Glasgow - Friday - Final Practice

By now you get the idea of our day... coffee, toast (or a full breakfast) and then band practice.... it's raining steady so it will be a wet one today. Forecast has rain and winds for tomorrow but that can change quickly here! 

Reports from last night have several band members out for Pad Thai while others hit the Hard Rock Cafe for appetizers.... then a stop at the Station Pub for a pint. A relatively quiet night as the band starts to focus and readies for the big day.

The drummers invaded the kitchen on queue and their practice went well. A good discussion on preparation, expectations and the realty of just doing the best you can and feeling good about the performance, regardless of the outcome.   

The last drum practice in Scotland!

Practice - The pipes are coming in quickly and setup is becoming shorter and shorter with all the recent playing. Sound is solid and the musicality of the band overall is well ahead of 2017. A bit of misty rain fell and gusty winds her and there but on almost on queue, it started to clear as the practice ended... yep this is Scotland!

We gathered in the kitchen and had a bite of lunch as the live stream from Glasgow Green played on our TV. The Grade 1 bands played their MSR in the morning so Kris had set up his laptop and ran the feed in. 

Live stream into the kitchen

With the forecast for nicer weather in the afternoon, a bunch of us headed out to watch the Grade 1 Bands play their Medley at Glasgow Green. Kelly, Paul and I jumped in an Uber and went down to 1) to watch the Grade 1's play and 2) scope out the venue for the band's playing on Saturday.

We were dropped off at the park and quickly made our way in. Once settled into the free grandstand seating, we watched the bands march on, play one of two medleys and then exit. Every three minutes a new band would march on. Fantastic!

SFU is the first band up in the afternoon... great sound!

Field Marshal Montgomery walks out after another great performance

During a break Paul and I waved at the fans watching online while Kris grabbed a screen shot back at the dorm.

This is as close as well will get to the circle!

We then walked over to the area where the band will play and checked out the grounds. The Drumming Major practice was in full swing :-) This is the same location that they played at in 2017 so somewhat familiar ground. This particular field area #6 was in good condition and will work out nicely.

Field #6 is in good shape

 A quick ride home and we made dinner plans... now dinner plans ago something like this.... "Well what's the plan?.... I don't know.. what do you feel like?... I don't know... well I'm hungry.. lets go somewhere... how about fish & chips?... no I'm done with fish & chips!..." You get the idea!

We "decided" on Wagamama, a Chinese Fusion place just off the main walkway downtown. It had a nice variety of dishes and was very good. The Mackay clan also came down.  


A quick supply stop on the way home for sandwich makings and then back to the dorms. We all took turns making lunches for tomorrow as it will be along day. 

The bus leaves at approximately  7 am so everyone headed for bed. With over 200 bands here to compete it's going to be a bit crazy!
Tomorrow's schedule has two groups in 4A for a total of 31 bands in that particular grade alone . I am told 6 bands from each flight (total of 12 bands) will qualify for the final group starting at 2 pm.  The band plays 7th at site #6. 

Dinner at Wagamama

Grade 4A - Qualifier 2
17 09:00 Kirkcudbright and District
18 09:08 Lower Clyde Pipes and Drums
19 09:16 Raphoe Ulster Scots- Eire
20 09:24 Rothesay and District
21 09:32 High Desert - Albuquerque - USA
22 09:40 Kelty and Blairadam
23 09:48 Greater Victoria Police - Canada
24 09:56 Glenrothes and District 2010
25 10:04 Elgin and District
26 10:12 Cullybackey
27 10:20 12 Wing RCAF - Canada
28 10:28 Kirkcaldy and District
29 10:36 Fraserburgh Royal British Legion
30 10:44 Edradour Pitlochry and Blair Atholl
31 10:52 Royal Burgh of Stirling 

There is a live stream of the Grade 1 pipe bands that you can watch at https://www.theworlds.co.uk/live-stream

I will post to my FB page as time permits but the blog will be much later.... 

Glasgow - Thursday - Practice

This morning we all enjoyed a nice cooked breakfast created by our flatmate Doug. It was very tasty and a great start to the day! I finished up yesterday's blog and the now usual drumming practiced commenced in our kitchen at 9 am sharp.

The band formed up outside and started tuning up. The weather is nice (at the moment) so a welcome change from yesterday's rain!

Counting down the minutes until 10 am.

Tuning... it never ends!

 

Hos gives Doug some tips!

Drum section.

New Tenor Drums! Very nice!

The band hard at it.

After practice I hoofed over to the National Piping Center to watch the Piping Idol Competition. There are many events taking place around the city and this is the one I really enjoy. We saw four competitors do their best MSR, Jig/Hornpipe and Medley before grabbing a BBQ burger for lunch.  The piping and the burger were all very good....  we made our choice of the winning piper 😄 (#3) James Stone. Not sure if he moved on to the final but he should!

Solid performance in front of the crowd.

We had some lunch and grabbed an Uber over to Kelvingrove Park to watch the Field Marshall Montgomery Pipe Band practice there.  Lots of people showed up with numerous Victoria band members in attendance. Always interesting to see how they prepare the band.

Lots of people out to watch the band practice.

