Yamato’s nine-piece taiko drumming ensemble leaves us breathless: a stunning display of intense percussion, thrilling choreography, and physical stamina. It’s been five years since Yamato last visited London in 2019, and six years since STOMP left the West End in 2018. We’ve been starved of these percussion-led shows that the whole family — and anyone of any language — can enjoy.

The core of the show feels like the ‘competitive’ quartet in the second half, where the four combatants wheel on drum after drum of increasingly larger sizes, in each drummer’s attempt to out-bang the other. It’s Yamato’s trademark humour, coupled with astounding synchronicity, in a musical piece that builds and builds. Another highlight is a trio of Japanese finger cymbals (chappa), ‘throwing’ and ‘catching’ the rhythm to each other.

It’s not all drumming, either: there’s audience participation (of course), and lots of ensemble singing and shouting, alongside tuned instruments like Japanese zither (koto) and Japanese lute (biwa). But drumming is what Yamato do best, and the opening group number in particular is what blows us away. Plus, there’s no denying the thrill of hearing THAT enormous “odaiko” drum finally revealed at the finale: this particular drum was produced from a huge tree over 400 years old, approximately two meters in diameter, and weighs 500 kg. For this monumental reveal, the drummer takes off his shirt to reveal his bare back, shredded with muscle, as he pounds the living daylights out of the drum skin.

The only slightly odd aspect of the show is the resolutely nineties ‘oriental’ aesthetic, with fake flickering lamps and a curtain backdrop of red flames that looks more like a cheap knock-off heavy metal CD. But despite the naff set-dressing, this show is pure class: try and bag a front row seat.

Playing at Sadlers Wells’ Peacock Theatre, 4 – 22 June 2024.