bmg experiences

"(holy!)" Do I ever love Blue Man Group!
The first time I saw Blue Man, I was in Vegas with absolutely no idea who they were... I just thought they were three guys who happened to have a show at the Luxor hotel. But no... after seeing the freaking amazing show, I went home and took a look at their website, and it all really started for me... I was just fascinated and enthralled by it all, loving all the connections and inspirations I found. Still do, of course. Since I became a fan, Blue Man has changed and grown so much--it's pretty incredible. It's such a joy to be a part of the journey...
And part of that is going to as many shows as I can!! Hahaha... Whenever there's a new version of the show (such as the Area 2 and Complex Tours), fans flock to them to see the new material, and I'm no exception... and even the stuff that hasn't changed is awesome and refreshing each time I see it. If one looks at where BMG has been, where they are, and where they're going... it can be found that what pulls it all together and ultimately sustains BMG's unique, multifaceted aura is the wonderful Blue Man character, who is inexplicably beautiful (and talented and musical and hilarious). So, the more chance I have to soak in the brilliance of Blue Man Group the better.

A couple notes...
All in all, I've seen 30 BMG shows, in 8 different cities. Yikes. The Boston show is the one I've frequented the most (16 times), since it is my "home venue," being the closest at 3 driving hours away. Yay Boston!
Some of the reviews below are full-blown show journals, while others are less involved, or are even just photos with captions (yeah, yeah, so I got lazy at times). There are a few shows I attended, but have neither photos nor writing for. Those shows are:
"Rewired," Astor Place Theatre, 10/09/04. - I might put up a little page for this sometime... but for now, just a quick blurb--I took a trip down to NJ to visit Lal, and we went into the city and ushered the 4 PM show with Mere (bluechick). The Blue Men were Wes, Jason R., and Matt R., and the band was Clem, Tom Shad, and Geoff. A few random notes about this trip can be found in the first part of this livejournal entry.
"Tubes," Charles Playhouse, 07/13/02. - This show marked the 2002 Boston Fanmeet (which was considerably smaller than the 2001 meet, but still included myself, Matt Hatter, sceavis, dvppaul, and minnie). Matt and I ushered, so I didn't get a chance to get meet-and-greet pictures... and the photos I have of the fans have mysteriously disappeared into the clutter of my house. Hmmm... Oh and by the way, the Blue Men who played this one were Eric R., Matt R., and Colin.
"Tubes," Charles Playhouse, 06/28/01. - Matt (Hatter) and I ushered this show the night before the 2001 Boston Fanmeet. I know Andrea performed at this one, and I'm pretty sure Colin also did... but I don't remember who the third one was...

WARNING:
Most of these show journals DO contain spoilers about the shows themselves (or, some parts may require some knowledge of the show for you to know what in the world I'm talking about). If you haven't seen Blue Man (or the particular show I'm journaling), and would rather not know what happens (and trust me--at a Blue Man show, it's tons of fun to not know what the hell is going on), please don't read these journals! ...just look at the pictures. ;) Just a heads-up.

Most recent experience at top.
Click any thumbnail to see the full journal (with or without photos) for that experience.
Most show journals are accompanied by photos, but those with a "cube" icon for a thumbnail are text-only pages.

"Rewired," Charles Playhouse, 09/04/04.
The Saturday before I left for college in NY, Eric (Sceavis) and I took a trip into Boston... we ended up seeing a Blue Man show (figures) while we were there. It was good to be back in Boston one more time before the school year--I just love that city so much. =)

"Live at Luxor," Luxor Theater, 08/20-23/04.
Another giant summer fanmeet, this one had about 50 people attend--I think almost every single one of my fanfriends was there, yay! On fanmeet day, we had a party, attended a show, and got a special photo-op and Q-and-A session afterwards. I also attended a show the next day, and headed to Jillian's to see Matthew Banks and Transit (Anthony's band) play. *luv*

"Rewired," Briar Street Theatre, 07/16-18/04.
This was the BML hosted "MoNsTeR Meet," which was HUGE, with up to 60 attendees at its peak. I was there for the entire weekend and saw three shows, and also took part in many of the Fanmeet events, including a special time at the theatre that the Briar folks had set up for us... And I got to meet Cyn! And I got to see Bryce! And oh yay! This journal is really really long!

