Peel Regional Police make it two straight at Georgetown
Georgetown, Ontario – June 8, 2013 – Miraculously, the threatening skies never gave way to rain at the 2013 Georgetown Highland Games, the first official outdoor event of the PPBSO season. In the Grade 1 band Medley competition, the Peel Regional Police won, followed closely by the 78th Fraser Highlanders. Grade 2 was won by a strong Ottawa Police Services Pipe Band, whose Pipe-Major, Andrew Hayes, also enjoyed Piper of the Day honours. The Professional Solo Piping was for the first time in the PPBSO history outside of the North American Championships, divided the Professional Solo Piping into two sections
Bands
Grade 1 (medley, four competed)
1st Peel Regional Police (1,2,1,2)
2nd 78th Fraser Highlanders (3,1,2,1)
3rd Toronto Police (2,3,3,3)
4th Oran Mor (4,4,4,4)
Best Bass: 78th Fraser Highlanders
Judges: Ken Eller, Reay Mackay (piping); Bob Worrall (ensemble); Al Savage (drumming)
Grade 2 (MSR, three competed)
1st Ottawa Police Services
2nd 400 Squadron
3rd Great Lakes
Drumming: Ottawa Police
Best Bass: Great Lakes
Judges: Ken Eller, Reay Mackay (piping); Bob Worrall (ensemble); Al Savage (drumming)
Grade 3
1st Paris Port Dover
2nd Windsor Police
3rd Penetangore
Drumming: Paris Port Dover
Best Bass: Paris Port Dover
Judges: Ken Eller, Reay Mackay (piping); Bob Worrall (ensemble); Al Savage (drumming)
Grade 4
1st Hamilton Police
2nd Grand Celtic
3rd York Regional Police
Drumming: MacDonald
Best Bass: 78th Cleveland
Judges: Charlie MacDonald, Eddie Gorman (piping); Bob MacCrimmon (ensemble); Dan Bist (drumming)
Grade 5
1st Cambridge
2nd Lindsay
3rd Chatham-Kent Police Services
Judges: Ken Eller, Reay Mackay (piping); Bob Worrall (ensemble); Al Savage (drumming)
Solo Piping
Professional
Group A
Piobaireachd
1st Sean McKeown
2nd Dylan Whittemore
3rd Elizabeth Sheridan
4th Ian K. MacDonald
5th Glenn Walpole
6th Alan Clark
Judge: Bob Worrall
March
1st Ian K. MacDonald
2nd Sean McKeown
3rd Andrew Lee
4th Andrea Boyd
5th Andrew Carlisle
6th Andrew Berthoff
Judge: Bill Livingstone
Strathpsey & Reel
1st Andrew Carlisle
2nd Andrea Boyd
3rd Sean McKeown
4th Andrew Berthoff
5th Ian K. MacDonald
6th Andrew Lee
Judge: Tom Anderson
Freestyle
1st Ian K. MacDonald
2nd Andrew Carlisle
3rd Sean McKeown
4th Daniel Carr
5th Glenn Walpole
6th Matt Bellia
Judge: Pete Aumonier
Group B
Piobaireachd
1st Andrew Carlisle
2nd Andrea Boyd
3rd Andrew Hayes
4th Doug MacRae
5th Andrew Bova
6th Andrew Lee
Judge: Reay Mackay
March
1st Nick Hudson
2nd Andrew Hayes
3rd Glenn Walpole
4th Doug MacRae
5th Dylan Whittemore
6th Daniel Carr
Judge: Ed Neigh
Strathspey & Reel
1st Andrew Hayes
Nick Hudson
3rd Daniel Carr
4th Glenn Walpole
5th Doug MacRae
6th Robbie Beaton
Judge: Ken Eller
Freestyle
1st Robbie Beaton
2nd Andrew Hayes
3rd Andrea Boyd
4th Doug MacRae
5th Ben Reid
6th Nick Hudson
Judge: Tom Anderson
Professional Solo Drumming
MSR
1st Chris Bell
2nd Cameron McKail
3rd Neil Birkett
Judge: Al Savage
Thats the worst attack I can remembr ever hearing in the first grade. [edited]
OMG, that Fraser attack is so brutal I just burst out laughing. Can you imagine how tough it would be to keep playing after that?
