We snuck into the lobby and I ooh'ed and ahh'ed at how elaborate it is in there. I bounced around peering at the tubes, and moving my head in time with the tick-tocking blacklit sign thing to try and read it (which didn't really help, but probably made me look really silly). I especially liked the water-pumping stuff--oooooooooo water. *zones out* ...

Meet and Greet Begins
The audience started to file out of the building, and suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder, and a somewhat teasing voice said, "Bryce played! and he'll be coming out that door in just a few minutes!" It was Justin, and apparently he was indicating the door by the box office. I clicked my heels (in my mind)--oh boy BRYCE played! But I stayed where I was, watching hordes of people walk by and out the door. Then Cyn popped out of nowhere, yelped something entirely incoherent, and ran away. When I saw where she'd gone, I realized she'd said something like "the BAND is here!" so I wandered over to them. Cyn had already said hello, so we stood a few feet away, talking with Karen. Then Howie (drummer) walked up to us and addressed Cyn, "I just realized what you were saying! We talked it over, and figured it out. See, you said you were from the Band Spotlight... the interview thing? But I thought you said you were IN the band SPOTLIGHT!" Cyn thought this was so funny that she tilted her head and conked it on the doorframe--it sounded like it must have hurt, but she just grinned and rattled on like nothing had happened. Silly Cyn. I ended up back in the inner lobby, somewhat out of the way (the band and one Blue Man, Andrew, were standing between the two sets of doors at the entrance).

Reunion
A few minutes later, someone (Cyn? Mere?) came up to me and excitedly reported that Bryce was in the lobby, and I kinda peered over at him--he was in front of the box office. Randomly overcome by shyness, though, I stayed put until the crowd thinned out a little. Rather, I hid behind the doorframe, all dorkily nervous (ahh hhaa hhaa).
It wasn't long before my roommates dragged me over to Bryce anyways (well, Cyn and Mere led, and Karen pushed me from behind--LOL!). Mere introduced herself first, and when he turned to me, I meekly held out my hand (which he took), saying something like "hi! I'm Jen... eter--" Somewhere in the middle of this phrase, Bryce leaned forward in recognition and reached with his free hand, so he had both of his hands closed over my one (aww). I don't remember what he said, I just remember his face at that point. Between greeting and pictures with passing people, Bryce mentioned that he'd heard about the Charity Check the Blue Man Library would be giving BMG, and spoke the word-of-the-weekend, "AWEsome." After this I felt like I was in the way, so I edged out the door with Cyn. It wasn't long before Bryce found his way out the door, too ("swooping" around the corner, as Cyn puts it--but I saw him coming), and asked us if we'd be coming to the thing at noon tomorrow. We said that we would be at the Briar from 10 to 1, and he remarked, "oh, well I guess noon is when I'm supposed to be there." (Jen'smind: "ohboybryceisgoingtobeatthefanmeetthingamajiggerohboyohboy!") I asked him if he'd be in the next show, and he said "Jason and I are staying and Matt's in for Andrew" but this didn't register and I found myself asking Karen, "wait wait, did he say he IS playing?!" (YAY!) So then I told Cyn (who was closest to him) to ask what part he'd be playing. I felt really silly "passing notes" to him, haha. Anywho, when asked, he replied, "will that ruin the magic?" Since Cyn was looking at him quite blankly, I oh-so-subtly interjected, "center, center!," which is the part I saw him play in Boston (both times I saw him). I wasn't sure if he'd heard my comment, but he said he wasn't sure what he'd be playing--he'd have to see what Matt felt like doing.
I don't know where to write this so I'm going to stick it here: I noticed that Bryce was doing this almost-compulsive thing by constantly blue-ing his lips... He'd said in some old interview that he does that, and when I read it I'd thought, "oh hey, he does, doesn't he?" So it just amused me to see that he's the same old Bryce. ;)
A couple minutes later, I saw Joe standing nearby with a camera, and so I asked him if he'd mind getting a picture of Bryce and me... When posing, Bryce said to me, "it's so great that you got to come out, maaaannn!" I remember giggling and wanting to say "duuuude, I know!" He paused while the photo was being taken, then continued with (I think), "it's good to see you again--it's been a long time!" I agreed and added "like 3 years!"

