Live Review: Blue Man Group - Esch sur Alzette 2019

Rockhal, Esch sur Alzette, Luxembourg
1st March 2019
Blue Man Group

After the BLUE MAN GROUP’s concerts in autumn 2017 were sold out for a week in the capital’s National Theatre as part of their world tour, the men in blue returned to the Grand Duchy from 28 February to 3 March. Their world tour, which took place this time at the Rockhal, was just as spectacular as last year. This spectacle was definitely an unforgettable and brightly coloured party for all generation. Insights into an evening full of art, music and comedy can be read here.

The creation of the BLUE MAN GROUP goes back to three young artists and close friends, Chris Wink, Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton who had the idea for these blue painted, silent fantasy figures in 1987. BLUE MAN GROUP currently has continuing theatrical productions in Berlin, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, New York City, and Orlando. In July 2017, BLUE MAN GROUP was bought by CIRQUE DU SOLEIL, who announced that they would expand the concept. Meanwhile there are about 40 blue clones appearing all over the world. With their blue, sticky heads - the special, greasy colour is applied to a hair cover and does not dry - they are interchangeable. Their show is a mixture of music, performance, circus, video art and acting that often involves the audience.



Here’s a little side fact: why are the blue men actually blue? There are two explanations for this: On the one hand blue is a colour without negative connotations - if you can attribute something aggressive to red and something combative to green, blue is quite neutral. On the other hand, blue is the favourite colour of the BLUE MAN GROUP founders. However they are not attracted to just any shade of blue, but above all to the ultramarine blue “International Klein Blue”. The shade was developed and patented by the artist Yves Klein and established itself as a trademark of his famous picture compositions. Today, BLUE MAN GROUP producers try to imitate the hue as much as possible.



Music & Performance
Bright subtitles, three blue men and an evening that resembles a children’s birthday party. Once again, the BLUE MAN GROUP was doing what it does best: drumming, spraying paint and creating fantasy worlds. This was nothing new, but it was well received by the audience of the Rockhal and created a good atmosphere - also thanks to a great crowd. The BLUE MAN GROUP presented a colourful firework of music, art and humour during their one and a half hour performance. In short or longer sketches, various themes were treated humorously and the audience was skilfully snatched out of reality. The constant involvement of the audience was only one factor among many that make the evening varied and thrilling. The men in blue provided for food and drink, there were gifts like at OPRAH and they provided information about how to deal with modern media.



As many mothers still use to say nowadays: “Do not play with food”. But the three men had apparently never heard of this interdiction, or did they not care? Probably. They threw marshmallows and kicked cornflakes. Much of what landed in their open mouths was spat out again. And could be declared as an object of pure art afterwards. In addition, the modern sewerage system was explained and etiquette rules for the first date were established. It gave brief insights into the world of dentistry and the essential basics of neurobiology and rock music. All this succeeded without a single spoken word of the BLUE MAN GROUP and the pure principle of action and reaction. Because as soon as one blue man from the group did something new and extraordinary, the other two stared first at him and then at the audience, as if to provoke a reaction. The naivety of the naked blue faces repeatedly triggered hysterical laughing fitted in the audience. The latter contributed significantly to a good mood on this evening.



They went along with any nonsense: waved and clapped in the given rhythm, spoke prescribed words, which were displayed on LED displays, and laughed when one blue man threw countless rubber balls into the other's mouth, got out of time with a musical interlude, or the shiny face was decorated with cornflakes. Also a few oversized light balls, colourful, meter-long streamers and some music were enough to entertain an entire hall. After 90 minutes the show ended abruptly. The spectators were torn out of the fantasy world by the bright light of the ceiling lighting. Most of them, especially the younger ones, still waited full of expectation in their seats, a cleaning troop storms in and scrubbed the last bit of paint off the stage in a hurry. Somehow it went way too fast. But that's not a bad sign at all. Quite the opposite.



A little consolation: The artists were waiting in the foyer to cover the guests with blue paint, feeding them with gummy bears or kept a small part of the illusion with them in a souvenir photo. All in one, the organisers of A-Promotions, the Rockhal as well as the crowd can look back on a colourful show spectacle at the end of the evening.

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All Pictures by Elena Arens