(Video) Piping Live! Day 2: all round the world

actively competing, and we were honoured to be a part of it, and honoured indeed to have all of these great players join us for our annual event.

We wrapped up there, and round two of Pipe Idol commenced with a rousing set from 18-year-old piper Austin Diepenhorst of San Diego, who was playing against Scott Figgins (Scotland, 20), Danny Hutcheson (Scotland, 18) and Robbie MacIsaac (Scotland, 15). It was MacIsaac who the secret judges in the audience decided would go through to the Grand Final on Thursday.

A bit of Asturian piping followed and then New Zealand’s Manawatu Scottish mounted the steps outside of the Piping Centre for an open outdoor practice, marking the band’s welcome return to Glasgow after several years essentially saving their money to get back. Funding a trip from the antipodes to Scotland for a group of 40-odd musicians, complete with all those drums is no easy affair. We sometimes take for granted that these bands from New Zealand, Canada, Australia, and the USA can simply hop on a plane and get to the World’s. Not so. A spellbinding amount of commitment, vacation time and cold cash makes this week in Glasgow such an international and successful affair.

And speaking of international, the day wrapped with the International Quartet Competition, with entries from Canada, New Zealand and the mystical, magical Kingdom of Fife. As usual, the Strathclyde Suite at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall was standing-room-only. There must be some sort of masochistic streak in pipers who volunteer themselves to play in these nerve-jangling contests. It has to be said that the medley event doesn’t really work that well very often. You take these highly orchestrated arrangements out of their full band context and they often sound like a traffic jam in Brooklyn. A very finely tuned and executed traffic jam, that is, but needing another 16 pipers to make it what it’s intended to be. Never mind. When the four-live-crew from Inveraray & District were announced the winners, they were a popular and perhaps unsurprising choice with the crowd. Things continue to trend well for the weekend for this band.

And so, to bed . . . eventually. It was around the world in a day and a daze, with internationally good talent featuring multicultural and multi-inspirational music. This was what Piping Live! is all about: Glasgow, International and a bit of history in the making.

Stay tuned.