Was it one of the worst blown attacks by a piper ever in Grade 1 ? YES Did they play well enough to overcome the blown attack ? YES Is it easy to sit on the sidelines and criticize ? YES Is it even easier for people to band together to beat on someone that posts an honest opinion ? YES
So they had a bad start…… Do you know how many bands have won the Worlds with a bad start? Personally, I thought they played great. Great recovery (whoever it was) and a great show after the first 2 seconds. Not to mention the drum corps was stellar! Well done 78th. Cheers, C Barr
To respond to Lugnuts’ comment: that may have been a bad attack, yet I feel that the 78th Frasers need to be commended for a wonderful recovery and an excellent musical performance. Great job 78th Frasers!
Pay no attention Ray or any other judge out there reading this. As we all know. The worlds full of armchair experts. The real experts are on the field doing a good job.
Andrew I see that you have edited out a nasty remark. Many thanks and forget about my reply. It doesn’t warrant a reply. Reay Mackay
Maybe ease up a bit there, guys. I’m sure everyone realizes it wasn’t a clean attack and that it doesn’t need any more scrutiny than that. To me, it was 3 bad seconds out of an otherwise very enjoyable and well-executed medley. Evidently the judges agreed. Nice job by the 78th.
I’m not sure that the Gentlemen, Ladies, who wrote in about the bad attack, deserve a reply. However, I will explain my rational for my decision. When one considers that the attack on a fickled instrument lasts about 7-8 seconds of a 6 1/2 minute performance, just how much weight should be placed on it. Surely it is the entire package that counts, and that is just what I took into consideration. I heard the difficult start and the speedy recovery, but looked at a fine musical performance, and made my decision. I would love to know how the Gentlemen, Ladies would have handled the difficult attacks by Field Martial Montgomery when they were rewarded for their musical performance. Reay Mackay
Reay has probably forgotten more about piping than most know. If he felt 78th deserved the result he gave than that is good enough for me. Nobody even a guy named lugnuts should question his decision. Congrats to all bands that played in this contest. Steve Tripp
….and the judges decision is final. On another note; what happened to the Canadian flag in the background?
Well, if some of you are offended by a simple observation and honest reaction, you’ll get no apology from me. I certainly agree that the performance following the attack was very good and allude to that in my original post by stating that it must have been difficult to maintain one’s composure with such a horrendous start. Maintain composure they did. A
Well, if some of you are offended by a simple observation and honest reaction, you sadly will get no apology from me. The attack was horrible, but as I alluded to in my original post and should have spelled it out as some of you seemed to have missed it, they were able to maintain their composure and deliver a very good performance. As far as what effect a poor attack would have on a band’s standing, there was a time when a fair number of points were awarded for attacks and finishes, and if a band had a poor attack or finish they would be hammered for it. As has been pointed out, this only accounts for a small portion of the entire performance, but some still feel that it carries enough weight to change an outcome.
So are you telling me you’ve never disagreed with a judge’s decision just because they know more about piping than you do? One thing I love about this “hobby” is that we all have the ability to be critical of other performances, just like in the rest of our lives, where we should be able to voice our opinions against government, or news, or have disagreements with other people and know that at the end of the day, we will not be condemned by the rest of the members of our society, unlike what is being done on this comment board to lugnuts and Rolly. Was the attack bad – yes. Did it make me laugh when I listened to it over and over again (which I know a lot of people did) – yes. However, I sitll would have given them a first in piping, and standing listening to the in final tuning, I thought that the Frasers are finally back. Apart from a bad attack, they had a better performance than any of the other bands on the day, and it is unfortunate that some people place so much value on a moment in time that lasts a few seconds (the attack), and I appreciate that Reay is in agreement with that. I’m looking forward to Cobourg! Should be a great contest, and I am sure Peel is not feeling too comfortable sitting at the top. I am also really excited to see how the first gr 2 band challenging up in a gr 1 contest will do. Best of luck to everyone, and see you’s in the beer tent!