Ushering
After the meet and greet, we hung out in the lobby with a few of the other fans, including Royal (RoyalBlue), who was ironically wearing black... At the Boston fanmeet, he'd been wearing white, whereas a bunch of the rest of us were wearing black (for ushering). We'd taken an "oreo cookie" photo then, and were about to take a REVERSE oreo cookie photo (since in Chicago, you have to wear WHITE shirts for ushering), when the four ushers were called to work.
We were taken into the back of the theatre, which had orange overtones and seating that slanted up and out towards the back wall. The whole theatre looked big compared to Boston or NYC, but at the same time didn't surprise me--probably because I've seen Blue Man in much bigger venues (such as on the Complex tour). We were seated in a few chairs towards the back of the theatre, and were given "the talk" by a part-time House Manager named Joy. She mentioned that the other House Manager was away for the weekend (with Blue Man Boomer, making a movie), so it was all her all weekend (poor thing!). She was really friendly and laid back, so learning to usher was a breeze. Mere stood out as the "professional" usher of our group, since she does it so often in NYC, but I was also pretty comfortable with it, having ushered a few times in Boston. It turned out that ushering in Chicago is WAY different that Boston. When seating people, you just stand in one spot, point patrons in the right direction, give them playbills, tell them no photos and to enjoy the show, and that's it. Much different than weaving through the compact layout of the Charles, manually seating every party (lest they get lost in the unlabeled sections). Cyn and Karen ended up handing out and collecting surveys, while Mere and I were each stationed in front of a door. Jenny, Nicole and Misty, and Sonia (soniablue) all ended up coming through my door (separately), and having friends "visit" felt rather homey. Sonia and I hugged and ended up chatting for a while (between my little usher speeches), but for the most part I was all by my lonesome, sniff sniff. One woman went to the bathroom and upon return, couldn't remember where the heck she was seated. Neither could I, so we both scanned her general area for her husband for a minute before she found him--it was rather amusing, hehehe. One of the Briar staff hung out with me for a minute (asking how it was going and such), and I mentioned how much different it was from ushering in Boston. He ended up saying "glad to have you on board," before he spotted someone taking a picture and took off to reprimand them (hahah, sucker).
By the time the opening LED's started, there were only a few stragglers coming in... I think Karen was hanging out with me at this point, having finished her survey-giving. I was spacing out and suddenly realized the LED's were halfway through the birthday message (which was our cue to leave)--YAY! I frantically motioned over to Cyn and Mere before jetting out to the lobby. Once downstairs, Joy led us to our seats--one row behind poncho, Center section, stage right. The four of us filed in like docile schoolchildren, and I ended up last (therefore, on the aisle, next to Mere). And now ladies and gentleman it is time to begin. (GO VORTEX MACHINES GO!)

Friday 10 PM show highlights
--When the Blue Men's silhouettes appeared for shadow drumming, I recognized Bryce in Center (YAY Bryce in Center!)... *lurkface*
--Mattpart (who ended up being Matt S.) was absolutely vicious with the marshmallows, chucking them at Bryce at ridiculously high speeds. Bryce was flawless, however, like it was no problem at all. On the other side, Jason made a spinart with a mistiness reminiscent of Mike Brown's in Boston. Oooooo yellow fizz in the air...
--Knowing I'd be in front row in a couple nights, watching Matt spew Crunch ALL OVER the poncho section made me giggle and go "ewwwwww" more than usual. Actually, this show's poncho section was particularly anxious (possibly because of getting assaulted during Crunch), curling up in their plastic covers in fear even when the Drumbone was presented. I always have to laugh when new-show-goers react to things like that, because you can hear all the ponchos crackling and sighing, and see all these little clear hoods flipping over heads. Mwhaha.
--After the Late Arrivals were seated, all of the Blue Men stood at the edge of the stage, staring. Bryce was holding the, um, balloon, in one hand and letting it rest on the other, but he dropped the bottom hand so that the balloon bounced up and down threateningly. Mwhahah.
--When Bryce retrieved the throat cam, he held it on his eyes for a bit before turning it towards the audience... The Blue Men at the other shows that weekend did it too, actually. It's kinda like when one of the Blue Men walks up to the camera guy at the beginning of Audience Exploration and you get to see his eyes up-close... only with the throat cam it's all wobbly and mischievous, hee hee.
