I Found Cool Stuff -- Chapter 4: BLUE MAN GROUP
I've been a fan of Blue Man Group for years, ever since seeing a clip of them performing "PVC IV" , and then using Robin Williams as a human paintbrush as a followup, all on the Tonight Show.
Then I got to see them live. My friend Brent was friends with someone who worked in the Briar Street Theatre, and got us seats for a show for free -- the only catch being that we had to sit in the very back of the theatre, which really wasn't a problem, as we were still close enough to see everything.
That live show... wow, even thinking back on it makes me pause. Considering that I've never taken any sort of illegal drugs beyond one puff of pot in college that did absolutely nothing for me (and convinced me that I wasn't a pot sort of guy), that show was probably the closest I've ever come to a mind-altering experience. As a brief aside, the second-closest non-drug mindfuck I've had was from the computer game PORTAL, which I could feel rewiring my brain's concept of spatial relationships... but let's not get too distracted here.
BLUE MAN GROUP, if you've never seen much of them, are a musical act, with some elements of performance art. The three main performers are dressed as "Blue Men", mysterious mute blue-skinned hairless aliens, who are boggled and confused about earth culture, and have a strange need to play percussion.
They play strange percussive instruments made out of PVC pipes and old pianos and other odd materials, use electronic signs and other media in conjunction, and do a lot of amusingly weird stuff that explore a whole slew of interesting themes. Some of their more recent work, their "How To Be A Megastar" show, involves them deconstructing the Rock Concert experience, with equal measures of light parody and harsh critique. Another notable skit involves them pulling an audience member onstage so he or she can show them how to eat a formal dinner -- consisting of a Twinkie.
I've always been into strange percussion, like STOMP, and Blue Man Group scatches all sorts of entertainment itches for me, so I rarely get tired of taking in their work. The only problem with Blue Man Group is that they're difficult to describe in just words -- you really have to see their work. So I'm including several clips below. The first is their cover of The Who's "Baba O'Riley (Teenage Wasteland)", the second is a brief clip of them learning how to be "megastars" from their "Rock Concert Instructional" narrarator, and the third is from an appearance they did in Japan. The latter is a big favorite of mine; they played PVC IV, one of their better songs, in conjunction with a symphonic orchestra, and even incorporated some elements of their deconstruction into the mix.
They have two CD's out, "Audio" and "The Complex", and a DVD called "How To Be A Megastar". I have all three, and I look forward to any new work they put out.
Enjoy!
On a side note, I have to say that I'm really enjoying the self-imposed challenge of keeping myself to a strict schedule of "write at least one substantial blog post a day", and it's helping me with another writing project as well. I hope folks are enjoying this as much as I am!
Then I got to see them live. My friend Brent was friends with someone who worked in the Briar Street Theatre, and got us seats for a show for free -- the only catch being that we had to sit in the very back of the theatre, which really wasn't a problem, as we were still close enough to see everything.
That live show... wow, even thinking back on it makes me pause. Considering that I've never taken any sort of illegal drugs beyond one puff of pot in college that did absolutely nothing for me (and convinced me that I wasn't a pot sort of guy), that show was probably the closest I've ever come to a mind-altering experience. As a brief aside, the second-closest non-drug mindfuck I've had was from the computer game PORTAL, which I could feel rewiring my brain's concept of spatial relationships... but let's not get too distracted here.
BLUE MAN GROUP, if you've never seen much of them, are a musical act, with some elements of performance art. The three main performers are dressed as "Blue Men", mysterious mute blue-skinned hairless aliens, who are boggled and confused about earth culture, and have a strange need to play percussion.
They play strange percussive instruments made out of PVC pipes and old pianos and other odd materials, use electronic signs and other media in conjunction, and do a lot of amusingly weird stuff that explore a whole slew of interesting themes. Some of their more recent work, their "How To Be A Megastar" show, involves them deconstructing the Rock Concert experience, with equal measures of light parody and harsh critique. Another notable skit involves them pulling an audience member onstage so he or she can show them how to eat a formal dinner -- consisting of a Twinkie.
I've always been into strange percussion, like STOMP, and Blue Man Group scatches all sorts of entertainment itches for me, so I rarely get tired of taking in their work. The only problem with Blue Man Group is that they're difficult to describe in just words -- you really have to see their work. So I'm including several clips below. The first is their cover of The Who's "Baba O'Riley (Teenage Wasteland)", the second is a brief clip of them learning how to be "megastars" from their "Rock Concert Instructional" narrarator, and the third is from an appearance they did in Japan. The latter is a big favorite of mine; they played PVC IV, one of their better songs, in conjunction with a symphonic orchestra, and even incorporated some elements of their deconstruction into the mix.
They have two CD's out, "Audio" and "The Complex", and a DVD called "How To Be A Megastar". I have all three, and I look forward to any new work they put out.
Enjoy!
Click to viewOn a side note, I have to say that I'm really enjoying the self-imposed challenge of keeping myself to a strict schedule of "write at least one substantial blog post a day", and it's helping me with another writing project as well. I hope folks are enjoying this as much as I am!