All the Hits, the Grass at the Green and no Spider-Man in Sight – Piping Live! 2025, Thursday, August 14th

Iain MacDonald (Regina) reports from the Glasgow International Festival of Piping

The day started slowly in the late-morning reflection of light from the Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia concert. Rather than heading back to the National Piping Centre, we headed off to Glasgow Green, where multiple bands were running their sets in preparation for the weekend. Along the road, we passed the latest street closings for the movie filming, with excited spectators craning to catch a glimpse of something other than bins and service trucks.

Shotts, SLOT, Manawatu, North Stratton, Cascadia, and Closkelt were there for a tune, most sticking to the shade. Lots of great sound and music happening there, and with a good weather forecast for the days ahead, it should make for good performances from all the bands.

What we missed at the NPC was Learning @ Live! with Bruce Hitchings, who gave a presentation on drone harmonics that included some top-level playing, and the always entertaining Armagh Pipers Club, who have been a featured group at the festival for many years.

In the afternoon, John Mulhearn launched his book project, Let Glasgow Flourish: A Musical History of Highland Piping in Glasgow, the result of six years’ work. It’s a beautiful, hard-bound, coffee-table style book with music, photos and history.

The Big Rab Show was holding court in The Bothy Tent, and we heard tunes from John Dew and Bagad Brieg. While that was finishing, the 35 Club Pipe Band from France was here to compete on the weekend.

The Maket Collective gathered in the NPC auditorium to address what needs to be done to make it easier for women to play at the highest levels in pipe bands. Moderator Glenna Mackay-Johnstone posed the questions, and members of the collective answered and discussed their thoughts before a good-sized audience. Members discussed their strategies for success and highlighted some organizational supports and attitude changes that would make it easier for more women to succeed at the Grade 1 level.

Late afternoon, the festival site was packed with people enjoying various sights and sounds, many arriving to hear the final of Pipe Idol, which always draws a good crowd. We missed that for a scheduled dinner with a group before the P-M Alasdair Gillies Memorial Recital Challenge. The Strathclyde Suite at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall was packed full to hear Callum Beaumont, Finlay Johnston, Connor Sinclair, Angus D. MacColl and Angus J. MacColl for what was a perhaps too-long night of excellent music. Four pipers would have been the magic number for this night, but all five were excellent, with the anonymous judges declaring Johnston the winner. McCallum Bagpipes sponsored the event, and Stuart McCallum was present at the end of the ceremony to present gifts to each recitalist. Although it was late, everyone got a great night of piping for their ticket price.

An interesting feature of the recital was how many players leaned into tunes by the late, great P-M Donald MacLeod and Fred Morrison, who knows how to finish a set with fireworks.

Our thanks to Iain MacDonald, one of the world’s great contributors to piping and drumming, for his daily reports from the 2025 Piping Live! Glasgow International Festival of Piping.  Be sure to check out Iain’s Reelpipes.com business for your piping and drumming needs!