--While Jason and Matt got the twinkie girl settled in her seat, Bryce looked over at the camera with this sort of bizarre anxious look on his face, which totally cracked me up. He looked kinda lost up there for a moment. The twinkie girl decided to wiggle in her seat in response to the Blue Men wiggling the jello and flowers, which was really cute. She also put a huge piece of twinkie on her fork for the first bite, and I figured she didn't plan to eat it, but she stuffed it in her mouth and was still chewing when she was supposed to be ready for the second bite--whoops. Bryce inhaled the banana goo spaghetti-style (a method that is always funny, haha)... But the funniest part of Feast had to be when Bryce pulled out the vacuum. The first thing he did was put it a few inches from his face--it made a loud WOOHHHAAAWWW noise and he peered at it (nearly cross-eyed) with an amused smirk. Mere and I glanced at each other like "what is he doing?!"--silly Blue Man.
--Speaking of Blue Man (as in the character himself)... a couple times during the show, Bryce walked by our seats... He stared at me in passing, as he did with others who were close to the aisle, and I got a feeling of--not intimidation, really, but more like... It was so clearly a Blue Man looking at me, and not some guy named Bryce--it was one of those intense stares you don't really ever get in the real-life of humans, with little if any acknowledgement to say "hey, I know you." My usual smile (which doesn't leave my face for the whole show) even quavered a bit as I watched him pass--that was pure Blue Man, mayhaps in one of his deeper, darker moments. It was almost unsettling, but in a good way.
--At the beginning of PVC IV, someone in the front row was finding their way to their seat (which was towards the center of the row, so it took him a while). The Blue Men not only watched him make his way to his chair, but kept staring at the guy for a good minute or so after he sat down. Hehe--I hope the guy squirmed. ;) [EDIT: I have now been informed that the guy was JAY! hahahahhahahahah] ...I always love how the Blue Men kick into high gear at the end of the song... I've noticed a bunch of Blue Men (mostly in Center) do this: Bryce kinda leans back and puffs out his chest, keeping rigid except for his flailing arms... it's kind of like a deep breath, a sort of controlled power... It makes it look like they're running with their arms, flying through the song...
--All through tributes, Bryce looked so curious about everything--he flipped through the veil, and when the vibraslap was stifled, he leaned over and peered past Jason's arm as if to say "waitwait I wanna see!" Jason pulled it out to show it again, and Bryce reached towards it (almost like a small child would cautiously gravitate towards something shiny), but was interrupted by the next song before he could really investigate--awwwww.
--During Utne, I read all the way through the Internet Cafe LED, and dorkily cracked up at the following (not an accurate quote, but here's the basic idea): "AT OUR CAFE YOU CAN EXPLORE THE INTERNET AT BLINDING SPEEDS WHILE ENJOYING OUR HIGHLY CAFFIENATED BEVERAGES. WE WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE AS 'WIRED' AS POSSIBLE." I was like, "HAHAHAHA Wired! I get it!" But my laugh was a shot in the dark, so I shushed. Actually, in hindsight, the whole show takes this sort of theme--it's much more high-energy and with more of a modern twist than the old "Tubes" show... hmm. But then there were moments of something primal, an echo of Blue Man before silly TV spots or rock-star fame, like this one: Just before the winding LED's gave way to partly-lit section where the Blue Men start playing, Bryce suddenly appeared out of nowhere, red light illuminating just his face and nothing else. I've never seen that done before, but it was really eerie and dark and mysterious... oooOOOoo.
--Bryce as Center totally refreshed Wands for me... I'd had my doubts about how the skit works in the venue shows, after seeing reluctant audiences and such, but Bryce pulled it off perfectly. When he first came out with the wands, he examined them with such extreme curiosity as he slowly figured out what to do with them... And for the rest of the skit, he just looked so full of energy and like he was having a ball--like he was all "come on, let's play! wheee!" Once he had both of the other Blue Men bouncing, he faced the audience and held one wand to each Blue Man, and turned his knees in to the beat (it looked sort of like a hip-hop/MC-Hammer move), which looked really humorous when paired with his amused smirk. After the dramatic "everybody stand!" he had us wave our arms side to side ("Heyyy! hohhhh! heyyy.."), then switched to jumping jacks. Haha, right. Then he had us clap slowly (every other beat), then normal (every beat)... and leaned over and with a certain mischievous focus, tapped the wands in double-time. Yay for rhythm, rhythm is fun! Bryce was possibly the main part in the taxi video as well--whoever it was does a hell of a Chris Wink impression (unless it's actually Chris Wink himself, haha).
