Category: Reviews

A Look Back at the Worlds and in Particular the Playing in Grade 1

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Firstly, congratulations to all the bands who made the prizes last Saturday and commiserations to those who didn’t. The latter can console themselves with the fact that they made their contribution to what was a spectacular occasion carried off with some elan by the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association and its army of dedicated officials and adjudicators. This is the biggest participative musical event in the country with 8,000 bandsmen…

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P/M Stuart Liddell and Inveraray’s Great Win at the 2017 Worlds

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And so a small, whitewashed township on the shores of Loch Fyne in the heart of Argyll has become capital of the pipe band world. From lowly beginnings local lad P/M Stuart Liddell has taken his band up the grades from Juvenile to the very peak. No wonder he wept as RSPBA Chief Executive Ian Embelton read out the ever-to-be-remembered lines ‘Grade 1 World Champions for 2017…… [Ian is a…

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PP Ed’s Blog: Worlds Viewing/ Book Launches/ RACPADS Sponsor

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Worlds Grade 1 Qualifying gets underway shortly. It is raining and overcast in Glasgow. Cape-wearing weather but not cold. Those not managing to Glasgow Green can watch the action here, details courtesy the RSPBA: The Grade 1 qualification on Friday will again be streamed live by Inner Ear on behalf of Glasgow Life. The stream will consist of only the main arena and not the secondary arena. Online viewers will see…

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‘RISE’, the 23rd Annual Worlds Weeks Pipe Band Concert by Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia

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Straight off the bat, we’ll avoid the mumbo jumbo about the Pre Worlds’ Concert (PWC) band having the best chance of winning the big title itself a few days later.  It’s one of those unconscious bias things we have, and in most recent times only FMM has done it. A double-edged sword perhaps. All that practice and time spent on the programme content, whilst the competitive edge may not really…

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Good Advice from MacStig on Playing in Arena 1

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‘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…

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