Great views of the Stewart Memorial Fountain and University of Glasgow Business School when not raining!!

We watched for an hour or so then off to the local Park Bar for a pint. This is a short walk from the park and is a favorite stop after any band function. In fact this weekend we will see the road  beside the bar "closed" as it will become a huge beer garden. On the wall is a picture of the original Wallace, the Canadian Scottish mascot.  

Picture on the wall of the Park Bar.... Canadian Scottish Regiment Mascot Wallace 

Doug & Shelly.... Bar flies! :-)

Dave, Kelly, Dave, Annabelle and Kris at the famous Park Bar!

We Uber'ed back to the dorm and had a small social as dinner plans were being formulated. Well the planning part never really came about so it was a pizza in the oven for me... easy to prepare, tasted good and cheap :-) 

 A bunch of folks ended up at the Station Bar for a social but for us, a very quiet night :-)

Glasgow - Wednesday - Practice

The word of the day is "Rain"  

While laying in bed, the day started off nicely with a text message offering me a hot coffee... have to like that! 

The drummers took over the kitchen again for their morning practice so I finished drying some dishes and listened in on the session. It was good to see the unison these guys have and the overall focus and commitment as well. 

I followed the drummers out to find a chunk of parking lot for the morning session.

Drum practice.

Tuning the drones.

Gord's a true BAGpiper

The drummers practiced with their pads until 10:00 as there is a curfew on playing between 7pm and 10am. With school still going on here, this gives the students some “quite time”. 

The rain was coming down so everyone had rain capes on. It can’t get much worse than this on the day so it was good to get acclimated to that possibility....  it is Scotland after all. 

Interesting tidbit.... Chelsea’s Grandmother Betty Jeffrey had past away many years ago and Chelsea recently received several things passed down from her aunt who had kept them all these years. One item of particular note was a drum pad that Betty had won for Solo Juvenile Drumming in 1948.  Betty went on to marry Robert Gavin Hardie who formed R.G. Hardie in 1950. He was with the famous Muirhead and Sons Pipe Band who held the Worlds #1 Pipe Band title for six straight years. 

Jack and Andrew Lee put on a lunch time recital at the National Piping Center. Kelly and I had purchase tickets long ago so off we went. Most all the others were going over to the Todd Bar at Strathclyde University to watch the "Drumming for Drinks" competition.

We enjoyed the recital as these two players are very accomplished. Andrew started the set with Jack joining him midway then finishing off with a solo performance. So clean and crisp on a well tuned instrument.

Kelly went off to grab a few necessities and I went back to the dorm to get the Drumming For Drinks live stream going on my laptop. On the way I ran into Alex MacIntyre from Edmonton and we had a quick chat...  didn't recognize him without his beard!! 

We relaxed in the kitchen and enjoyed the online show. This was a show comprised of various ad-hoc drumming recitals all trying to take the grand prize of £500 and some great prizes.

A quick nap to recharge and we were off to the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall for the Scottish Power Pipe Band Concert. 

The place was packed and the show was as expected, very good although not as heavy on the pipe's and drums as I thought it would be. An ensemble performance to start off playing several sets then a couple solo pipers performed to the roar of the crowd. Then a stunning Piobaireachd set with piano accompaniment. The drum core finished the first half with a huge fanfare including some neat stick work.

We grabbed a drink and then settled in for the second half. It was basically a bagad style of music that was a bit overpowered at times. I think a more band oriented approach with perhaps some MSR's and light music would have met the expectations of the crowd. All good though as one has to be open to the variety of music presented. 

 Back to the dorms for a short social and it was off to bed. 

Glasgow - Tuesday - Practice

I awoke to sunshine this morning and a then a hot cup of coffee in the kitchen! 

The focus of the trip here is to have the band compete at the worlds so this means practice!  Initially the band sections start with group practices in the various rooms. The drummers have taken over our kitchen with the pipers on chanter, in the Troy's kitchen.

Drumming

Tenors

Pipers

Each group goes through the various music that compromises the competition "set" that they will play in front of the judges. It is an MSR that consists of three different time signatures. The tunes are the March - Donald Mclean's Farewell to Oban, Strathspey - Susan MacLeod and Reel - Lachlan Macphail

The judges will be looking for clarity of notes, unison, tempo and clean breaks (change between tunes) and overall musicality of the performance. With this in mind, each section practices separately and then joins together as an ensemble on their respective instruments

There are many bands staying in and around the University so I am treated to music from 10 am through to 7 pm should I stay in my room.

My view out my window :-)

The morning practice finished off with the band playing in between the dorms. Tuning the band is always a bit tricking as the weather can significantly effect the instruments. First each pipe chanter is tuned to each other and then the drones are adjusted to reach a specific pitch. Once all done the pipes sound identical and this is where tuning comes into play. The idea is to sound like one set of very loud pipes and if everyone plays the notes the same then unison is achieved.

Tuning the chanters...

After the practice there was a brief announcement on the bands departure time on the day along with some instructions on personal behavior expected during the run up to the competition day. All very straight forward stuff.  More work ensued on individual pipes to get them up to the standard required.  

