April 15 (Bloomberg) -- Sporting boxy robot helmets (red eyebrows, bobbing antennae) and silver lame shirts, the pop duo Flight of the Conchords took the vast stage of New York’s Radio City Music Hall last night and launched into their current hit, “Too Many Dicks (On the Dance Floor).”

An expressive crowd -- every one of the venue’s 6,200 seats was filled, as they will be for an encore performance tonight -- responded to the nerdy New Zealanders with raucous catcalls and applause that rarely let up during the hourlong set.

The Conchords, Jemaine Clement (the one with glasses) and Bret McKenzie (the one with the beard), are rock parodists of the first order. Having just finished their second successful season on HBO, they’ve launched a U.S. tour that began last month in Florida and continues through the end of May. Most of the songs on the brief set list come from the show, in which they play a pair of hapless songwriters struggling to make it in New York City.

The songs have an infectious, improvisational energy as the boys riff on sighting possible girlfriends, Albi the Racist Dragon, or the many things that can, and will, hurt a sensitive fellow’s feelings. A highlight was “The Ballad of Stana,” a pitch-perfect take-off on every Nashville anthem you’ve ever heard.

Funny, Sentimental

The humor is deceptively offhand (younger fans may think of Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn; older ones, of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby), the lyrics chaotic yet endearingly sentimental. What’s always evident is the work of two inventive musicians, more skilled than they like to let on.

In addition to playing guitars, they employ a toy piano, electronic keyboards and the amazing Suzuki Omnichord, which is to modern folkies what the autoharp was to their forebears. Sometimes, they were accompanied by a cellist, introduced as Nigel, the New Zealand Philharmonic. It’s all freewheeling fun.

The concert opened with Kristen Schaal, who plays Conchords-worshiping Mel on the show. She proved herself an engaging stand-up comedian, well able to handle a rowdy crowd hungry for other meat. Her mini-plays, about the perils of marijuana and a love-sick mixing spoon, were whip-smart, funny and mercifully brief.

The Flight of the Conchords tour continues tomorrow in Boston, over the weekend in Philadelphia and Cleveland, and elsewhere. Information: http://www.subpop.com/tours/flight_of_the_conchords. Flight of the Conchords CDs, DVDs and other paraphernalia are available at http://flightoftheconchords.shop.musictoday.com. Rating: ***

What the Stars Mean:
****       Excellent
***        Good
**         Average
*          Poor
(No stars) Worthless

(Jeremy Gerard is an editor for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this column: Jeremy Gerard in New York at jgerard2@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 15, 2009 09:40 EDT