Inveraray & District: 2024 World Champions; St. Laurence O’Toole wins drumming; Ravara on top in Grade 2

Glasgow – August 16-17, 2024 – After two days, two medleys and two MSRs, Inveraray & District won the 2024 World Championship at Glasgow Green. It was the third World Championship title for Inveraray & District after winning in 2017 and 2019. Inveraray & District was also awarded the 2024 RSPBA Grade 1 Champion of Champions title for overall band and drumming.

Simon Fraser University was third, the band’s return to the top three at the World’s for the first time since 2012, and the highest placing yet under Pipe-Major Alan Bevan.

The World Pipe Band Drumming title went to St. Laurence O’Toole, who tied with Inveraray & District, each band receiving 12 points. As per RSPBA rule 4.69, the band with the better total in the MSR events gains the prize. SLOT had 5 points, and IDPB had 7 (fewer points are better).

There were often unusually wide disparities between judges, including an 11th from the Friday Medley judge for Field Marshal Montgomery. 2023 World Champions Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia were fifth but won the Saturday Medley, but didn’t finish in the top six in either MSR event.

Ravara of Northern Ireland won Grade 2 and also took the 2024 RSPBA Grade 2 Champion of Champions title.

The top six in Grade 4A were all bands not based in Scotland, possibly the first time this happened at the World Pipe Band Championships in any grade.

Inveraray won both the overall Medley and MSR aggregates and won the drumming overall across the MSRs.

After years of MSRs played more carefully at slower tempos, the style has returned to a more lively pace. Many medleys featured unorthodox variations, from not starting with an E and three-paced rolls to chanter rests, glissando notes, and even bottom-hand chanter strokes. The trend of re-imagining familiar tunes with different time signatures, transitions, and variations continued. Most Grade 1 bands played with 17 to 19 pipers and nine or 10 snares.

The Grade 1 78th Fraser Highlanders of Canada again played without long-time legendary Leading-Drummer Drew Duthart. After stepping into the role for the Friday Medley, Blair Beaton again led the corps in both Saturday performances.

For the first time in memory, the new president of the RSPBA, Major-General David McDowall, profusely thanked the competitors for their efforts, skills, and accomplishments and even injected some humour into his brief comments.

The ticketed stands were about half full throughout Saturday. There was minor confusion about the bands not being allowed to bring in sealed water bottles. Organizers had issued a ban, but a meeting with band secretaries, RSPBA Chief Executive Colin Mulhern, and Glasgow Life resolved the issue, allowing performers an exemption.

Though orderly with fenced-off queues, the wait for a drink at the beer tent was more than half an hour before the march past.

Check out our slideshow of Inveraray & District celebrating:

10 Photos|View Slide Show >

The morning weather was cool and overcast. The wind started to whip up around 1 p.m., and there were periods of rain throughout the early afternoon, making for challenging conditions for all bands. Things cleared up a bit around 5 p.m.

The whole event ended at around 8:30 pm.

Grade 1 (14 competed)
Overall
1st Inveraray & District (34 total points from all 16 judges’ rankings; fewer points are better)
2nd Field Marshal Montgomery (Northern Ireland) (56)
3rd Simon Fraser University (Canada) (77, tie broken by ensemble points, as per RSPBA rule 4.68. 18 ensemble points for SFU)
4th St Laurence O’Toole (Ireland) (77 –24 ensemble points for SLOT)
5th Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (Scotland) (78)
6th Police Scotland Fife (Scotland) (85)
7th Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia (Scotland) (94)
8th ScottishPower (Scotland) (115)
9th Police Scotland & Federation (Scotland) (153)
10th 78th Fraser Highlanders (Canada) (164)
11th St. Thomas Alumni (USA) (171)
12th Johnstone (Scotland) (174)
13th Closkelt (Northern Ireland) (188)
14th City of Dunedin (USA) (214)
Drumming: St. Laurence O’Toole (tie broken by total MSR drumming points)

Friday
Medley
1st Inveraray & District (1,1,1,1)
2nd Simon Fraser University (2,3,2,3)
3rd Field Marshal Montgomery (3,2,11,2)
4th Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (5,7,5,4)
5th St. Laurence O’Toole (7,6,4,5)
6th Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia (6,4,7,7)
7th Police Scotland Fife (8,8,3,6)
8th ScottishPower (4,5,9,8)
9th St. Thomas Alumni (9,11,6,10)
10th Johnstone (11,9,10,11)
11th Closkelt (10,10,13,9)
12th 78th Fraser Highlanders (12,13,8,13)
13th Police Scotland & Federation (13,12,14,12)
14th City of Dunedin (14,14,12,14)
Judges: Bob Worrall, Cameron Edgar (piping); Bill Black (drumming); David Brown (ensemble)