"Rewired," Charles Playhouse, 06/11-13/04.
Boston's annual summer fanmeet--this one holds the record for largest fanmeet ever at the Charles. (I think there were maybe 14ish fans total...) A handful of us made a weekend out of it, and many of us saw multiple shows. I ushered twice, and paid for the official meet show. All in all, the whole weekend was a total blast!

"Rewired," Charles Playhouse, 05/30/04.
My old high school band was making a field trip to BMG Boston (like we did during my sophomore year in high school), and so I got to tag along as a pseudo-chaperone. It was an amazing show, and I felt like a proud parent of sorts, hehe. The crowd was filled with groups and particularly rowdy--a warm welcome for Blue Man Jake, who's new to Boston. =)

"Rewired," Charles Playhouse, 03/14/04.
I decided I wanted to catch the show in Boston one more time before holding out till summer, so I talked my Dad into coming along. We made a day trip out of it and the two of us saw the 2 pm show. This was the first time I'd seen the new material in Boston, and the first time seeing the new material at all for Dad.

"Rewired," Astor Place Theatre, 02/21/04.
I stayed with bluechick for the weekend and we headed to NYC for the big fanmeet. We'd been invited to the BMG studio in the city for the fan-organized drum circle, and ended up meeting all three founders! The rest of the day was amazing, as well, including the show (which had implemented the new material). For a single day, this journal is ridiculously long. Not that my journals being "long" should be any surprise.

"Tubes," Charles Playhouse, 01/17/04 and 01/18/04.
Sceavis and I caught a couple weekend shows in our home venue of Boston before new material enters into the show we'd become so familiar with (sometime in February). We also got a chance to say goodbye to Blue Men Michael and Kalen, who head off to BMG NYC and BMG Berlin (respectively) in March.

"The Complex Rock Tour 2003," Landmark Theatre, 11/01/03.
My brother Jeff and I headed to Syracuse, NY to see the Complex Tour on its 3rd leg, where we ended up meeting complexityisblue. I delivered artwork to the four touring Blue Men, plus Peter Moore, at this show. This experience was particularly wonderful and life-inspiring because of the time spent with a certain "beautiful" Blue Man.

"The Complex Rock Tour 2003," Saratoga Performing Arts Center, 08/30/03.
Blue Man Group happened to be performing in Saratoga Springs, NY, the night before I was to be at college (for the first time) in the same town. There was no way I was missing this one! Hehe. My parents and my brother Mike (who hadn't seen BMG before) came along and enjoyed a stunning show.

"Tubes," Charles Playhouse, 08/09/03.
I met up with soniablue and minnie for the annual summer Boston Fanmeet... This particular year, we ending up having quite the mini-meet, but this made no difference in how much of a blast we had!

"The Complex Rock Tour 2003," Oakdale Theare, 07/13/03.
Blue Man Group's (2nd leg) tour stopped in Wallingford, CT--the hometown of my then-boyfriend, Matt (Hatter). So of course, we absolutely had to go. It was my first time at a Complex show, and his second. Matt brought a lot of his friends, and we also met up with bluemangee at the show. Puck, an artistic director for BMG, was nice enough to grant us backstage passes, which lead us to talking with the performers and meeting BMG Founder Phil Stanton.

"Tubes," Charles Playhouse, 11/17/02.
Matt (Hatter) decided to organize a type of field trip for his high school band, and once the trip was organized, I had him count me in too. I brought along my friend Jen, who'd seen the show back in March 2001 (with our high school band).

"Area 2 Tour," Tweeter Center, 08/03/02.
In the summer of 2002, Blue Man Group brought some of their new material on tour with Moby, David Bowie, Busta Rhymes, and Ash. My brother Jeff and I saw BMG's somewhat short set in Mansfield, MA. It was a fabulous (though brief) introduction to the upcoming era of "The Complex." It's interesting to look back at it after becoming wonderfully familiar with all the then-new material, and seeing Blue Man Group's own full-length rock show.

"Tubes," Charles Playhouse, 06/29/01.
Fanmeets organized by blueman.com message board members had become quite common by this time, and Boston was no exception. Matt (Hatter) and I planned this first annual summer meet, and we saw minnie, hannah, sceavis, luxor, and 27 there. It was the biggest Boston meet to date, with a total of 7 board members in attendance.

"Tubes," Charles Playhouse, 05/19/01.
News came to me that my favorite Blue Man, Bryce, was moving to Chicago in the near future. I was fortunate enough to catch a show with him one more time before he left. I definitely took way too many pictures of the poor guy... but he was supernice enough to put up with my 15-year-old girl antics, anyways.

