Flight of the Conchords confirm 10-date NZ tour

Flight of the Conchords. Photo / Supplied

Remember the days of camping out in your sleeping bag to get those hot tickets? Well they're back. Flight of the Conchords have confirmed they'll be back to perform a 10-show tour around New Zealand in June, and you can bet tickets will be in demand.

So, concerned about ticket scalpers hiking prices, promoters have decided to let genuine fans have a shot at securing prime seats, by reserving 300 tickets to be sold through physical outlets in each city, to punters wishing to queue up in person.

There will be tickets available online too, with pre-sales open to Visa card-holders through www.visaentertainment.co.nz from midday, Tuesday, March 20 to Wednesday, March 21 at 5pm (with a cap of four tickets per person), and then public sales will be available on Friday, March 23 through the venues' affiliated ticketing websites from midday, and through the aforementioned physical box offices from 8am, with tickets priced between $55 and $79.

The duo, Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, haven't performed here since 2009. But in the wake of their HBO series they played to crowds of 17,000 at the Hollywood Bowl and 12,500 at Wembley Arena.

There's no word yet on whether they will be playing all the old favourites, or whether they've had time to work on any new material - McKenzie of course spent time writing music for The Muppets movie including the Oscar-winning Man or Muppet, while Clements has had a steady stream of supporting roles in movies including the forthcoming Men In Black III.

They'll kick off the tour on June 13 at the Hawkes Bay Opera House in Hastings, followed by Founders Theatre in Hamilton on June 14, the Town Hall in Auckland on June 16, TSB Showplace in New Plymouth on June 17, two shows at the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington on June 19 and 20, the Regent Theatre in Dunedin on June 23, the Events Centre in Queenstown on June 24, Trafalgar Centre in Nelson on June 27, along with a Christchurch show at a yet-to-be-confirmed venue.

Tickets to the Auckland show will be available through www.the-edge.co.nz, or through the Aotea Centre box office. Ticketing details for other venues can be found at www.flightoftheconchords.co.nz

Lenny here for some laughs

Veteran British comedian Lenny Henry is returning to Auckland and Wellington with his latest show.

Entitled Cradle to Rave, it's billed as "his most personal show yet" and comes inspired by his passion for music - and his thwarted dreams to become a musical star rather than a comedy one.

Henry's musical excursions included entering a talent quest at age 16 as an Elvis impersonator, singing background vocals on a Kate Bush track and ... not much else.

"I love music," says Henry, "but it only likes me."

Henry plays at Auckland's Aotea Centre on Sunday June 24 and Wellington's Michael Fowler centre on Wednesday June 27.

He can also be seen in Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, the latest in the series of filmed productions by Britain's National Theatre which starts screening at selected arthouse cinemas from this weekend.

-TimeOut