I knew a little bit about the Blue Man Group. I had seen the Intel commercials and our company was sued by them over a poster that resembled one of their posters. So I knew them as kind of quirky percussion aliens. I was interested but only mildly. That is until I turned on the TV one Saturday morning and stumbled upon a broadcast of their How To Be A Rock Star Tour.
The performances blended humor, interesting music and a frenetic energy that was very entertaining to watch. Several guests performers made appearances to add vocals when they were needed. If you have been following along, then you know that I have been a Donna Summer fan since the Disco era of the late 1970’s. As I watched the Blue Man Group on TV, they began to pound out a familiar riff on their twisted pile of PVC pipes. It was so familiar but different sounding enough to evade me.
A girl came out and began to sing I Feel Love. It turned out to be a really good interpretation and a few minutes later, I was online and buying The Complex. It was summer time. When the CD arrived, I put it on my computer then synced it over to my Yard work Sansa. Have this unit I’ve rigged up. It is basically hearing protection headphones that protect your ears from loud noises like lawn equipment. Mine has an AM/FM radio built in as well as an input for a media player.
The first time I listened to this album was over a few hours of yard work. I can say if that had any impact on my appreciation of the album. I played it for my colleagues at work who were likewise attracted to the Blue Man approach to music. Grant would eventually see them live in Boston. He had plenty of good things to say about the experience. It wasn’t long after that I added their album Audio to my collection as well as the DVD of the program that started it all for me. If you are curious, you should check that out too. I’ll try to remember to add a link to it at the bottom of this post.
Time To Start
Your Attention
White Rabbit
I Feel Love