After 23 years, 78th Frasers return for Pre-Worlds concert August 12th

Featuring a poster with a Quebec fleur-de-lis, a British Columbia grizzly bear, and the proverbial Canadian maple leaf, the Grade 1 78th Fraser Highlanders of Ontario, Canada, will return to mount the Pre-Worlds concert for the first time since 2003, then under their legendary pipe-major, Bill Livingstone.

“True North Strong” is the name of the show, which, along with the graphics, reflects a night of pipe band Canadiana at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, an annual event organized by the Glasgow Skye Association Pipe Band since the early 1990s. Current Pipe-Major Michael Grey said the show will also draw from “the deep reservoir of tunes and culture that is Quebec.”

The 78th Frasers under Pipe-Major Bill Livingstone performed the first Pre-Worlds concert staged by Glasgow Skye in 1994, when the performance was captured by Lismor Recordings for their Live In Scotland commercial recording. Grade 1 Vale of Atholl of Scotland, the next year, put out Live ‘n’ Well from their own concert, which at the time was held in Motherwell, Scotland. It is not known if the 78th Frasers will make an album from the show.

The band returned to the stage in 1999 with Flame of Wrath under Livingstone and Leading-Drummer Michael Hunter, and again in 2003 with Seanchaidh, with Livingstone and Leading-Drummer Drew Duthart, who is still with the band.

The event is unusual in that it features a band that has not recently been in the Worlds Grade 1 prize list. The 78th Frasers last placed in the top six 19 years ago, finishing fourth at the 2007 World Championships. Since 1983, the band has competed at the World Championships every year the event has been held, and finished eleventh out of 14 bands in 2025.

The last band to play the Pre-Worlds concert and not have been in the Worlds prize list the previous year was the Grade 1 Glasgow Police in 2014, though the band was seventh at the Worlds, fifth at the European, and sixth at both the Scottish and Cowal Championships. Though the band did not feature in any championship list in 2014, their highly creative “Ceolry” concert sold out and was well-received. Coincidentally, Grey was a member of that band at the time and played a role in developing the concert content.

Grey became pipe-major of the 78th Frasers band in 2024. He played with the group from 1982 to 1994 before joining the Peel Regional Police.

The 78th Fraser Highlanders are probably best known as the first non-Scottish pipe band to win the Worlds, which they achieved in 1987 under Livingstone and Leading-Drummer Reid Maxwell, and their catalogue of six studio and live recordings made with Livingstone from 1984 to 2010, when he left the band. Livingstone was succeeded as pipe-major by Doug MacRae, who held the role for 13 years.

Tickets to “True North Strong” are already on sale for £37.90 (about CAD$69) from the Glasgow Life online box office, in-person from the Royal Glasgow Concert Hall box office, or by calling 0141 353 8000