"Tubes," Charles Playhouse, 03/28/01.
After my high school band teacher saw BMG in Vegas, she came back wanting to bring her students to see the show in Boston. Hey, I was fine with that. We ended up with a bus of 50 or so students and chaperones, who all enjoyed the experience (not surprisingly!). Because of our 3-hour drive home, I wasn't able to stick around with the Blue Men afterwards for very long, but even so, I got the chance to meet Chris Bowen, the first Blue Man after the three founders (although I didn't realize this until a couple days later... hehe).

"Live at Luxor," Luxor Theater, 02/25/01 and 03/02/01.
I talked my parents into going to Vegas over my February vacation week. (In retrospect, I have no idea how I managed that.) Once there, I met up with luxor and saw a couple shows with him. The first show of the week, we brought along my parents and BLUEMANGROUP27, but we struck out on our own for the second show.

"Tubes," Charles Playhouse, 12/03/00.
After discovering Blue Man Group in Vegas, and finding a comfy online home at the blueman.com message board, I talked my parents into bringing me to Boston to see the "Tubes" show. My parents, my best friend Erin, and I all headed down and met up with minnie and hannah, making this the first ever (message board based) Boston fanmeet.

"Live at Luxor," Luxor Theater, 06/22/00.
When my family went to Vegas in 2000, we'd never heard of "Blue Man Group" once in our entire lives. We ended up going to the show, pretty much clueless, after finding that another show we wanted to see was sold out. I call it fate. This is the nerdiest, most annoying review thingy ever, just so you know.

