Say What?! Flight Of The Conchords Will Reunite for Newport Folk Festival This Year

Article by: Laura Mason|@masonlazarus

Thu February 18, 2016 | 00:00 AM


Since Jay Sweet took the production reins at the Newport Folk Festival , the widely respected event has certainly settled into an amazing, modern groove – despite its decidedly old school roots. So, even though we are totally quivering with anticipation over the fest's latest announcement, it should almost come as no surprise that the event just reported its savvy choice to include the Flight Of The Conchords, who are reuniting for the Rhode Island festival, on its 2016 lineup.

Yep, New Zealand’s fourth most popular folk parody duo – made up of Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie – will grace the stage this summer as headliners, alongside the likes of Father John Misty, The Oh Hellos, St. Paul & The Broken Bones and Ray LaMontagne (with My Morning Jacket as his backing band), to inject a welcome dose of comedy and playfulness to the weekend. It will be their first U.S. performance in three years (though it's felt much longer!) and will likely spark many rumors of a full-fledged reunion tour, which makes sense, as they're apparently also in talks to make a movie based on their guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy act. 

Newport Folk Festival has certainly pushed the boundaries of its lineups lately, welcoming pop powerhouses, soul legends and indie stars – Ryan Adams, Hozier, Dawes, Feist, Beck, and Mavis Staples have all appeared in recent years – so the Flight Of The Conchords' scheduled appearance fits in perfectly, despite the fact that comedy is totally new territory for the event. The rest of its 2016 lineup has yet to be announced.

However brief the reunion may turn out to be, we're happy the world gets Flight Of The Conchords back, and at such an iconic festival to boot.