--Right before Bryce started on the high toms in Klein, he leaned back and opened his mouth wide to the ceiling (kind of like they do at the beginning of paint/marshmallows, only in slow-motion)... He did it in time with the growing music, so that at the peak of it he snapped and nailed the toms. I'd never seen THAT done before either, and it had the same eerie/dark feel as his LED move earlier. (again) ooooOOOoo.
--During Chant Jam (Endless Column), I zoned out and watched the yellow tubes swinging above my seat, just soaking in the song and being entirely satisfied with where I was at that moment. When the PVC part finished, Jason and Matt made their way into the audience while Bryce paused onstage in front of the PVC... He stood facing it, centered, in a sort of commanding stance, and raised his arms to the side as it pulled back, as if he told it to retreat. The first thing that came to mind was Gandalf in the Fellowship of the Ring where he's like "YOU! SHALL NOT! PASS!" Or something. But anyways, again Mere and I looked at each other and giggled, because Bryce does weird quirky things.
--At the beginning of KLF, Jason found a home on some lady's chair, right in front of Mere and I. With every boom of the music (where the strobe lights give a single flash), he'd lean over the lady and push his hand towards her, like he was going to grab her head--if I were her I would've sunk into the floor, haha. But he stayed there for a pretty long time as Mere and I danced around with him (he kept doing the hand thing, only in time with the music). I didn't know what to make of it; it was really odd-looking, LOL. But it was fun to have him stay and play with us for a while before the paper came. Weeeee! In the lull where the song switches from pounding techno to pleasant sounding trill-like stuff, Bryce had the paper rope ready to go... And ran from stage right to center stage just as the music revved up, which was a really cool effect (since the rope swooped over our seats at just the right moment).
--As the Blue Men nailed out the last few measures of Encore Paint Drumming, Bryce leaned over his drum so a big wash of yellow paint flowed down his face and off his chin, which looked really neato... Part of me shakes my head at those Blue Men (*cough*likeMikeBrown) who douse themselves in paint (which can't be all that pleasant seeping into their eyes and nose), but most of me just thinks it looks so damn cool.
--Wow, almost everything I remember from that show is about Bryce. Haha. *slams head* I couldn't help it, he's AWEsome! ;) I loved seeing him perform again... even after so long without seeing him, and seeing so many other Blue Men since, he is still the epitome of the character for me. Even though I call him by name in my mind and in this writing, he is pure Blue Man when he performs, a perfect blend of curiosity/innocence and raw, primal energy. He. Kicks. Ass.

Clean Up and Turn Down
We ushers were told to make it to stage left when the AIDS charity announcement came on after the show, but we decided we should leave during the final DNA screen in order to make it out and around before the crowd started to fill the aisles. Mere practically LEAPED over the stairs--a girl on a mission! LOL. We were given bags and gloves and were just supposed to go through the aisles and pick up all the trash lying around. I wish I'd thought to tie my hair back, but of course by the time I remembered my hands were all gross with floor and alcohol. Eventually I stopped caring and ran a rather wet latex glove through my hair to push it back--mmmmMMMMmm. It was a pretty big space to clean, so it took us a while, but there's always something satisfying about going through a row, and then turning to see clean black where it was all drink cups and paper and playbills before. Karen liked the cleaning too, haha... Too bad cleaning my room isn't nearly as fun as cleaning a Blue Man theatre. *nerdface* After everything was picked up, we toted the bags out to the dumpsters and were free to go.
Back at the hotel, a couple of us took showers, and we all got ready for some much-needed sleep. But we ended up talking and laughing for so long that it was probably after 2 by the time we got into bed... And Cyn and I in the same room, that late at night, having never met before, is a bad bad idea. Mere conked out on the other bed (where Karen was), but Cyn and Karen and I were awake for hours, talking and laughing about the most random, dorkish things (mostly the crazy chats Cyn and I have had online). At one point there was a lull, and I said "hm, this bed is cushy" to which Cyn said, "yeah, like Mike Brown." I guess she'd been talking about something else, but neither Karen or I realized, so that was really bizarre, haha. And I just realized that's the third time I've mentioned Mike Brown in here. Ummm it's ok though because he used to be a Chicago Blue Man! Um. *lurkface* Anyways, it was about 5 AM when we suddenly settled down as the sun began to rise. In 5 or so hours we'd be getting up and getting ready for the 10-1 Fanmeet event at the Briar (d'oh!). Amazingly, we didn't even keep Mere up, or get any angry calls from the Front Desk to keep it down. Hehe. It was so worth it though, because anything is worth laughing that damn hard.