Blue Man Group

New York City-originated performance art/band Blue Man Group are much better known for their interactive, energetic live shows than their actual music, which, while it certainly isn't bad, remains mostly in the generic, arena rock friendly realm: to listen to it solely on its own gets a little tedious. Such is in fact the case with their album How to Be a Megastar Live!, which, as may be inferred, is taken from their How to Be a Megastar 2.1 tour. Which means, then, that it's the concert DVD that's really the draw of this package, as it's the visuals, the way the three Blue Men interact with themselves and the audience, that makes them unique and interesting. The show is based around the idea of a "Rockstar Instructional Manual" (complete with an infomercial by Fred Armisen), but there are plenty of percussive tricks (all three are impressive PVC pipe players, a fact of which is lost on the CD), pulling audience members from the crowd, and on-stage physical comedy (as the Men are, in fact, mute). In one scene, a Blue Man catches gumballs in his mouth, and then proceeds to spit the paint onto the shirt of a volunteer, while the other Blue Man catches over a dozen marshmallows in his own mouth and builds an antenna on the hat of another. The actual songs during the show all sound pretty similar -- rhythm heavy electric rock numbers -- but the inclusion of covers of the Who's "Baba O'Riley," Donna Summer's "I Feel Love," and Pink Floyd's "One of These Days" help to break this up. How to Be a Megastar is certainly an engaging and innovative show, enough so that even those who haven't seen it before will be impressed and entertained by the DVD, but the actual CD component, while undoubtedly well performed, leaves a little to be desired. [A DVD/CD package featuring the DVD itself as the main attraction was also released.] ~ Marisa Brown, All Music Guide