The 2017 season: questions, questions . . .

Question 2: Will Shotts take a major and feature consistently top-three?

With Andrew Lawson heading up the drum section for the first time in 2016, 2015 World Champions Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia maybe surprised many by featuring in every championship prize-list. Piping and ensemble marks were strong at every event, and the drum section was in the top-six at all but one major. Many will anticipate Shotts improving on their fourth prize at the World’s last year, and a consistent return to “big three” status is well possible, if not likely. That the band is doing the Pre-World’s Concert a few days before the World’s is generally seen as advantageous (see FMM, SLOT, SFU . . .), as many, if not most, contenders that do the show get a bit of a boost (confidence? nerves? buzz?) when they hit Glasgow Green.

+ Shotts Rises up for Pre-World’s Concert

Question 3: Can FMM make it an even dozen?

Anyone who doubted Field Marshal Montgomery before the 2016 season started had their yaps shut in pretty short order. The band finished its year with an eleventh World Championship victory, and there is no reason to think that FMM won’t be right there at every contest. With each victory, Richard Parkes ratchets up his history-making records as the most successful pipe-major of all time. All things must come to an end, so our advice is to soak up every note of this incredible band whenever you can. You’re listening to history.