August 21, 2003
Blue Man Group
A week ago today I went to see the Blue Man Group, with Susan and two of her friends/co-workers.
We saw them at a place called "The Backyard," which wasn't a bad name because the stage was outside, the ground was uncovered grass, and there was even hay sprinkled around on the floor in front of the stage.
They were here on what they called "The Complex Rock Tour," accenting and promoting their new CD, "The Complex."
Tracy Bonham opened for them, with her electric violin. Good musician, her. We sat on the ground, on the hay, while enjoying her music. The crowd wasn't so thick and she was at the front of the stage, so life was good.
When Tracy was finished, people started moving up. And standing up. The crowd was thickening, so it was a bit annoying to have these people push up in front of us when we'd been there the whole time. Even worse was that everyone could see while there was sitting, but now so many people were being blocked. Still, it wasn't bad enough for us to stand up.
Venus Hum was up next, a musical trio with a web site that I've only seen for the first time just now and I like a lot. They were very good, and reminded me a bit of Björk or The Sugarcubes or some band like that. (Note to self: Buy their CD.)
The crowd was becoming too dense. When Venus Hum finished the stage was pretty much completely blocked from view. Grudgingly, we stood up.
The place was packed. Packed. There weren't even any proper paths through the crowd at this point--not in front of the stage, not to the bathroom, and certainly not to the exit. Packed.
The Blue Man Group then took the stage. They were great! There were three of them, plus a big rock band to accompany them. They went through their famous antics and expert performances, playing their drumbones and whatnot.
The Blue Man part, this last act of the show, was themed around "rock show lessons," and a big screen and voice helped the Blue Men go through all the points you need to hit in order to make a successful rock concert. They started with the head-bob, then went into hopping up and down, and continued on to his such points as pulling people from the stage, grabbing previous acts to join in, and other funnery. (At the end, they even fulfilled the obligatory "fake leave" so they could come back for the encore.)
Tracy was the person they pulled back on stage, and she joined in the singing both then and again later on. Venushum also came back, their lead singer clad in what I'll call an "electric dress."
The only part of the show I didn't like came at the very end. The encore was over, but the stage lights were still on. The roadies were giving people "gifts"--they were tossing the Blue man drumsticks into the first few rows of the crowd by the stage. "Uh oh," I thought to myself. The roadies moved in our direction, and I saw one about to toss a drumstick in our direction. "Oh, God," I said in a low voice, and gritted my teeth for "the inevitable." I stretched out my hand, as much to protect myself as to try to grab the drumstick-souvenir. The drumstick was flung, I saw it arch up and...into the lights. I lost it. Where was it? "Oh, God...!"
BAM!
It hit in my stupid big irish head, and harder than I would have imagined. I grabbed my noggin, yelling "OW!" really loudly, and I think I might have also said, "I should get that!" I guess I thought people might have sympathy for me and work together to get me that drumstick for my troubles. But, nope. No drumstick for me. Just a bit of a bump. Which is gone now, so I'll stop talking about it.
But, yeah, if you ever get the chance to see the Blue man Group, you should go. It was totally worth it. It wasn't just a handful of people who just show up and play music, which in my opinion too many bands think is just fine--why shouldn't I just buy the CD and both save a lot of money and have the music available forever? No, these people, they put on a show, and a darned good one, too. I applaud them for the incredible entertainment value they gave to us that night one week ago. Totally worth it. Even with the bump.
http://www.blueman.com/Posted by Keith at 11:14 AM
August 04, 2003
28 Days Later
This weekend, Susan and I saw "28 Days Later." It's an "independent film" that isn't really a zombie or post-apocalypse movie, but it's got some scary stuff, lots of blood, and feels a bit like a zombie movie. It was a good flick, and I recommend it.
The movie centers around an infection that is let loose upon the world after a group of animal rights activists try to free some experimental chimpanzees, and the ensuing horror that this brings about. 28 days after the infection is let loose, Jim, a cycle courier, awakens to find himself seemingly completely along in London. Except he's not alone, and eventually he finds other people. Infected people — and a handful of not-yet-infected persons like himself.
I really like its "what would you do in this situation?" concept. More specificially, it seemed to wonder "What is the minimal amount of society you would allow or afford yourself when faced with survival?" It's not so cliche like a lot of horror movies. Not simply remaking an old villain stereotype and putting people into dumb situations that no sane person would put themselves in. They did a really nice job making England seem virtually empty. I totally recommend it.
http://www.28dayslaterthemovie.com/Posted by Keith at 07:41 PM | Comments (1)