Kentish Gazette – Marlowe Theatre,Canterbury

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Drumming up a storm of a show.

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The drummers’ union was out in Canterbury in force last week with an awesome demonstration of percussion and orchestral drumming. My expectations were lowered by the presence of a poster quote, comparing it to the woeful cheese of Riverdance, but thankfully this was so much better.

Noise Ensemble has grown from its beginnings as a small show at the Edinburgh Fringe to a wonderful show of dance and drums. Actually, mainly drums.

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The 10 percussionists were playing the music ofCanterbury’s Ethan Lewis Maltby in a spectacular display of co-ordination and pure musicianship that had musicians such as myself cursing their overabundance of talent. Beautiful marimba and vibes’ playing mixed with martial snare and tom work and there were comedy interludes with flying drums and cable TV for drummers.

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Why this show has not become as big a hit as rival Stomp, I can’t understand.

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Review by Chris Denham