The Blue Man Group

I personally feel that percussionists are always trying to make some sort of new sound. Well this past week I had the pleasure of being able to experience percussion unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I was able to watch The Blue Man Group. The Blue Man Group is a group of three percussionists who have innovated the world of percussion and sound design by creating rhythms and melodies while using unique things. So what is The Blue Man Group all about?

Chris Wink, Phil Stanton & Matt Goldman, founded the Blue Man Group. The Blue Man Group is very unique in their branding and creation concept. The Blue Men are bald because Chris, Phil & Matt wanted to create a character that was “exposed and stripped down”. They wanted to get “below the cultural mask”. These three were fans of Butoh dancers from Japan. These dancers were bald and covered themselves in a grey powder. They felt that their baldness added a sense of vulnerability and emotional nakedness. Another influence behind the creation of The Blue Men was the Silver Surfer. The Silver Surfer is also bald but the founders felt as if the baldness meant something completely opposite from that of the Butoh dancers. In the Silver Surfer’s case the baldness contributed to his persona of a superhero. So all in all the founders believe that The Blue Men’s baldness gives off a sense of emotional nakedness, vulnerability and a superhero’s persona simultaneously. However, the amount of Blue Men, three, was not planned and the color blue ‘just felt right”. Next is the Blue Men’s origins, where are these guys from? Well the founders did not want them to be aliens but instead characters coming to life from a painting. However, that idea was scratched and instead they left that part of the story out. They left it to the audience’s imagination. That’s some insight on the Blue Man Group and its inception but now allow me to talk about my experience.

I was blown away by how creative percussion can be. Yea I have heard of using PVC pipes and an instrument and oil barrels but cereal? That part of the show really captured my attention and ultimately made my night! To see that percussionists are going beyond to find new sounds and creative ones at that truly inspires me as a drummer. What I took away from the show was to never let go of what you love! If you love drums then find a new sound, different dynamic, different wood, different style or different way of doing something! All in all be creative, be unique and bang away!