If you have never been to Glasgow for the World Pipe Band Championships, it is like a mixture of Christmas coming early and the birth of your first child all in one. Excitement, trepidation, mixtures of emotions but, above all, the most enthralling time of the year for any pipe band enthusiast.
Piping Live – the week-long piping, drumming and celtic music festival held every year in Glasgow – has something for every punter. Solo piping recitals, drumming contests, the International Quartet competition, Pipe Idol for the youngsters, guest lectures and talks, and everything in between. This year’s festival was no different. Inveraray stunned at the Internation Quartet event amongst some of the top grade one bands in the world, People’s Ford Boghall and Bathgate put on a show at the annual Pre-Worlds Concert at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall that no one will forget any time soon, and there were pipe bands and solo pipers around every corner throughout Glasgow. If you haven’t been – you should put it on your bucket list. I can’t do it justice with words – there is just something electric about the week that will enthral and motivate even the most belligerent of piping and drumming fans.
But the set piece is the Friday and the Saturday of Piping Live – the World Pipe Band Championships. More than 200 bands over two days and across all of the grades battle it out for the world title. Four bands in the grade one had won a major championship each during the season – St Laurence O’Toole, Inveraray and District, Field Marshal Montgomery and People’s Ford Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia were all favourites. Fresh off winning the piping at the previous major, Shotts and Dykehead were also in contention. But Simon Fraser University were also in hot form and couldn’t be under-estimated. And what about Police Scotland Fife? They won the drumming earlier on at the United Kingdom Championships and were consistently in the top six – clearly a favourite in some people’s eyes.
A real indication of our talent coming through, Kiwis were sprinkled throughout some of the top bands in the world. Becky Weir, Nicole Jones and Louis Newman were guesting with ScottishPower for the season, Luke Stanley-Ryan was in the mid-section of Inveraray and District, and fresh off their win last year, Liam Argyle and Davy Clark rejoined People’s Ford Boghall and Bathgate to defend their title, this year adding Megan Clark to the tenor section along with Brett McKeown on the pipes. It’s hard to understate how special it is for New Zealand to have some of our people slugging it out at the top of the world for pipe band’s top honours.
So Day One dawned and the skies were not favourable to any of the bands. Drizzle frequented Glasgow Green during the day as fourteen grade one pipe bands performed their first sets of MSRs and medleys. It was clear – to my ears anyway – that those seven bands were going to fight it out for top honours. But a myriad of minor issues plagued all of the top bands, leaving the contest wide open. Field Marshal were dynamic in their music, Inveraray and Shotts had almost laser clarity in their sound, Simon Fraser presented a total ensemble music package, and Fife presented the challenging march, Glengarry’s Gathering, much to the delight of many solo pipers right across the world.
It was great to bump into many Kiwis who were there spectating and supporting the various bands. Piers Dover and Greg Wilson – already in digs for the solos later the week after – were seen loitering, Campbell Wilson was enjoying his final day before heading off to the Czech Republic to begin his ballet internship, Richard Hawke, Maggie McConnochie and Lucas Paterson all fresh off the plane for Maggie and Lucas’ Scottish solo debut, Dennis Pierce was sighted by the grade one arena, and Blair Hodson popped in ahead of his grade two competition the next day with Pipe Band Club. Mark Weir also appeared after being gifted a surprise trip to watch daughter Becky perform with ScottishPower. Not to be missed out, Brian Switalla was on RSPBA duties the whole weekend, with Gillian seen hiding under an umbrella and raincoat in the stands enjoying the music. A real Kiwi catch up.
In the medley, personal highlights included Inverary’s well known and perfectly executed ‘choke’, Boghall’s almost perfect ‘No E’ introduction and dynamic music, and Field Marshall’s impressive Canterbury Caledonian-inspired Gaelic Air and Bronni’s Blue Brozzi finish. It’s hard to leave out any of the top bands – Shotts’ technique shone through, SLOT’s Irish musical influence was a cheeky taste of a different style executed almost flawlessly, and SFU once again impressed as a total package.
The back half of the grade was not to be sneezed at either. All fourteen bands were superb – and a real indication the bar keeps being lifted each year.