MSR
1st Inveraray & District (4,1,6,1)
2nd Field Marshal Montgomery (7,3,1,3)
3rd Simon Fraser University (ens.pref.) (5,2,7,2)
4th Police Scotland Fife (ens.pref.) (2,4,4,6)
5th St. Laurence O’Toole (1,6,2,7)
6th Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia (3,5,9,4)
7th Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (8,7,5,5)
8th Police Scotland & Federation (9,12,3,8)
9th ScottishPower (6,8,8,10)
10th 78th Fraser Highlanders (11,9,13,9)
11th Closkelt (13,11,10,11)
12th St. Thomas Alumni (12,10,11,13)
13th Johnstone (10,13,14,12)
14th City of Dunedin (14,14,12,14)
Judges: Barry Donaldson, Bill Garrett (piping); Adrian Hoy (drumming); Jennifer Hutcheon (ensemble)

Saturday
Medley
1st Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (1,1,1,2)
2nd Inveraray & District (2,2,4,1)
3rd Field Marshal Montgomery (3,3,2,3)
4th Police Scotland Fife (6,6,5,6)
5th Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia (5,4,9,7)
6th Simon Fraser University (7,5,6,8)
7th St. Laurence O’Toole (8,7,3,9)
8th ScottishPower (9,8,7,4)
9th 78th Fraser Highlanders (4,9,12,5)
10th Police Scotland & Federation (11,11,8,11)
11th Johnstone (10,10,14,10)
12th St. Thomas Alumni (12,13,10,12)
13th Closkelt (13,12,13,13)
14th City of Dunedin (14,14,11,14)
Judges: Robert Shaw, John Moles (piping); Gordon Brown (drumming); Peter Snaddon (ensemble)

MSR
1st Inveraray & District (5,2,1,1)
2nd St. Laurence O’Toole (2,4,3,3)
3rd Field Marshal Montgomery (1,3,5,4)
4th Police Scotland Fife (8,9,2,2)
5th Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia (3,1,11,9)
6th Simon Fraser University (9,7,4,5)
7th Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (7,6,7,7)
8th Police Scotland & Federation (ens.pref.) (6,8,9,6)
9th ScottishPower (4,5,12,8)
10th Johnstone (10,10,10,10)
11th St. Thomas Alumni (12,11,8,11)
12th 78th Fraser Highlanders (13,14,6,13)
13th Closkelt (11,13,14,12)
14th City of Dunedin (14,12,13,14)
Judges: Colin Moffett, Alvis Kerr (piping); Arthur Cook (drumming); Gordon Lawrie (ensemble)

RSPBA Champion of Champions 2024: Inveraray & District; Drumming: Inveraray & District

Grade 2 (Medley, 19 competed)
1st Ravara (Northern Ireland) (2,1,2,1)
2nd North Stratton (Canada) (6,3,1,2)
3rd The Pipe Band Club (Australia) (1,2,4,7)
4th Glasgow Skye Association (Scotland) (4,5,6,3)
5th Uddingston (Scotland) (8,8,3,6)
6th Ulster Scottish (USA) (10,7,5,5)
7th Manorcunningham (Ireland) (5,4,11,9)
8th Buchan Peterson (Scotland) (12,12,7,4)
9th MacMillan (USA) (3,10,12,12)
10th Royal Burgh of Annan (Scotland) (18,6,8,8)
11th Portlethen & District (Scotland) (9,11,15,10)
12th Los Angeles Scots (USA) (11,14,10,11)
13th City of Edinburgh (Scotland) (7,9,14,17)
14th Peel Regional Police (Canada)(13,13,13,13)
15th Tullylagan (Northern Ireland) (17,17,9,15)
16th St. Joseph’s (Ireland) (15,19,16,14)
17th Kilchoman Distillery Isle of Islay (Scotland) (14,18,17,16)
18th Coalburn IOR (Scotland) (16,15,19,18)
19th Greater Midwest (USA) (19,16,18,19)
Judges: Brian Switalla, D. Middleton (piping); Gordon Parkes (drumming); Tony Sloane (ensemble)

RSPBA Champion of Champions 2024: Ravara; Drumming: Uddingston

Grade 3A (MSR; 28 competed in two heats, 12 in final)
1st Oban (Scotland)
2nd Dartmouth & District (Canada)
3rd Vale of Atholl (Scotland)
4th Guelph (Canada)
5th Denny & Dunipace (Scotland)
6th Greighland Crossing (Canada)
Drumming: Greighlan Crossing
Judges: John Wilson, Peter Hunt (piping); Greg Dinsdale (drumming); Robert Mathieson (ensemble)

