Blue Man Group

For my birthday, on Saturday the 17th, I took the family to see the Blue Man Group at the Gwinnett Arena. We had seen a PBS special on their tour and really enjoyed it, so I thought the show would be a great family birthday present.

We knew Derek would get himself too worked up, so we didn't tell him about it for a while. But we decided to let him know a few days before the event to let the anticipation build.

We met my cousin Tom and his son for breakfast in the morning. They were in from Arkansas to do some sightseeing and take in the Falcon-Buccaneer game on Sunday. Tom is a big Buc fan and our Falcons did not disappoint.

I had tennis and the boys had basketball in the morning, but were able to get naps in the afternoon. For dinner, our favorite mexican restaurant was too crowded and we were a little pushed for time anyway, so we settled for a pre-show meal at Wendy's - always a kid pleaser.

The crowd was diverse. There were lots of kids with their families. The opening act was Mike Relm, a mix-master extraordinaire who did lots of cool\funny visual and sound mixes. The Blue Man Group came on afterwards and didn't disappoint. The show is basically about the Blue Man Group ordering a "How to be a Rock Star" kit from an infomercial. The kit includes a dvd that the group plays on the big screens for the audience to see. The dvd shows shows numbered rock concert moves:

"Rock concert movement #1: the basic head-bob, rock concert movement #2: the one armed fist pump. In a moment it will be time to execute rock concert movement #3: the up and down jumping motion: Here are your instructions: step 1: bend your knees step and then jump into the air, step 2: let gravity bring you down and upon landing rock your head forward, step 3: repeat. Ready go..."

The whole encore thing has always been a uncomfortable for me. We all know the band is coming back out, but how long do we stand here and cheer? With the Blue Man Group, as soon as they left the stage, the big screens displayed "Rock concert movement #48: The fake ending" and the group came back out for their encore.

It was a very entertaining show with lots of visual effects and all the rock concert movements kept everyone into it. The kids loved holding up our cell phones with the crowd to illuminate the arena. All in all we had a great time. Here are a couple other You Tube links of their songs we really liked in concert (I Feel Love and Baba O'Riley).