By Jet Burnham | [email protected]

Herriman High School’s Stampede Drumline halftime show began with drummers tapping their way up and down metal ladders in a catchy beat. It ended with power tools—fast spinning angle grinders hitting sheets of metal to create percussive beats and highflying orange sparks.

“The loudest cheers always come as soon as they hear those grinders start spinning up and realize what's about to happen,” senior Nathan Rowe said. “Usually the crowd gets pretty hyped-up, even people who've already seen it before.”

Stampede Drumline is a new performance group this year at HHS. They entertain audiences and athletes with their unique halftime shows and keep the energy high by filling timeouts and pauses in the game with catchy rhythms and grooves.

“We are up in the stands doing cadences whenever we can to keep the crowd on their feet,”  junior Carsen Powers said. “The drums are really loud on the basketball court. Everyone can feel it and hear it and it's easy to get into it.”

Compliments on their performance have come from both HHS and visiting spectators and athletic teams.

“We’ve received compliments from the coaches and the team saying that us being there gets them more ready to play, so we’re hyping up the team as much as we are the crowd,” Rowe said.

HHS is the first school in Jordan District to offer a drumline class. The idea to create a performance drumline group came from a student and was enthusiastically supported by Principal Todd Quarnberg. HHS Director of Percussion Nicholas Jackson had the passion for drumline and the connections to start the group’s inaugural year off with a bang.

Stampede’s winter show was one previously performed by UVU’s drumline, Green Man Group, which often uses nontraditional instruments and visual theatrics in their shows.

Most of the 15 members of Stampede have been playing percussion since middle school and have performed in ensemble bands and marching bands. Stampede Drumline provides an opportunity to expand their skills further.

“I think it's really cool to be able to say that I've played everything in percussion and to be able to experience all the different aspects,” Rowe said. “There's so many different things in percussion, so it's fun to try them all.”

Members of Stampede said it is a different experience than playing in a marching band drumline.

“It's more pep band and hyping the crowd rather than doing something for points and precision,”
Rowe said. “We still try to go for that, but it's a lot more fun.”

Junior Huck Coons said the visual impact is an important part of the performance.

“We’re concerned more about how it looks rather than how easy it is to play, or how good the sound you get on the ladder is,” he said.

Stampede will debut a new show this spring, which will entertain audiences at various sporting events and assemblies. Jackson said the new show will feature a moving drum set, among other surprises.

“There is a certain amount of show and flair that we have to have to be entertaining,” Jackson said. “We do add some funny, humorous, even flashy kind of elements to what we're doing.”