RSPBA Champion of Champions 2024: Oban; Drumming: Vale of Atholl

Grade 3B (MSR, 22 competed)
1st Uddingston Strathclyde (Scotland)
2nd Burntisland & District (Scotland)
3rd Cross Borders (Spain)
4th Methel & District
5th Cloughfin (Northern Ireland)
6th Arbroath (Scotland)
Drumming: Syerla & District (Northern Ireland)
Judges: Jim Semple, Maurice Rhodes (piping); Alex Dudgeon (drumming); Jim Baxter (ensemble)

RSPBA Champion of Champions 2024: Burntisland & District; Drumming: Burntisland & District

Juvenile (Medley, four competed)
1st George Watson’s College
2nd St. Thomas Episcopal School (ens.pref.) (USA)
3rd Dollar Academy (Scotland)
4th Preston Lodge High School (Scotland)
Judges: R Shaw, J Moles, G Brown, P Snaddon

RSPBA Champion of Champions 2024: George Watson’s College; Drumming: George Watson’s College

Grade 4A (prescribed MSR; 29 competed in two heats, 12 in final)
Final
1st Irvine Memorial (Northern Ireland)
2nd Ballyboley (Northern Ireland)
3rd William Kerr Memorial (Northern Ireland)
4th Upper Crossgare (Northern Ireland)
5th City of Dunedin (Gr4) (USA)
6th Cullen (Ireland)
Drumming: Upper Crossgare
Judges: J. Reville, Cameron Edgar (piping); Matt Wilson (drumming); Tom Brown (ensemble)

RSPBA Champion of Champions 2024: Tweedvale; Drumming: Tweedvale

Grade 4B (prescribed marches; 49 competed in three heats, 18 in final; six from each heat)
Final
1st Black Raven (Ireland)
2nd 2 Scots (Scotland)
3rd Altnaveigh (Northern Ireland)
4th Moneygore (Northern Ireland)
5th Govan Community (Scotland)
6th Letterkenny & District (Ireland)
Drumming: Black Raven
Judges: Ronnie Mcshannon, Mark Faloon (piping); Lee Innes (drumming); David Brown (ensemble)

RSPBA Champion of Champions 2024: 2 Scots; Drumming 2 Scots

Novice Juvenile A (prescribed MSR, 11 competed)
1st George Watson’s College (Scotland)
2nd West Lothian Schools (Scotland)
3rd Scots College No.1 (Australia)
4th Brisbane Boys’ College (Australia)
5th Dollar Academy (Scotland)
6th Renfrewshire Schools (Scotland)
Drumming: George Watson’s College
Judges: Ross Walker, John Connor (piping); Paul Brown (drumming); Terry Lee (ensemble)

RSPBA Champion of Champions 2024: Dollar Academy; Drumming: George Watson’s College

Novice Juvenile B (prescribed marches, 28 competed in two heats, 12 in final)
1st Scotch College No.2 (Australia) (1,1,2,1)
2nd Burntisland & District (Scotland) (ens.pref.) (4,9,1,3)
3rd Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (NJ) (Scotland) (3,3,5,6)
4th Stirling & District (Scotland) (2,6,9,5)
5th High School of Dundee (Scotland) (10,7,4,2)
6th Kintyre Schools (Scotland) (5,5,6,8)
7th Edinburgh Academy (Scotland) (8,2,12,7)
8th Capital District Youth (USA) (ens.pref.) (12,8,3,9)
9th North Lanarkshire Schools (Scotland) (7,4,11,10)
10th Lochgelly High School Junior (Scotland) (9,11,10,4)
11th Dollar Academy (Scotland) (6,10,8,11)
12th Balerno & District Schools (Scotland) (11,12,7,12)
Judges: Jennifer Hutcheon, Barry Donaldson (piping); Keith Orr (drumming); Paul Turner (ensemble)

The RSPBA announced an erroneous Novice Juvenile B result at Glasgow Green that it corrected more than a week after the event. For the record, the following is what was originally announced:

1st Lochgelly High School Junior (Scotland)
2nd Capital District Youth (USA)
3rd High School of Dundee (Scotland)
4th Burntisland & District (Scotland)
5th Balerno District Schools (Scotland)
6th Scots College No.2 (Australia)
Drumming: Capital District

The RSPBA announced at the World Championships the Novice Juvenile B Champion of Champions 2024: Lochgelly High School Junior; Drumming: Dollar Academy.