow missed their show, Flight of the Conchords is Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, two New Zealanders who somehow perfected the art of deadpan musical comedy. Their songs are legitimately catchy and well-crafted, but the lyrics are absurd in the best possible way. Watching them live, you're laughing one second and genuinely impressed by their musicianship the next.

They opened with their typical understated entrance - no big production, just two guys with guitars and the driest humor imaginable. "Business Time" had everyone cracking up at the detailed breakdown of a Wednesday night romantic encounter. "Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros" showed off their ridiculous rapper alter-egos. And "The Most Beautiful Girl (In the Room)" - the backhanded compliment love song - was perfect.

What made the live show even better than the HBO series was seeing how much they committed to the bit in person. The awkward pauses, the back-and-forth banter, the casual way they'd transition into songs - it all felt effortlessly funny. Their New Zealand accents somehow made everything funnier.

The campus venue meant the crowd was full of students who knew every word to every song. The whole room singing along to "It's Business Time" or losing it during "Bowie" created this shared moment of joy and absurdity.

I'm grateful UCSD brought them in during their prime. Comedy and music don't always blend well, but Flight of the Conchords proved that when done right, you can have both genuine musicality and genuine laughs. They're New Zealand's "fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo" for a reason.