Axis of Awesome are an Australian, rock trio, reminiscent of Jack Black and his band Tenacious D. They have been together for ten years and have released six albums of Musical comedy and jokes set to tunes.
Like many people, I was only familiar with the name Axis Of Awesome because of their viral song 4 Chords, in which they demonstrate how 36 different hit pop songs all use the same basic chord structure which is why they have all been so successful. This medley includes songs by Elton John, U2, Spice Girls, Green Day and even Lady Gaga and the YouTube video is currently approaching a whopping forty million views!
Axis of Awesome give the audience an hour of non stop rock tunes on subjects ranging from KFC, to Harry Potter and of course a song addressing the ‘Elephant in the room’, Gender (Jordan came out as Transgender in February 2016 and jokes on stage about the band looking a little different from the last time they were in Edinburgh). The song Birdplane is especially poignant and appears to be a metaphor for Jordan’s transition. I don’t think anyone in the audience really cared about who was wearing what on stage, they were all there for the music and the comedy and they got everything they could have dreamed of from this band.
This was my first time seeing Axis of Awesome but it certainly won’t be my last. Not only do they write brilliant, catchy and hilarious songs, but they have a great chemistry on stage and left me wanting more. If you don’t see this show then you don’t know what awesome really is.
Axis of Awesome: Won’t Ever Not Stop Giving Up plays at Gilded Balloon, Teviot until 28 August 2016 (not 25th).
Reviewed by West End Wilma
