New Zealand comedy duo Flight of the Conchords will land at Northwestern on March 6 to perform their unique brand of folk rock, A&O Productions announced Monday.
“The buzz about ‘Flight of the Conchords’ is so current,” said Weinberg junior and former Daily staffer Diana Richter. “It’s most important that the show does well and is popular.”
Flight of the Conchords will perform on March 6 at 8 p.m. in Cahn Auditorium.
Long lines at the Norris University Center Box Office and ticket scalping motivated A&O board members to impose limitations on the number of tickets each student can purchase. Under the new policy, each student can present one WildCARD to buy four tickets instead of the eight tickets allowed in the past.
“After B.J. Novak tickets sold out so quickly, we decided to reexamine our policy,” said SESP senior and A&O Chairman Alex White. “It’s never been an issue in the past because people wouldn’t buy eight (tickets). We wanted to reduce scalping but at the same time, not make everyone have to wait in line for tickets.”
Richter, A&O director of speakers and special events, called the decision to bring Flight of the Conchords a “natural progression,” after their HBO show’s recent Emmy win and the band’s growing popularity among NU students.
The concert’s proximity to Reading Week means Flight of the Conchords will be a welcome break for students, White said.
“It’s a night at the end of Winter Quarter, when students might be stressed out,” White said.
Richter added that A&O had been in talks with the band since October and that Flight of the Conchords was their first choice on a list of hundreds of possible acts. She said it was “rare” for top choices to come to campus.
“We lucked out because they originally were going to stay in New Zealand,” Richter said.
Northwestern sketch comedy group Mee-Ow will perform prior to the show.
“We thought it would be a nice combination,” Richter said. “We wanted to get students involved other than just sitting in the audience.”
Weinberg junior Zach Kahn, director of alumni speakers, said A&O also plans to bring an alumni speaker in the spring. They declined to release his or her name. The Spring Ball is also on the calendar for April 10, though the performer’s name has not yet been confirmed.
“You’ll have to come to find out,” Kahn said.