All of the results are kept a secret, meaning no one knew what had happened after Day One. Rumours abounded from all corners of the city, but the wise heads would suggest two bands were in ultimate contention – Inveraray and District and Field Marshal Montgomery. Simon Fraser University, Boghall and SLOT all in the mix – and Fife and Shotts impressing particularly in piping.
Day Two is the big day – where you get to hear bands from all of the grades compete for the title of World Champion. I got there early and managed to capture the juvenile contest, and I am glad I did. The bar keeps being raised higher and higher each year. George Watson’s College – the ultimate winners – were first up and would have challenged in New Zealand in the grade one. Perennial favourites Dollar Academy were excellent too but pushed into third place this year by St Thomas from Houston, Texas. A superb display of musical, technical and tonal precision from players not even in their final years at school. Incredibly motivating and something I hope our young people at home get to hear at some stage – because although the juvenile standard was incredibly high, our players can and do fight for top honours with the best in the business.
St Laurence O’Toole lead out Day Two of the grade one contest with kiwi-inspired Alan Dodd’s Farewell to Scotland in the ‘wee MSR’ event. A couple of years back, the RSPBA instigated the requirement that the Saturday MSR would be restricted to tunes no more than four parts long. A real potpourri of tunes appeared – many readers will recognise tune names such as Hugh Kennedy, Major Manson at Clacantrushal, the Argyllshire Gathering, Lochaber Gathering, Mrs John MacColl and Morag Ramsay. For the listener it is a real treat – putting aside your normal six-and-eight parted tunes, there is more dynamic music on offer and almost no double ups of tunes.
I managed to shoot across to the grade two arena where the Pipe Band Club from Australia were about to perform. A near miss at the championship the weekend before saw them as hot favourites, with many familiar faces to New Zealanders in the band including Kiwi Blair Hodson. Brian Switalla was also on the pen for the grade two championship. Pipe Band Club put on a superb show with a dynamic medley and crystal clear tone. Ultimately, Pipe Band Club finished third, but had a first and a second in piping – and a top three placing in the world is not to be sniffed at. Ultimate winners Ravara have yo-yo’d between grade one and two for the last decade, showing the level of competition in that grade.
The final grade one event dawned and the skies had not improved much from the morning. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that this event was one of the best grade one competitions ever. The standard was eye-wateringly high. Almost every band put on their best run of the weekend. And – for me anyway – the most dynamic musical contest of the four over the two days. I had a number of personal highlights, but three particularly stand out – Boghall and Bathgate performed their Joannas Hornpipe medley which was a step above their other three performances, Field Marshal Montgomery stunned with their Susan McLeod and Mrs McPherson finisher, and Inveraray left me speechless with their medley. The total package right across the band, and dynamic musical and technical flourishes which were risky but ultimately paid off. No wonder Stuart Liddell was left emotional in his BBC interview afterwards – as he said, he hadn’t been in a better performance in his life.
A couple of quiet beverages with some of the Kiwis left standing after the two days meant we could reminisce over the last two days of music. Everyone agreed we had been treated to an absolute musical treat across all of the grades. However, this quickly changed as the skies darkened and the cold wind set in for the two hour long march past and results. Piers Dover and I took our seats in the stands to watch the poor bands have to stand in the freezing winds and rain belt out 6/8 marches for what seemed like an eternity. Bob Worrall kept us nourished, throwing lollies to us as he waited to perform his final BBC duties – thanks Bob!
Who was it going to be? It was hard to say at this stage. Simon Fraser, Field Marshal and Inveraray had all delivered four solid performances. But St Laurence, Boghall, Fife and Shotts had equally impressed over the two days. And what about the drumming? Again, the drumming prize had been shared around all season, and last year’s drumming champions Simon Fraser had been consistent over the two days as well.
Ultimately, Inveraray were crowned World Champions – and few would say they didn’t deserve the title. The incredible musical, tonal and technical display they produced over the two days meant they were well worthy recipients of the top award. St Laurence O’Toole claimed the drumming prize – the first since 2019 – squeaking ahead of Inveraray. Field Marshal were deserved runners up to Inveraray, and Simon Fraser finished third – their highest result since 2012.
While the results are important, more important was the music. If you haven’t had a listen yet to the ‘Worlds’, go to the BBC website and watch the performances. You’ll be totally captivated by the hours and hours of music on display. More importantly, if you get the chance to go next year – absolutely do. There’s nothing quite like the World Championships.
– Liam Kernaghan
