By Emiley Morgan
Playing on trash with your best friends is a dream for many but a reality for a group like Recycled Percussion, who turns trash into musical treasure.
The group performed Thursday at UVSC”s McKay Events Center as part of their “Rock Your Junk” tour and has made a name for themselves by taking discarded garbage and turning it into percussion instruments.
Based out of New Hampshire, the band has performed at various NBA and NFL halftimes and is known for their energetic performances.
It was this combination of originality and energy that prompted Jessica Jaynes, social chair for the associated students of UVSC, to bring the group back to UVSC, where Jaynes first saw them perform two years ago.
“The group themselves are unique in that everything that they use in terms of percussion are garbage,” Jaynes said. “They”re a high-energy performance group that involves the audience and they”re very entertaining.”
The performance included trash from old steel ladders to empty fire extinguishers to flattened hubcaps as cymbals, which all make their own, unique sound. The group merged rhythmic showmanship with legitimate musical talent to present a show that was both visually and acoustically engaging. The finale of the show was a rock medley featuring classic and contemporary rock songs from artists such as Led Zeppelin and Maroon 5.
Alex Williams, 13, from Alpine, said she was most impressed by the pyrotechnic display at the end of the show. She said Recycled Percussion was good enough to see again.
“It was really, really fun,” Williams said. “I would definitely come again if they did it.”
Zach Powell, 24, from Pleasant Grove, heard about the event from a friend and was pleasantly surprised by the performance. Powell shared Williams” enthusiasm for the event.
“It was awesome,” Powell said. “It was intense. The guys were awesome and fast.”
Recycled Percussion will continue to tour Utah through Tuesday, when the tour will take them to Denver. For a full list of tour dates visit the band”s Web site at www.recycledpercussion.com.
