What a great -- Hey, shut up guy -- concert!

You know you've crossed a line when the two guys on stage shush you and call you frightening. Or at least you should.

Apparently the message was lost on a few of the asylum escapees who snagged tickets to see the lovable New Zealanders of Flight of the Conchords at the Riverside Theatre in Milwaukee Sunday night. Bret and Jemaine were good sports about it, proving their skills as improv stars when they somehow turned the "Take off your shirt" scream from Drunk Girl in Row U on the second balcony into a hilarious bit (for the record, DGIRU, it's "Je-maine" not "Ger-maine." He's not a Jackson Five, moron!)

The pervasive heckling didn't stop bloggers Sara Boyd and Malavika Jagannathan from enjoying their telescopic view of the digi-pop duo from the sixteenth balcony, but it definitely ruined the mood. We recap the show's awesome set list, try to put an end to hecklers for good and give our take on the sold out performance. (We saw fellow blogger Thomas Rozwadowski on our trek up Kilimanjaro - hope he enjoyed his first-floor vantage point. Not really, though.)

Malavika: Sara, do you think the show was ruined by the hecklers?

Sara: First of all, I must preface this with the fact that Jemaine and Bret put on a hell of a show. A double encore?! Are you mad? Also, Arj Barker, who plays the sweet character Dave on the HBO hit, opened the show with some witty and impressive stand-up. Good one Dave! Oh, you're a legend Dave!

Keep in mind, the show was fantabulous, and no amount of heckling could take that away. But I think I can say fairly that anyone who attended the show couldn't help but be annoyed with the clear, blatant and repetitive disrespect shown to our fine Flight friends.

The heckling didn't ruin the show for me, but it did put a bad taste in my mouth. I just don't understand why people feel the need to shell out $45 to sit and scream absurdities at a band. I don't know if it was something about the casual, good humored duo that made people consistently interrupt their show, but it was certainly inappropriate. Perhaps I missed the concert's listing as an open audience Q and A show. Even when the band stopped and openly mocked the heckler or multiple times shushed the screaming idiots, the heckling did not stop.

MJ, Do you think the Flight of the Conchords will ever want to return to Milwaukee after that ridic show?

Malavika: Well, if I were them, I wouldn't, if only because the crowd booed them - yes, booed them - for dissing Pabst. Without getting into the specifics of PBR and other Pabst products on the scale of beers, does no realize that the Pabst Brewing Co. hasn't been a part of Milwaukee for a greater part of a decade now?

I can only imagine the retaliation if J and B had made a crack about Favre ...

That being said, clearly from the review Tom posted, it seems that the boys have endured this form of taunting in previous shows on tour, so I dare say they wont hold it against the fine city of Milwaukee.

I do agree with you that the show was awesome -- it started with "Robots" and ended with "Inner City Pressure" and I couldn't have asked for a better set list. The banter was spot on, and, hell, I even enjoyed the giant light shining into my eye that left me partially blind for a better part of an hour.

What was your favorite song/part of the show?

Sara: I agree. The crowd also booed them when they merely mentioned Ann Arbor, Michigan -- which completely lost me. What? We're against any city that isn't Milwaukee now?

The fact that the band has clearly dealt with this, and worse, still is no excuse for rude behavior from what should be the "friendly Midwest." I strongly believe the only thing that should be screamed during a concert (with exception of the occasional "woo") is "Fire!" and clearly, only if there is one. Otherwise shut up, no one cares what you have to say, it will get violent.

I must say I absolutely love that they played a number of faves, but I was perhaps even more impressed with a few of their new songs. Particularly a certain ditty about angels, um, "doing it." The banter was great -- when not interrupted, natch -- and nearly felt like we were watching a live version of the HBO famed TV show. I could see any part of their random dialogue fitting into a scene at their frumpy New York apartment with perfection.

I also enjoyed how they kept their classics fresh by inserting Wisconsin references or showing off their massive vocal range. The introduction of new instruments -- the digital saxophone and the bright, red keytar -- were also frickin' awesome. They sure know how to rock the party.

-- Malavika Jagannathan, mjaganna@greenbaypressgazette.com, Sara Boyd, sboyd2@greenbaypressgazette.com