The Axis of Awesome: Live at TAB
Written By Nishant Store and photos by Rahima Rashith
The Axis of Awesome, self-proclaimed as ‘The World’s Most Awesomest Comedy Band’ exceeded the mindboggingly high expectations of fans, critics and innocent bystanders seeking to purchase happiness at the reasonable sum of $68, inclusive of taxes.
The Stage
The asymmetric trio flailed around on-stage and posed for pictures that weren’t being taken while they briefly digressed for indefinite lengths of time in between songs. At repeated intervals, they stressed the longevity of their awesomness, reminding viewers that they’d been around for forty, seventy or a hundred and fifty years, depending on which of the three was telling the tale. An emotional narration of the band’s historic performances, as documented by the band, served to keep the audience in the loop. To this day, the band swears to have collaborated with fire-breathing dragons and a caged up Madonna doing the cabaret.
The Set
AOA’s voluminous material draws inspiration from issues haunting society. ‘Sexual Harassment’s’ poignant lyrics speak of how the world unwittingly labels well-meaning, inappropriate workplace cohabitation as a bad thing. ‘The Holy Ghost’ is an upbeat wake-up call that warns of the dangers presented to women by holy ghosts who ‘enter them’ and make babies in stables on Christmas Day. The band also played the infamous ‘4-chord song’ before heading off-stage to solicit an unsolicited encore.
Backstage
After the show, the band stayed behind to talk with fans and bartenders, revealing the details behind AOA’s rise to ‘ultra-super-mega stardom’. Originally starting out as lawyers, the trio decided to give making money a miss to do something they really enjoyed. They now choose to promote music without a record label in order to interact more freely with fans and provide affordable entertainment to the masses. Happy to be in Singapore for the third time, the band proceeded to sign autographs, posing for pictures that were, for a change, being taken.