	"Rewired," Charles Playhouse, 09/04/04. The Saturday before I left for college in NY, Eric (Sceavis) and I took a trip into Boston... we ended up seeing a Blue Man show (figures) while we were there. It was good to be back in Boston one more time before the school year--I just love that city so much. =)
	"Live at Luxor," Luxor Theater, 08/20-23/04. Another giant summer fanmeet, this one had about 50 people attend--I think almost every single one of my fanfriends was there, yay! On fanmeet day, we had a party, attended a show, and got a special photo-op and Q-and-A session afterwards. I also attended a show the next day, and headed to Jillian's to see Matthew Banks and Transit (Anthony's band) play. luv
	"Rewired," Briar Street Theatre, 07/16-18/04. This was the BML hosted "MoNsTeR Meet," which was HUGE, with up to 60 attendees at its peak. I was there for the entire weekend and saw three shows, and also took part in many of the Fanmeet events, including a special time at the theatre that the Briar folks had set up for us... And I got to meet Cyn! And I got to see Bryce! And oh yay! This journal is really really long!
	"Rewired," Charles Playhouse, 06/11-13/04. Boston's annual summer fanmeet--this one holds the record for largest fanmeet ever at the Charles. (I think there were maybe 14ish fans total...) A handful of us made a weekend out of it, and many of us saw multiple shows. I ushered twice, and paid for the official meet show. All in all, the whole weekend was a total blast!
	"Rewired," Charles Playhouse, 05/30/04. My old high school band was making a field trip to BMG Boston (like we did during my sophomore year in high school), and so I got to tag along as a pseudo-chaperone. It was an amazing show, and I felt like a proud parent of sorts, hehe. The crowd was filled with groups and particularly rowdy--a warm welcome for Blue Man Jake, who's new to Boston. =)
	"Rewired," Charles Playhouse, 03/14/04. I decided I wanted to catch the show in Boston one more time before holding out till summer, so I talked my Dad into coming along. We made a day trip out of it and the two of us saw the 2 pm show. This was the first time I'd seen the new material in Boston, and the first time seeing the new material at all for Dad.
	"Rewired," Astor Place Theatre, 02/21/04. I stayed with bluechick for the weekend and we headed to NYC for the big fanmeet. We'd been invited to the BMG studio in the city for the fan-organized drum circle, and ended up meeting all three founders! The rest of the day was amazing, as well, including the show (which had implemented the new material). For a single day, this journal is ridiculously long. Not that my journals being "long" should be any surprise.
	"Tubes," Charles Playhouse, 01/17/04 and 01/18/04. Sceavis and I caught a couple weekend shows in our home venue of Boston before new material enters into the show we'd become so familiar with (sometime in February). We also got a chance to say goodbye to Blue Men Michael and Kalen, who head off to BMG NYC and BMG Berlin (respectively) in March.
	"The Complex Rock Tour 2003," Landmark Theatre, 11/01/03. My brother Jeff and I headed to Syracuse, NY to see the Complex Tour on its 3rd leg, where we ended up meeting complexityisblue. I delivered artwork to the four touring Blue Men, plus Peter Moore, at this show. This experience was particularly wonderful and life-inspiring because of the time spent with a certain "beautiful" Blue Man.
	"The Complex Rock Tour 2003," Saratoga Performing Arts Center, 08/30/03. Blue Man Group happened to be performing in Saratoga Springs, NY, the night before I was to be at college (for the first time) in the same town. There was no way I was missing this one! Hehe. My parents and my brother Mike (who hadn't seen BMG before) came along and enjoyed a stunning show.
	"Tubes," Charles Playhouse, 08/09/03. I met up with soniablue and minnie for the annual summer Boston Fanmeet... This particular year, we ending up having quite the mini-meet, but this made no difference in how much of a blast we had!
	"The Complex Rock Tour 2003," Oakdale Theare, 07/13/03. Blue Man Group's (2nd leg) tour stopped in Wallingford, CT--the hometown of my then-boyfriend, Matt (Hatter). So of course, we absolutely had to go. It was my first time at a Complex show, and his second. Matt brought a lot of his friends, and we also met up with bluemangee at the show. Puck, an artistic director for BMG, was nice enough to grant us backstage passes, which lead us to talking with the performers and meeting BMG Founder Phil Stanton.
	"Tubes," Charles Playhouse, 11/17/02. Matt (Hatter) decided to organize a type of field trip for his high school band, and once the trip was organized, I had him count me in too. I brought along my friend Jen, who'd seen the show back in March 2001 (with our high school band).
	"Area 2 Tour," Tweeter Center, 08/03/02. In the summer of 2002, Blue Man Group brought some of their new material on tour with Moby, David Bowie, Busta Rhymes, and Ash. My brother Jeff and I saw BMG's somewhat short set in Mansfield, MA. It was a fabulous (though brief) introduction to the upcoming era of "The Complex." It's interesting to look back at it after becoming wonderfully familiar with all the then-new material, and seeing Blue Man Group's own full-length rock show.
	"Tubes," Charles Playhouse, 06/29/01. Fanmeets organized by blueman.com message board members had become quite common by this time, and Boston was no exception. Matt (Hatter) and I planned this first annual summer meet, and we saw minnie, hannah, sceavis, luxor, and 27 there. It was the biggest Boston meet to date, with a total of 7 board members in attendance.
	"Tubes," Charles Playhouse, 05/19/01. News came to me that my favorite Blue Man, Bryce, was moving to Chicago in the near future. I was fortunate enough to catch a show with him one more time before he left. I definitely took way too many pictures of the poor guy... but he was supernice enough to put up with my 15-year-old girl antics, anyways.
	"Tubes," Charles Playhouse, 03/28/01. After my high school band teacher saw BMG in Vegas, she came back wanting to bring her students to see the show in Boston. Hey, I was fine with that. We ended up with a bus of 50 or so students and chaperones, who all enjoyed the experience (not surprisingly!). Because of our 3-hour drive home, I wasn't able to stick around with the Blue Men afterwards for very long, but even so, I got the chance to meet Chris Bowen, the first Blue Man after the three founders (although I didn't realize this until a couple days later... hehe).
	"Live at Luxor," Luxor Theater, 02/25/01 and 03/02/01. I talked my parents into going to Vegas over my February vacation week. (In retrospect, I have no idea how I managed that.) Once there, I met up with luxor and saw a couple shows with him. The first show of the week, we brought along my parents and BLUEMANGROUP27, but we struck out on our own for the second show.
	"Tubes," Charles Playhouse, 12/03/00. After discovering Blue Man Group in Vegas, and finding a comfy online home at the blueman.com message board, I talked my parents into bringing me to Boston to see the "Tubes" show. My parents, my best friend Erin, and I all headed down and met up with minnie and hannah, making this the first ever (message board based) Boston fanmeet.
	"Live at Luxor," Luxor Theater, 06/22/00. When my family went to Vegas in 2000, we'd never heard of "Blue Man Group" once in our entire lives. We ended up going to the show, pretty much clueless, after finding that another show we wanted to see was sold out. I call it fate. This is the nerdiest, most annoying review thingy ever, just so you know.