Good Advice from MacStig on Playing in Arena 1

‘They seek him here, they seek him there, those pipers seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven or is he in hell, the elusive pipe band pimpernel?’  The MacStig algorithm and spreadsheet stack is more complex than the Cameronian Rant. I’m trying to keep tabs on who is where and when this hectic week. I have been a moving target all week, dipping in and out of practices around Glasgow…

PP Ed’s Blog: Perth Cancelled as Worlds Week Continues Apace

Pipers and drummers in and around Glasgow will hardly have time to draw breath today as the momentum continues to build towards Saturday's World Pipe Band Championships. Tonight we have the sell-out Shotts & Dykehead 'Rise' concert, the main attraction of Worlds Week, with over 2,000 enthusiasts heading for the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Check out PP tomorrow for our review of what is sure to be a stellar evening….

Weekend Grade 2 Round-Up and Look Ahead to the World Championships

Some say the only tunes he knows are the ones he takes when he has a cold….others suspect he is a band bus driver on the make, even more that he’s the pay of the RSPBA. All we know is he’s called MacStig…… Phew! That was the weekend that was. To be dubbed the ‘wet and wetter weekend’, as band enthusiasts and bands tried to cram in both main Scottish…

PP Editor’s Blog: Fintan Lalor/ Gary Innes/ Lochaber/ Highland Games/ Poll result/ McCallum’s Marathon

Following John Kelly’s informative feature on the history of the All-Ireland Pipe Band Championship, Patrick Byrne has sent us this atmospheric picture (above). It is of the famous Fintan Lalor Pipe Band parading through the streets of Dublin in the 1960s.  Can anyone help us to identify the pipers? Black mark to Gary Innes (pictured) the presenter of BBC Radio Scotland’s popular ‘Take the Floor’ country dance music show. In…

Argyllshire Gathering Publishes Draws for this Year’s Competitions

The Argyllshire Gathering will take place in Oban later this month, on August 23 and 24. The Gathering always attracts the best pipers in the world and as such has much to offer the piping enthusiast too. The picturesque setting and the march to the games field on the second day make this Gathering unique in world piping. The picture above shows last year’s Gold and Silver Medallists, Nick Hudson…