Home Sweet Boston
"Rewired," Charles Playhouse, 09/04/04.

This particular Saturday, Eric (Sceavis) and I had planned to meet in Boston, to spend time together and enjoy the city before I had to head off to school in New York... we didn't have Blue Man tickets, but we planned on checking on Student Rush and Bostix. Unfortunately, Bostix only had 2nd row balcony seats, so we passed on those (because I was thinking section G was one of the closest to the stage, which means fairly obstructed view--it's not though, that's F and K--oops)... and it turned out student rush wasn't available for the 4 pm (the only show I could see, since I had to drive back to NH the same day). So we checked on what was available for full-price seats, and very good ones in 12th row (back left corner, but not way back) were on sale... so I gave in and bought those. ...I'm such a sucker. It must be the smell of Mehron surrounding the Charles. Anywho, I'm glad we ended up going, because it was a great show, and a sort of closure for me after seeing the show in the bigger venues of Chicago and Vegas... and the new guy, Shaneca, has his name in the program, so now I know how to spell it. And according to Jake's bio, he "really likes his job." Hee hee. And I got a few pictures of two Blue Men I didn't have photos of... I accidentally had my flash on, so they came out a little strange-looking--like paintings almost.
Oh and this is really random, but we saw some street performer guy at Quincy market get his WHOLE BODY through the oval of a tennis racket. That's insane. And during his performance he had people start clapping together, and increase speed... Eric and I looked at each other, both thinking of encore paint drumming, which we can both pretty much recite. We are such Blue Man geeks.
Back to the Charles... Oh and by the way, the names-in-Mehron that were written on a wall on Warrenton back in June (Boston summer fanmeet 2004) are still there, haha. Anywho, this was taken while sitting across the street:

Show highlights
--The Blue Men turned out to be Shaneca (who I have never seen before) in Philpart, Josh in Center, and Rick in Mattpart... Shaneca didn't have to move an inch to catch his paintballs--Rick threw them insanely right-on-target. He wasn't quite so kind to Josh, but Josh has gotten the hang of it since June and was nearly flawless (the one that hit his face or forehead was too high, I think). Yaaaay!
--The little Crunch boxes looked so little! I realized they must use two big ones and a HUGE one in Vegas, as opposed to two normal and one big... Anywho, Rick did his rather silly-looking contorted Crunch face, which totally brought back memories from the Boston fanmeet and made me giggle. And there was this little kid nearby who was laughing his little head off through the whole skit, so that was giggle-worthy, too. Hee.
--I meant to mention it from Vegas, but forgot and noticed again at this show... I finally got around to really reading the "Fragmentia poster"--normally I'm distracted by the Blue Man on the right wiggling his "naked mermaid" poster, but in Vegas I made myself read "Fragmentia"... I wish I could remember the wording of it, but it says something about feeling disconnecting due to fragments of info and incomplete thoughts... and the last sentence is cut off at the end. Hahahah.
--"Drumbone" is different... the band plays a few measures before the start/stop thing, and when they are supposed to be playing (but are not), they are lit up... So you could see them looking down at the Blue Men like "what? you want something?" and the zither player was idly drinking from his water bottle...
--The feast guest was average--she was reluctant to eat the Twinkie, but Rick persuaded her... later, I heard her say that he'd been tapping her under the table, like "eat it. do it. come onnnn." LOL Rick. At some point, somebody threw pieces of Jello back up on stage... the first one landed on the table when the Blue Men weren't paying attention, but then Shaneca noticed it and very very carefully picked it up, almost sadly, as if distressed that it found its way back to the table. Then more pieces came flying up, and you could see the three personalities of the Blue Men shine--Shaneca looked so concerned, Josh was all wide-eyed and startled, and Rick... well, Rick took the flower vase and put it back on the catapult. LOL. Later, when the giant jello mold rolled out, I wondered if Rick would do anything to imply "we're going to throw THIS on you now," but he didn't... he did however jump a foot and drop big pieces of jello when the Klein guy was revealed. Haha, "OHMYGODWHATTHE?!"
--During "Time to Start," Rick got super-excited and bounced around and fist-pumped in between drum hits (on the high-set low-drum... what the hell do you call that, anyways?). I think Shaneca is the one who started jumping up and down at some point, like he just couldn't contain himself--I've seen Mike Brown do that, too, only Mike adds an extra RCM #6 where there isn't supposed to be one, LOL. Later, during Klein, I didn't see the guys check in with each other the way the Boston Blues usually do, but Josh and the band drummer were totally playing off each other, and it was cool to watch the silent--er, nonspeaking--communication.
--It was weird to hear the original KLF song again, after hearing the BlueManized version in Vegas... but I think the old version (which is more techno/pop as opposed to throbbing/tribal) fits well with Boston because in the smaller venues, "exhalted moment" is like a big party... whereas in Vegas I see it more as pure sensory overload.
--When the Blue Men stood behind the DNA screen at the end, they each raised a hand (the right one) in a farewell salute, which was cool... I don't think I've seen them do that before?

