When you’re three years old, banging on a pot with a wooden spoon is second nature. But by the time you’re pushing 20, a lot of people don’t even consider country tuneage to be music. Somewhere between three and 20, people have drastically narrowed their definition of “musical instrument.”

There is a group of men and women, however, who hearken back to the days when everything contained sound, and they’re bringing their show, Stomp, to the Civic Center in Des Moines for shows Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m.

Stomp pounds together all of the elements of a great rock show with a stage production. “It’s a cross between going to the theater and going to a concert,” said Matthew Pollock, Stomp member for the past year and a half. “It takes percussion and theatricalizes it. But it’s percussion with sound objects or non-traditional percussion instruments.”

The members of Stomp steal stuff from all around the house and garage and transform these objects — from newspapers to sand to yes, the kitchen sink — into sound and rhythm. “It’s not that our instruments are so unusual; the things we use are incredibly usual,” Pollock explained. “We use brooms, matchboxes, trashcans, metal piping, sinks, hammer handles, anything possible to make sound. One is called ‘Hands and Feet’ where we use just our bodies.”

And while Stomp is a treat to the eardrums and skin — you’re gonna feel the vibration — those aren’t the only senses that will relish the show: there’s even expression of individual members through their percussion. “While there is no plot, there are definite characters,” Pollock said. “There’s eight people on stage with different personalities. It’s 90 minutes of a rhythmic journey.”

Stomp is the brainstorm of two former street performers, Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas. Now, four or five years later, over 20 individual members of the Stomp troupe make up three groups, two of which tromp all over the country on tour (the other stays in the Big Apple).

These two men heard sounds and rhythms in everyday objects that other people usually overlook (overhear?). “Most take the natural rhythm of life for granted,” Pollock explained. “The creators [of Stomp] didn’t take it for granted; they saw a broom as more than a broom: it has sound when you sweep with it and hit it to get off the dust. It’s a matter of seeing past the everyday use of it.”

Now that the eight-member group will make a stop in Des Moines, central Iowans have a chance to experience the show for itself. And that’s the only way you’ll know what it’s all about. “The only way you can really get the feel for it is to see it,” Pollock said. “That may sound like a cop-out, but there’s no way to describe it.”

Stomp’s effect is so far-reaching, Pollock said, that even after the show, people will notice little things about stuff around the house that they never noticed before. “People who see the show afterwards are sweeping the kitchen or sweeping anywhere with a broom and hear the brushing sound, and the next thing you know, they’ll say, ‘Oh, that is there,'” Pollock said.

And Stomp isn’t just for the young set, or those who dig theater, or musician-types. No, this show will please the entire gamut of audience members. “The reason everyone likes it is that it is universal,” Pollock said.

“Rhythm and music have no boundaries of age, race, religion, sex, nationality . . . You have five-year-olds sitting next to 80-year-olds, laughing at the same spots and groovin’ in the same places. You’ve got hip, Euro-trash sitting next to Mr. and Mrs. Jones.”

So make sure you get tickets to this ear-pleasing show. “When I first saw the show before I was in it, I was like, ‘Oh, my God,'” Pollock said.

“It will change your perception of theater. It’s not stuffy at all; it’s a party.”

Tickets for Stomp cost $24, $19 and $15, with a 10% discount for groups of 20 or more. They are available at the Civic Center Box Office and all Ticketmaster outlets.