Copyright 1997-2007 Omniture, Inc. More info available at Mike Relm is one of the few people who gets to see the Blue Man Group without makeup.
They rsquo;re not always blue.
Sometimes they rsquo;re guys who have barbecues and play poker.
Other times they rsquo;re innovative musicians who mix blue paint, latex caps and rock music.
That rsquo;s what the audience will see on the ldquo;How To Be A Mega Star Tour 2.
0 rdquo; when it comes to the Wachovia Arena at 7:30 tonight. Today rsquo;s date is the final of the tour rsquo;s 62-date second half.
Relm, 29, a skratch musician, is opening.
ldquo;It rsquo;s been pretty amazing, rdquo; Relm said before a show in cold Madison, Wis. He did have some gripes about especially cold weather, but ldquo;when you go inside and 10,000 people are waiting to see you hellip;
ldquo;Well, not waiting to see me, but they rsquo;re gonna see me. rdquo;
And what exactly will they see?
The Beck song ldquo;Where It rsquo;s At rdquo; personified. The lyrics are, ldquo;I got two turntables and a microphone. rdquo; Add a Pioneer DVJ ndash; which scratches DVDs like a turntable manipulates records -- and a mixer, and you have Relm.
He mixes and layers movies and music, syncing them so the visual goes with the audio. And he can scratch either medium, creating an eye-catching mash-up.
Even eye catching to the men in blue.
They saw a video of Relm on YouTube.com and contacted him a few days after Christmas.
ldquo;They needed an opening act, rdquo; Relm said.
ldquo;It has been a great fit because the audience is ready for something different. They rsquo;re ready for something unique. They rsquo;re there for the Blue Man Group.
rdquo;
Relm had to revamp his set to make it family-oriented, splicing out clips from such movies as ldquo;Trainspotting rdquo; and other flicks that make indie hearts flip. He rsquo;s used to a college crowd, not an audience that includes 5-year-olds and their grandparents.
ldquo;My friends were like, lsquo;You rsquo;re not gonna do Bjork?
Why? rsquo; rdquo; he said. ldquo;Because two people out of 12,000 would get the reference.
Everyone else would say, lsquo;Who rsquo;s that? rsquo; rdquo; That rsquo;s not their fault. I only have a certain amount of time, and I don rsquo;t want to lose the audience at any point.
rdquo;
If you do miss Relm ndash; some people have been known to go to T.G.I.
Friday rsquo;s instead of catching his set, he said ndash; he rsquo;s playing a few festivals, such as Coachella and Rock the Bells, as well as the closing ceremonies at the Pan-Am Games.
Not too bad for the guy who was the International Turntablist Federation rsquo;s U.S, competition champion in 1999.
He followed that up with a second-place finish in the World Finals that year.
And that was before the DVJ really became a part of his equipment.
ldquo;Before that, I was dabbling in different things a DJ could do, like clubs and radio competitions, rdquo; he said.
ldquo;I didn rsquo;t have any kind of goal or vision of what I could be doing with it. It was fun, but it wasn rsquo;t something that could be taken on this level that I rsquo;m at now. rdquo;
Where: Wachovia Arena, Wilkes-Barre Township
.
com, ,
ldquo;It has been a great fit because the audience is ready for something different. They rsquo;re ready for something unique. They rsquo;re there for the Blue Man Group.
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