So I’ve got the Blue Man Group on my radar. I just learned two things of interest. First off, they’re coming to the local arena in February, a show I’m dying to see, more on that later. And secondly, Universal is opening a venue in direct competition to Disney’s deal with Cirque Du Soleil such that they (Blue Man Group) will have a regularly running show in town… I may just become addicted.
The tickets on Ticketmaster presale for the February show are $55 for upper lower bowl, and upper bowl. $85 for lower lower bowl and floor. I’m pretty sure I’m going to get floor seats for the show, but I need to find any friends who want to go with me.
Any dopers got Blue Man group concert stories to tell?
I’ve seen them twice, once in their permanent show in Toronto, and once a touring show that came through here. The permanent show was alternately entertaining and disgusting and a repeat of many of the things that had been in the touring show, as well.
The touring show was way too loud, but otherwise more fun than the permanent show. It was the whole anatomy of a rock concert set, and it was greatly entertaining. Plus, the dueling LED displays were vastly amusing.
There were a couple of different pieces that were pretty gross.
The most notable one involved the crunching of cereal to make music. It was initially amusing, but as they got farther into it, half-digested cereal was spit all over the stage, and I imagine much of the front of the audience. It was just icky.
I was just looking into seeing them in Vegas recently. Front row seats are about $120 IIRC, which is not bad for a Vegas show. The wife and I will be making it up there to see them before long.
I saw them for the first time in Chicago earlier this year, and I was mildly disappointed. My understanding is that they had just re-vamped the show, and there were a few bits early on that just dragged on without ever really going anywhere. It hurt the momentum for the rest of the show.
I really think that it was an off night, though, and the parts that worked were really great. I’d absolutely recommend them.
I went to see the London show a few months back and it was great - wall-to-wall entertainment, to the extent that some of it was really only washing over my conscious brain the next day, as I reflected on it.
We were in the ‘poncho seats’ - the first few rows, where plastic ponchos are issued because ‘materials’ (paint, jello, mashed banana, etc ) from the stage might find their way into the audience - we deliberately didn’t bother wearing the ponchos and had worn brand new white t-shirts to frame and keep as souvenirs (we got a Blue Man to hand-print them after the show).
My previous experience of them was from any bits of recorded video I could lay hands on - the Complex Rock Tour Live DVD (excellent), and stuff from their website and youtube, etc. I did sense ever so slightly that the London show was a bit of a ‘product’ - a little hard to define, but I suppose it’s because the actions of the Blue Men, although appearing wild and spontaneous, were of course carefully scripted and rehearsed.
I’ve heard that the How To Be A Megastar Tour 2.0 is essentially an updated version of The Complex Rock Tour, with a more developed emphasis on the Rock Concert Instruction Manual. I’d still love to see it.
I’d be interested to know how similar are the stage shows in different locations; my guess is that they must be quite similar, as I understand that the Blue Men rotate to different locations periodically.
There were aspects of the London show that were conspicuously made-over for the audience; the cereal crunching thing used Rice Krispie boxes, even though the cereal was clearly not that product; in the dinner party scene, they served cakes from a Mr Kipling’s Mini Battenburg box, but they looked like twinkies or something - there were a number of bits like that.
Just as a mini-digression, Blue Man Group created a bit of a nasty stir in Toronto due to their refusal to abide by the union regulations. As such, ACTRA and EQUITY (the Canadian actors unions for film, television and theatre) boycotted Blue Man for some time.
I saw them in Vegas, and they were fantastic. Everyone from my single sister in her 30s to my married-with-four-kids sister in her 40s, to my mother in her 70s thoroughly enjoyed the show. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
I LOVE Blue Man Group. They are the most entertaining rock concert I’ve ever been to. Granted that’s not saying much since I haven’t been to that many.
I would give a limb - at least my left arm - to see them in Vegas. But that’s at least as much just to go to Vegas!
I saw BMG here in Cleveland a few months ago and, having heard all of the hype and seen the PBS special on them, was… disappointed, I must admit. Fun, but they weren’t all that. It was the “How to be a Rock Megastar” show (or whatever the exact name was), was 'way too loud and didn’t have much that I hadn’t already seen. Not sure I’d go see 'em again unless they totally revamped the show.