Meet and Greet
We came out of the front door to find the usual crowd of people milling about... Meet and greets outside in Boston are a bit cramped, but much more navigable than in the larger venues. Following routine, I first went to put my dollar into the donation bin and compliment the band, but for some reason they weren't right by the box--they were a couple yards away, in the street. I dumbly still tried to talk to them and drop my dollar in the little slot at the same time... "You guys rock! *grin* *blindly stuffs dollar onto box* *misses slot* *still grinning at band* *misses slot again* Hahahahahha *gives up and goofily concentrates real hard on dollar-into-slot motion*" Man, I'm a gimp. The band was Core, Robb... and from salutes I'd thought the drummer was Hari, but when I later saw him up close, I realized he wasn't... Unfortunately, I realized this too late to remember to take a picture or ask him his name--yar. Anyways...
I quickly located the Blue Men... Rick was to the right, and the other two were on the left. I decided to save Rick for last, so I could get pictures of Shaneca and Josh (since I didn't have any of them yet). Shaneca was closer, so I got pictures of him first... I kind of hung back and got pictures in between his signing programs and posing for photos, so I don't know if he noticed me there...

I could have stood there taking umpteen pictures of Shaneca, but there is only so much time in one meet and greet, so I sidled over to where Josh was. The semicircle around him was a bit tighter, so I got up a bit closer than I did to Shaneca, and aimed my camera, waiting for a good time to press the shutter. Josh was turned, watching some other audience members some distance away, so I went to take a profile shot... only, he somehow heard the tiny "beepbeep!" on my camera (which sounds when it focuses), and he whirled around towards me, and ended up posing. I can't believe he heard that beep--that is one sharp-sensing Blue Man. He seemed keen during the show, too--during opening paint drumming, when the first splash of paint rose, he jumped so hard that he bounced right into Shaneca, and then he stayed there, almost cowering, for a moment. Josh didn't seem uptight or paranoid, though... more just... like his curiosity kept getting the better of him. Hee hee. I love his balance of calm deepness and almost hyperactive alertness... Anywho, after I took the picture, I lowered my camera and was about to compliment him on his performance, but he was staring back at me in such a way that left me tongue-tied. For one thing, he is SO pretty... I have seen him enough to have already known that, but up close he is stunning. But what struck me most about him was that he was all Blue Man--he just WAS--I couldn't picture him as actor-in-paint. Thus, I suddenly got real shy... He widened his eyes a bit at me like he expected me to say/do something, but I think I just stammered a "thank you" (if I even managed that), and backed away. A minute later, before heading over to Rick, I turned to Josh and said "awesome job"--it came out so quietly, because I was still... not intimidated, but... hushed. It was kind of a surreal collection of moments.

I weaved back through the crowd to where Rick was, and stood with Eric sort of near the door, to make sure we could at least get a wave and hello in before the Blue Men had to go inside. We watched Rick patiently pose for photos and sign programs... he signed a couple boys' foreheads with three fingerprints, which looked like three blue heads, hehe. For one photo, more people kept crowding in, and in attempt to get his arms around all four or five of them, he stood up as tall as he could, stretching out all proudly. Eventually, he was free, and scanned the crowd around him to see if anyone else wanted to approach... when he looked our way, I gave him a small wave and smile, which he mimick-returned (fangirl looks cute on him, haha). A few minutes later, after a last few photos, he stepped over and said "hi Jen!" and opened his arms for a hug, which I gladly gave. (...he knows my name?) He remembered Eric from January, and stayed to chat for a few minutes, after asking us if we'd be at the next show. At some point, I looked up towards the door to see both Josh and Shaneca standing there staring at us... It was like they were saying "OK number three, it's time to go in... hey wait, why are you talking... and who are those people?!" Their faces were half business and half curious, hehe. It was such a funny, unexpected sight, because normally the Blue Men just kind of wander back inside one by one... but this time they were all "we're not leaving without you!" Heheh. So we said our goodbyes to Rick and let the three be one. ;)

Then it was back to NH for me, and back to otherMass for Eric... it's always sad to leave Boston, but I know I'll be back, maybe someday more permanantly. Man I love it there. =)