We made some bacon sandwiches at the flat and then Kelly and I launch off in an Uber to Clydebank about 11 km to the west of Glasgow. This is the once proud home of one of the largest shipbuilding areas and the Singer Sewing Machine factory that employed thousands of people back in the day. There is a museum in City Hall that Kelly wanted to see as her Singer 222 was built here. Unfortunately the museum was closed for renovations but there was a small... very small... collection on the wall :-)

The sewing machine on display was no match for the condition of Kelly's so it was a bit of a bust... oh well... we grabbed a geocache close by, popped into a cab and ended up back at Buchanan St in short order. 

A walk up the street to the Whisky Shoppe and then around the corner to Tesco's for some supplies. A short walk up to the National Piping Center to hopefully watch the Piping Idol Competition. With more bands pouring into the city as the weekend approached, the crowds grew and we could not get in to see it. Oh well we pulled up a chair in the refreshment area and shortly thereafter pretty much the whole band showed up. 

Warren dons his old City Of Victoria Jacket

Lots of fun as we had a good social.

The local TV station was doing a promotional video and the gals helped out.

We all returned to the dorm and got ready for our dinner. Bobby G had arranged for Indian food at one of the many restaurants in the area. About 25 of us descended on the place and enjoyed a great meal.

A quick stop at the Station Pub and we returned to the dorm for a small social... including card tricks by AJ's daughter Cailidh. 


 Done for the day.

Glasgow - Monday - Day Off

It's an official "Day Off" for the band so everyone is headed in different directions... some are headed to see relatives, others off to visit significant historical sites in the area.

Kelly made coffee for me as we planned our day... shoe repair and check out the goings on in the city. Lots of piping & drumming events as the whole week become a non stop music festival. Not sure were we will end up but away we go.....

Outside the dorms numerous bands from around the world were practicing in the parking lots and grass areas. We stopped and listened for a while.... good sound!

This is the Hawthorn Band from New Zealand. 

First agenda item was Kelly’s shoes as they needed some repairs and cleaning so off to the local cobbler. Kris brought his and Anna brought a couple pair as well. We quickly found the place and the fellow said back in thirty minutes! Excellent!

We wandered over for lunch at the Iron Horse and (mince & tattles) and then it was a bit of a walk about back to the shoe place.

The fellow at Timpson Ltd on Sauchiehall Street had the shoes repaired and polished... they looked like new! I suspect once the band mates see these he may have additional business! 

Kris & Anna headed back to the dorms with all the shoes while Kelly and I headed over to the National Piping Center. There is lots of musical activity around the city and this is just one of many venues that you can go to. Some are free to listen and others are offered with an entry fee. (Most are very reasonable)

The entire event program for the week can be downloaded on the right side of this page here 

Today was for the Big Rab Show featuring G1 chanter reeds. These are the guys responsible for the many podcasts and live streams from piping/drumming events around the world. Both Kelly and I have spent many hours watching from the comfort of our living room. 

We sat right beside Deej (one of the Rab Guys) who broadcast the live stream... and got a great picture of them.

A big selfie!

We enjoyed a pint and watched the show. It was a very inspirational as one former Shots Piper Andrew Shilliday performed. He had caught a virus resulting in the amputation of his left leg and most of his fingers and later, through the assistance of John Elliot, was given a custom designed chanter that allowed him to play again! He did a great job and the crowd was moved beyond words. You can read about it here
 

Next up was the Solo Under 21 Pipe Idol competition. This pits four players per day against each other with the winner (chosen by three secret judges in the crowd) to go to the finals on Thursday. It was great entertainment and these guys could play! 

Following that we made a quick stop at home and then headed off to the Chippy Doon The Road for fish & chips.  It was very good. 

Yes that is blue sky!!!

A stop for some groceries as we headed back to the dorm.  A short social took place in our kitchen as everyone got caught up on travels the events experienced today. Turns out Sarah and Scott got engaged on the Stirling Bridge... her favorite landmark in Scotland. 

Everyone was also clearly tired and we all hit the rack early.

Scotland - The next adventure begins!

Welcome!


If your joining us from my previous blog here then welcome back!


I'll start part II of my "vacation" by attending the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. I'll be supporting both Kelly and my son Kris, who plays side drum, along with the other band members as they compete in Grade 4A.    



 After a short separation due to commitments, I am met up with Kelly today in Glasgow!

The band members started to arrive last Thursday (8th of August) from various points and Kelly met Kris and the gang when they arrived off their flight from Dublin. They had done a short stint in the Temple Bar area :-)

The band then bused to North Berwick on Saturday to attend the Highland Games and compete against some of the other 62 bands that attended. (Numerous bands come early to acclimatize and get some competition in before the World's)

The band at North Berwick. 

The band placed 3rd in their respective grade and they even made it to the big screen... a shade fast on the tempo (nerves always do that it seems ) but great breaks and a solid sound overall.

Sunday... we headed off for a pint at the Station bar and met up with Krystal and Cody Navid from North Stratton Pipe Band. We then grabbed a dinner and after a quick stop at the grocer for supplies, we went back to the Glasgow Caledonia University dorms.   A quick visit with band members and I was done for the day.