So over the past couple of weeks I have been crossing the country from my home in California, first to NYC then Boston, then back to SF then off to Las Vegas - a total of 11 days on the road. I have a lot to say about the trip, and a lot of event and restaurant and wine and interviews and stuff to talk about but we will start with The Blue Man Group, which I actually saw on the last day of the trip, due to a chance meeting near the first day of the trip.

While the story about how I ended up with tickets in the front orchestra for a Sunday performance is interesting, it is not as interesting as the show itself. Now with my wife, partner and all-round amazing woman who sticks by me for more than my knowledge of a wine list on my arm, we head over to The Venetian and The Blue Man Theater. Head to the bar, grab a cocktail and make our way to the seat. Right away you have a sense that you are in for a treat when the left and right pillars begin speaking to you via a dot matrix display, red text on black ala Jenny Holzer.

Once the audience has taken the seats, and the LEDS have scrolled out messages and instructions, the stage opens to exactly what you expect: three blue dudes. What you don’t expect is the entire rest of the show.

The Blue Man Group has successfully combined Art, Science and Rock and Roll into such an entertaining performance of anything that I have seen since U2 dragged the ZooTV tour around the US. First off lets start with the Blue Men themselves. A trio of silent performers that speak only with their actions, most of which are minimalist head turns, arm waves or a deep stare down with bright eyes embedded in blue grease-painted bald heads. Creepy and yet endearing. They are obviously not from my neighborhood, nor my state for that matter, yet they are not so strange as to be aliens. With expressionless stares and percision timing The Blue Man Group takes you through a series of sets that incorporate visually splendid performance pieces set against a Phil Spector-style Wall of Sound. And throughout the performance, just when you think that things are explosive and can’t be topped…a BOOM and a BANG and they are off in another direction, providing another level of curiosity and amazement at their ability to make music from plumbing material, sonic percussions and eye bending graphical displays.

Now, what really got me excited about these guys was the educational value that was intertwined in their performance. I learned about cones and rods and nodes and networks and stuff I would have remembered from science class had I actually attended science class. They also reminded me about the concept or phrase about great music, that its not always the notes that are great, but the spaces between the notes. Their performance was restrained and yet massive at the same time, stopping at just the right moment for the audience to take it all in.

Now notice I am not telling you about each little bit they do. You have to go see it for yourself. If I were to describe it to you then a.) you wouldn’t need to to go and b.) I wouldn’t even begin to do it justice. Book your next trip to Vegas. Get tickets to The Blue Man Group. While we weren’t able to get a room at the Venetian we did stay a night at TI, which is right across the street from the BMG Theater and quite nicely remodeled for about a 100 bucks. It makes it a convenient walk in the 109 degree heat we had to deal with.

Seriously Blue Man Group for the win! They were brilliant performers, exceptional entertainers and above that, groundbreakingly entertaining. Like nothing you will see in a while, and I have seen quite a lot.