Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Life of longtime Blue Man Group musician Jason Mackenroth to be celebrated Thursday

Jason Mackenroth

Todd Waetzig

Jason Mackenroth spent eight years with Blue Man Group, finishing his run Christmas Eve. He died of prostate cancer Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016.

Click to enlarge photo

Jason Mackenroth, center, is shown with his band Mack, a solo project that was a passion of his during his time with Blue Man Group.

That time-honored saying about never missing a beat applied to Jason Mackenroth.

“He was very precise. He was a guy who could write out all the parts, and when he was onstage he would pretend to be in a recording studio making a cut,” says Blas Elias, long a friend and bandmate of Mackenroth's in Blue Man Group. “He wanted every night to be perfect.”

Mackenroth held fast to his characteristics of precision and personal power until the end of his life, which ended Jan. 3 after a battle with prostate cancer. His final performance in BMG’s show at Luxor was just two weeks earlier, on Christmas Eve. He was 45. A celebration of life service is set for Mackenroth at 2 p.m. Thursday at Epic Church at 8755 W. Warm Springs Road, Suite 105, near Durango Drive in the southwest valley.

Mackenroth was a busy musician and an accomplished artist, performing with Blue Man Group for eight years and backing the Rollins band for six years ending in 2004. He also fronted his solo project, Mack, with Elias as his drummer.

“He wanted to be out front, to try it as a frontman, and asked me to be on the drums,” Elias says. “It’s a huge honor for a drummer of Jason’s quality to ask you to play drums in his band.”

Elias had worked with Mackenroth during his entire run at BMG, and he also is well-known as the drummer for the Las Vegas-launched band Slaughter.

Mackenroth had fought his illness for four years but showed little signs of weakness even up until the days leading to his passing.

“You know, he never let on that he was suffering. He was the strongest guy you would ever meet,” Elias recalls. “He would go through chemo and radiation treatments, then come in that same day and play like nothing had happened.”

Realizing the radiation treatments would eventually rob him of his long, brown hair, Mackenroth shaved his head. Partially.

“He shaved a mohawk, like he was getting ready for battle,” Elias says, chuckling slightly. “He was like a warrior getting ready for battle. It was like he was ready, in case he lost his hair, he already had a jump on it.”

For Mackenroth, performing fueled the fight.

“He started to have some trouble walking, and you could see that it was taking its toll, but when Jason got behind that kit, it was like nothing was wrong," Elias says. “What gave him the will to keep fighting, in my opinion, was playing. That really kept him alive.”

Near the end of his life, Mackenroth fulfilled a rudimentary appointment.

“He went to the dentist,” Elas says. “He needed to have his teeth checked. A regular checkup. He just refused to give in.”

Mackenroth is survived by his wife, Janet (“Jaye”) Mackenroth, and sons Javan and Joren, along with his father and mother, Dave and Gail Mackenroth, and siblings Anne Dunlap, Scott Mackenroth and Arlene Mackenroth. A GoFundMe campaign for the family is posted here to aid Janet and Joren Mackenroth with expenses so that they can remain in Nevada until Joren graduates from high school this June.

“Every time I come to the show and sit behind the drums, I think of him,” Elias says. “No matter what mood I’m in, I start to feel better. He was a real friend, a great player and an inspiration. I am lucky to have known him.”

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.

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