Blue Man Group - The Complex Rock Tour Live (DVD, 2003)

I bought this music video because I'd seen the BMG in person but had not seen the Complex Rock Tour show. One of the features I loved about the video and the reason why I bought it was it featured Venus Hum lead songstress and siren Annette Strean and that fabulous electric dress.

Unfortunately Strean's singing career and tours with Venus Hum were temporarily, or as some might argue, permanently derailed due to a serious throat condition Strean suffers.

This album features Strean performing a repackaged alternative rock version of "I'm in Love" from our near-long-forgotten disco era.

Strean's vocals are impressive and colorful. Its a miracle that the video was made featuring her, but a terrible shame that we might never hear her vocals again. At least not the way she sand them.

The tour video includes other guest entertainers who contribute music and lyrics to the show.

Briefly the video opens in classic BMG style with an at-first subtle tube, a curtain obscuring what appears to be a single performer drumming on some tubes, and then slides into a dramatic crescendo. As the curtain is lifted the "orchestra" is revealed and one counts at least 4 drummers, 4 guitars and numerous other musicians onstage.

What makes this performance "complex" is the use of conventional alternative rock performers, conventional rock musicians, and a blend of all of the above with the traditional BMG instruments (essentially PVC pipes and other objects beaten with kitchen spatulas, drum sticks and the like).

Interspersed with this musical performance is a humorous narration by an off-screen, professional movie-trailer narrator, and some cute video effects on a huge screen monitor behind the band; all of which are followed by the Blue Men as they fake being naive' and perform brilliantly.

This one's a keeper and there are no trade-ins allowed.

This is a must for anyone with 5.1 sound! Classic Blue Man. The classic, comedic, and surprising Blue Men will not let you down here. The flip/disk2 has a few mind-blowing DVD audio 5.1 songs that are the best I have ever heard. Annette Strean/Venus Hum and Tracy Bonham add a nice variety to the performance. Annete's "I Feel Love" with the electroluminescent dress is awesone! The Dave Mathews songs (a couple) are a bit drab but the rest of the concert is amazing. Turn up your equipment and your wide screen and rock the house! Safe and fun for all ages. This one is an incredible sound, stage, and light experience for young and old.

The Blue Man Group is a highly entertaining music group that uses unusual items for drums and is backed up by a great rock band of multiple drummers, guitar players, and other instuments. They paint themselves blue and never utter a word but communicate through a projection screen. I know all of this sounds extremely odd, (and it is), but they are very entertaining and comical. They appeal to many age groups. The music is more rock than not and the beat of their "drums" so captivating! Everyone should try them! I saw them first on TV and then searched ebay for one of their DVDs. This DVD is dual track: one side is the video and the other the music with still shots of the concert. Great entertainment!

In addition to the 14 Complex Rock Tour Live tracks are 3 full-length bonus music videos of “Sing Along,” “The Current,” and “Exhibit 13.” Also note that this is a double-sided DVD disc. Side B contains 3 songs from the 5.1 Surround Sound (DTS and Dolby Surround) version of the album, The Complex. The songs are “Above,” “Your Attention,” and “Sing Along.”

It contains the best song in rock history, "I Feel Love," sung by Annette Strean of Venus Hum, while surrounded and accompanied by the full Blue Man Group band, lights, props, personnel, and power acoustics. It contains a variety of very good different songs, tunes, graphics, videos and animation.

This disc is far more enjoyable than the live regional concerts the Blue Man Group puts on in smaller cities. If you are thinking about going to a Blue Man Group concert in a town smaller than Chicago or Atlanta (like I did), forget it. Buy this disc instead, saving yourself at least $50.00. You will have a far better time watching this disc with a big screen and a good sound system than you will at a mid-size city Blue Man Group concert.

Good Luck