Australian "man-band" Axis of Awesome set expectations high with their confident moniker, and the energetic trio deliver the awesomeness with a set that combines a general theme of making fun of pop music with argumentative banter.
The banter often involves picking on short, glasses-wearing, piano-playing Benny Davis - love childof Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter, or the small child from Jerry Maguire, as Jack Black-esque lead singer Jordan Raskopoulos and dopey guitarist Lee Naimo like to describe him.
They kick off by telling the audience that normally there's fireworks, and glitter, and animatronic dinosaurs, and Madonna in a cage, but unfortunately everything was confiscated by Customs, so we'll just have to imagine.
But we don't need to, really, because the trio's musical and comedic talents provide plenty of entertainment, even if things start a little slowly with an introductory song in which we can't hear a number of the funny lyrics because the music is up too loud.
They whip through a multitude of funny covers and originals, including a love song in German, a mockery of songs with "hard-to-distinguish lyrics", and an ode to boy racers who turn their godawful house music up far too loud.
Their genius Four Chord Song pop medley caps off the show, showcasing their impressive vocal and musical abilities. It does seem that every pop song written uses the same four chords.
But this isn't just a musical show. The banter between songs is clever and relevant and hooks nicely into our relaxed antipodean humour.
They don't have a hit HBO TV show yet, but this Australian trio are an impressive addition to the world of musical comedy.
Axis of Awesome are at the Auckland Town Hall Concert Chamber until Saturday.
