MomMomOnTheGo and crew headed out last night to enjoy the Stomp performance that was at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver, BC.
The performers “make a rhythm out of anything we can get our hands on that makes a sound,” says Co- Founder/Director Luke Cresswell.
Synchronized stiff-bristle brooms become a sweeping orchestra, eight Zippo lighters flip open and closed to create a fiery fugue; wooden poles thump and clack in a rhythmic explosion. STOMP uses everything but conventional percussion instruments – dustbins, tea chests, radiator hoses, boots, hub caps – to fill the stage with a compelling and unique act that is often imitated, but never duplicated.
In our party for the show were two adults and my 9 year old Little One.
The crowd appeared to be a sell out and had mainly adults, but there were numerous families at the performance including kids that appeared to be as young as about 6 years old.
The performance is family friendly and I believe that any age that can sit still for a performance that is approximately two hours without an intermission, will enjoy what they see and hear. My biggest recommendation for the younger fans as well as for anyone who is sensitive to loud noise, would be to bring along a pair of earplugs. There are a couple of times where the energy from the performers is flowing so magically and passionately that the music can become quite loud. I found it a little loud a couple of times and my 9 year old agreed with me. Even the performers visibly wear ear plugs for the more loud percussion acts. 🙂
I want to try and paint a picture of what you can expect from Stomp….. After all, it isn’t just a banging or tapping anything you can find type of show.
The performers are amazing to say the least. They do not say a single word during the entire show. There are a couple of grunts etc. but no audible word is heard from start to finish. Yet every step of the way throughout the show, the audience knows exactly what the performers are conveying, expressing, or essentially saying.
The performers involve the audience in their performance. They are also quite expressive and incredibly funny in their performance. So you just don’t get to hear captivating music created from everyday objects, you also get to enjoy a performance that is fueled by the performers personalities and love for what they are doing. You can feel their energy, excitement, passion, and love for a good beat flow out over the audience.
I personally loved that the almost two hour performance had no intermission as it just kept the excitement and flow of the show going. I was totally surprised though when the show was over and 2 hours had passed as it seemed like hardly any time had elapsed. I was also surprised with the ability of the 8 performers’ endurance to do what they did for that length of time with no break. The show appears quite physically demanding on the performers and undoubtedly, their passion of visible enjoyment in what they are doing is what keeps them going with no break.
I was shocked by a couple of things….
There was absolutely no photos permitted, which I understand this rule for during the performance, but I did not understand the reasoning behind not permitting photos of the stage prior to the start of the show. There were ushers running around everywhere making people that took a photo of the stage before the performance delete the photos they had taken. I am sure that this rule restricts the social media buzz that those photos create for a performance such as this.
I was also shocked at there being only a single display in the lobby of the venue and no t-shirts or memorabilia for sale. I cannot remember any other performance that I have ever attended where there was no memorabilia for sale.
Everyone in my party agreed that Stomp is a must see performance. It has been taking the world by storm and getting amazing reviews. It really is a performance that grabs the audience’s attention from the first performer’s entrance, to the encore that they came out for. Even with one encore, the audience could not get enough and really did not want to leave or have the performance end.
As far as seats, I cannot speak for all venues, but this is the type of show that I would say that there is not a bad seat in the house. Grab whatever seat you can at any of the performances because this is a not to be missed show of a lifetime.
If you are local to Vancouver, Stomp is performing from now until January 15th, 2017.
LISTING INFORMATION STOMP: The International Percussion Sensation
Date: Jan 13 (8pm), Jan 14 (2pm & 8pm), Jan 15 (3pm)
Ticket prices: $55/$71/$82
Address: Queen Elizabeth Theatre
600 Block Hamilton St.
Vancouver, BC
Box Office: ticketstonight.ca or 1-877-840-0457
Website: stomponline.com
Disclosure: MomMomOnTheGo was provided tickets for the purpose of conducting this review. As always, MomMomOnTheGo only supports companies, products, and services that she loves.