The Lost And Found Orchestra

From the (busking) streets of Brighton to the Olympic Stadium, it’s been an incredible journey for Stomp founders Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas; small fortunes have been made with an idea that apparently came about as a result of seeing the Drummers of Burundi carrying their drums on their heads… the formula hasn’t changed much: bang, brush, whirl, squeeze, push and pull all manner of ‘instruments’ that are often recycled from household items. But it’s a successful formula; light-hearted, good natured, and a chance to see pitch-perfect performance/street art performed in the wonderful atmospherics of The Dome.

The Lost & Found Orchestra is basically a piece of musical theatre, with a number of ‘songs’ enacted out by a large ensemble of mainly Brighton-based characters, most if not all great musicians in their own right. The players, with Cresswell often at the centre of the action as de facto conductor, move very fluidly around a multi-layered set. Without words (at least until a choir appears for the last 10 minutes), and with no discernible plot, it’s a joyful, often comedic, sometimes riotous, and always engaging piece that works because of the strength of the compositions, the movement of all the performers, the intricate and eye-catching staging and the overall pace of the show which flows like a symphony does; from pastoral and ambient moments, to passages of thunder and great energy. Musically touching on multi-faceted rhythms of the world but also, for this reviewer, the hobo carnivalesque sounds of Tom Waits circa Swordfishtrombone/Rain Dogs, it works very well as just music. But as part of a greater whole, it’s magical.

Concert Hall, Brighton Dome, 20 December 2012

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