STOMP: When Everyday Objects Turned Into Music at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre

Vancouver, the sounds of STOMP were just incredible! The London percussion show finished its four-performance run at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre this weekend, November 14 to 16, and it was a completely unique experience.

If you missed it, the whole idea behind STOMP is wonderfully simple: they take everyday household and industrial objects and turn them into musical instruments. Co-founder Luke Cresswell explains that they just “make a rhythm out of anything we can get our hands on that makes a sound.”

This means you watch eight performers transforming dustbins, plumbing fixtures, radiator hoses, and even old boots into a percussive symphony. You see synchronized, stiff-bristle brooms creating a sweeping rhythm section, or Zippo lighters flipping open and closed to make a delicate, sharp sound sequence. They communicate wordlessly through movement and rhythm, blending visual comedy with incredibly precise percussion.

STOMP has been going for over 30 years since it started as a street performance in the UK, and it has since played for more than 28 million people across 50 countries. It had runs of 15 years in London’s West End and 29 years at New York’s Orpheum Theatre, and has won numerous honors, including an Olivier Award.