Recycled Percussion Band Rocks Out on Nieuw Amsterdam

Special thanks to HAL’s Bill Prince for this post and Nieuw Amsterdam’s Hotel Director Marco van Belleghem for the great photos.

On Nov. 22 the Nieuw Amsterdam welcomed America’s Got Talent finalists Recycled Percussion. As the guests entered the show lounge, they received a drum stick and a piece of kitchen equipment as their instrument. The show started of highly energetic and the cooperation between the performers and the guests was an amazing experience. The guests were totally into the performance and the show was very well received. Both performances were full. Guests loved it and numerous positive comments were received from the guests about the unique entertainment that had been provided. This was definitely a show not to be missed!

Marco A. M. van Belleghem, Hotel Director
ms Nieuw Amsterdam

Recycled Percussion – a four-member band whose high-energy rock act involves ladders, buckets, power tools and electric guitars – is currently performing aboard five Caribbean sailings on ms Nieuw Amsterdam and ms Westerdam. Recycled Percussion was the highest-placing non-singing act ever to appear on “America’s Got Talent” and has enjoyed extended runs at both the MGM Grand and Tropicana hotels in Las Vegas. The group’s fast-paced, highly interactive, audience-participation shows involve lots of drumming on objects ranging from 12-foot ladders to low-tech drum kits suspended upside-down at center stage, as well as sounds produced by household appliances (vacuum cleaners, fans) and power tools (circular saws, drills).

Recycled Percussion is slated to play three performances on each of five cruises on Nieuw Amsterdam and Westerdam from mid-November through mid-December. They showcase their extreme talents while performing a variety of musical genres, from classic rock to today’s hits. To accommodate the show, HAL installed the elaborate “Great Wall of Percussion,” a suspended 3,000-pound contraption with four drum kits created from cans and recycled buckets. The band is strapped into seats at the drum kits and performs as the Wall rotates from upright to upside-down. The reaction from guests has been overwhelmingly positive. “Recycled Percussion was jaw-dropping,” commented one. Another said, “Recycled Percussion was the best show I’ve seen in 15 cruises.”