The troupe started in New York and has gone on to create shows in venues large and small in Chicago, Boston, Las Vegas and elsewhere. Each show has three performers.
Their "How to Be a Megastar Tour 2.0" came to Joel Coliseum last night with all the spectacle, offbeat humor and audience interaction they have become known for over the years.
The opening act, Mike Relm, got the audience into the interactive spirit with audio-visual mashups of everything from Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin to Pee-Wee Herman and Peanuts cartoons. Ponchos were handed out to the people in the front row before Blue Man Group took the stage. Performances can involve splatter from water, paint and marshmallows flying through the air.
In the show, the Blue Men decide to become rock stars and go through basic training, learning all the tricks of the trade. In keeping with Blue Man Group tradition, the trio never speak, but they receive their instructions from a Ron Popeil-like infomercial host broadcast on giant screens to the right, left and back center of the stage. The Blue Men are accompanied by an eight-member band, including three percussionists (each with a huge, sprawling drum kit), a keyboardist, a singer, two guitarists and a bass player.
The Blue Men add to the percussion, playing music on standing drums, PVC pipes, flexible poles, and even a grand piano, on its side with its strings exposed.
The show was fun and frenetic, managing to be at once a parody of rock concerts and a fun concert in itself. As a parody, it was smart, sly and subversive, with homages to everything from smoke machines to glam-rock codpieces to obligatory encores. The backup band was terrific, and the lyrics of the songs were quirky and clever.
The Blue Men got the audience involved, leading the crowd in fist pumping, hand gesturing and waving cell phones as if they were cigarette lighters. At various points, they even descended into the crowd and dragged people on stage to become part of the act.