Wednesday night's Flight of the Conchords concert at Jones Hall was enjoyable. But it was lacking something.

It's interesting to have had Spinal Tap roll through town just last week. The fake band's members have chosen to tour as themselves, not their characters. They talk about the characters as if they were other people. They sometimes slip into the role to complete a joke (or to do Stonehenge, which just wouldn't work without the accent). That approach worked because that meant Shearer, McKean and Guest could laugh along with us at their pathetic and/or crazy characters. It also worked because they're seasoned performers and perhaps it would be unfair to ask the same thing of a couple of guys who haven't been around for decades.

Photo by Sara's boyfriend's Google phone: Yeah, sorry about that. My camera's batteries were dead. They weren't nearly this blurry in person. Jemaine on left, Bret on right. The Conchords -- Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie -- were funny and awkward and likable, as one would expect, but they would have done well to step outside their characters and reveal a bit of themselves to the audience. I can get the songs and awkward moments and deadpan humor on the TV show. A live show, however, demands just a little extra. Perhaps a spirit of improvisation and flexibility, which both performers lacked, would have made all the difference.

The songs were performed well and the banter was cute. Opening act Eugene Mirman inspired laughs with a brief, inoffensive set that covered MySpace ads (with visual aids that no one except the first few rows could see) and his hatred for Delta Airlines.

Bret and Jemaine took the stage in robot costumes and shook their butts to Too Many Dicks, a rousing opener. Other standouts included Mutha Uckers with Bret on drums, I'm Not Crying, Business Time and a three-song encore (see playlist below).

The concert dragged once during an overly long new song, Stana. That should have been shelved in favor of a couple more songs from the show's first season (Sellotape, Robots, Inner City Pressure).

Back to the improvisation complaint for a second. Early on in the set, a woman in the audience yelled something and Jemaine went on what he soon admitted was a mean-spirited tear about how they were the professionals, their names were on the poster and the audience should leave the comedy to them. It was funny, but pointed.

The audience didn't get the hint as "I love you, Jemaine!" and other interjections were hurled at the stage; they were looking for a party and the Conchords weren't planning to deviate from the script, save for a playful bit about Bret hooking up with a gruff dude in the audience who had called out his name.

Jemaine was the more dynamic performer. His falsetto reached higher, his growls were growlier, he seemed more at ease with the stage. Bret, on the other hand, seemed nervous and less open. During set-closer Sugarlumps the two came out from behind their instruments and did a little awkward, dirty dancing (which drove more than one middle-aged woman near me to stand and scream). Jemaine committed, leaping off the stage and letting the women paw him. Bret, his pants unzipped -- I think by accident, though others think it was planned -- stayed on stage and jumped back nervously when one woman in the front row tried to get on stage with him.

The Conchords need to figure out if they're touring as their characters or as the guys who write the songs for their hit TV show. If they're touring as their characters, then griping to the audience that they're the professionals doesn't ring true. Open with the hilariously lame Rock the Party, pretend to play to 20 people, not a sold-out symphony hall, and play with the audience. If they're touring as the real Bret and Jemaine, let's see some more of the real Bret and Jemaine.

Setlist:

Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor
Hurt Feelings
Stana
The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room
Carol Brown
Jenny
I Told You I Was Freaky
I'm Not Crying
Mutha Uckers
Think About It
Foux da Fa Fa
Business Time
I'm In Love With a Sexy Lady/Sugarlumps mashup

Encore:

Albi the Racist Dragon
Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros
Bowie