Concert Review: Blue Man Group

Two of my favorite things. Good music and comedy. That's what the Blue Man Group is all about. I first found the Blue Man Group when they were doing the Pentium commercials for Intel. I will say that I am not a fan of Intel - neither their products nor their way of doing business. But I thought the BMG commercials were entertaining, and have been a fan ever since, but only through recorded media (TV, internet, etc) until I saw them live a couple years ago. They have several permanent theatres where they perform their standard show. For the tour, they wrote and recorded all new material. The album (and the tour) were called The Complex. There were two themes within the music: one, 'lessons' on how to be a rockstar and two, commentaries on the increasingly impersonal and mechanized society leading to feelings of isolation. Between the feelings conveyed by the music and the visuals provided by video and on-stage props - the heaviness of the second message was quite evident, and very well done in my opinion. The rock star lessons were conversely funny and entertaining - so it was a good balance.

The last tour had two opening acts, neither of which I had ever heard of. Venus Hum, which I saw as an upbeat mix of Sugar Cubes and Depeche Mode, without the psychoses and whining. Very techno, and the lead singer's voice was amazing. The other was Tracy Bonham, who I likened to a younger, edgier, more up to date Sheryl Crow. Both of them blew me away, and I thought that each of them was worth the price of admission alone. The both appeared throughout the show with BMG lending vocals and instrumental assistance. Since, Venus Hum has become one of my favorite bands, and while I'm not a fanatic about Tracy Bonham, I have purchased a couple of her CDs and a few songs from iTunes. Tracy was back for this tour as the sole opening act, backed up by members of the BMG's band. She was engaging, in good voice, and had a good set - playing guitar and violin.

This time around, the name of the tour is 'How to be a Mega Rockstar 2.0' (or something similar... you get the point.) ... it's essentially the same material as the last tour. No new songs written for this tour, but a few different bits interjected for filler. One of their more popular bits from their regular venue shows is paintball/spin art... which wasn't included in the last tour - but made an appearance here. Blue Man Group's strength is their innovative used of everyday items as instruments... PVC pipe with a sliding extension to change pitch - called a drumbone. A large complex of PVC tubes played by hitting the ends with what appear to be wooden spoons, but I believe they're actually foam or rubber paddles... a giant piano turned on its side, opened up and the wires struck with a large padded mallet, a fiberglass pole whipped through the air making a swishing sound. All these made for interesting music, and good comedy bits to introduce their use.

The one real different bit on this tour was the infomercial shill who was selling the 'How to be a mega rock star' package, which was pretty funny, and the excellent cover of One of These Days, which is my favorite Pink Floyd song.

Tracy Bonham did a good job filling in for Annette from Venus Hum for the regular set finale of the cover of I Feel Love, wearing the famous neon dress. However, it just wasn't the same without Venus Hum there.

All in all, it was a great show, and I don't feel cheated even though I've basically seen the same show before. I'd pay money to see them again tonight, given the opportunity.