Skye Gathering 2017: Dunvegan Medal Critique

A few free days before the Worlds allowed an escape to the wonderful Isle of Skye and an opportunity to listen to some top class piobaireachd, writes the Editor. Portree was sunny and pleasant when I arrived, though the venue, the Skye Gathering Hall, cool. I missed the first two tunes in the Dunvegan Medal but was fortunate to hear the winning performance by Ian K MacDonald from Toronto. No…

Worlds – Grade 2 Review and Thoughts on the Day at Glasgow Green

Some say he wears a glengarry with his pyjamas….others that his kilt was at Culloden….yet more that his dress sense is more Prince, than Charlie. All we know is that he is called MacStig……. The climax of the 2017 Pipe Band Season arrived last Saturday at Glasgow Green, the home of the World Championships, with cold, overcast conditions, rain at times yet brightening towards evening. But enough of the weather………

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

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…

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

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…

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

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…