Blue Man Group @Astor Place Theatre, Sept. 29th

The day started literally with a bang, as I managed to blow out my knee doing a sweep kick in kung fu class earlier that afternoon. Owie. I hope this will not keep me away from gigging too long!

Unfortunate as the patellar trauma was, I was determined not to dwell upon it for too long, as it was my birthday weekend. As part of my superduper present, Bestest Boy surprised me by taking me to see Blue Man Group, a New York institution I had never caught before. While not a gig in the traditional sense, the show featured an eclectic blend of visual and aural stimulation that was interesting, challenging, bizarre and oftentimes, hysterical. The Blue Men found innovative ways to create music, with a focus on percussion, and a backup band providing elements of rock and dance through drums, electric guitar and keyboard. It also explored themes involving technology, science, society and art, among other things. A really amusing skit involved instruction on how to be a rock star.

I had a blast seeing the stolid, blue trio, and the show (and my company) proved to be a nice analgesic to the day's earlier knee-jolting experience.

The LED display at the beginning of the show wished me well -- "HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVEN" it said...oops!