REVIEW All photos: John Slavin@designfolk.com
Barnaby Brown
their grade 1 sound and technique shone through. Their concert repertoire was conservative with the band only playing around half a dozen sets including two MSRs and a couple of medleys. The bulk of the band got a break as Stevie Dewer’s ceilidh band took the middle section of the concert and entertained with some energetic selections finishing with a set of Irish jigs. Dougie Murray, brother of the PM, got to do the solo spot and impressed with a set including that perennial favourite Crossing the Minch. Overall, the Fife Constabulary’s performance was traditional pipe band material well played. After the break it was the turn of The National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland, under pipe major Emma Buchan, to take centre stage. This they did with impressive technique, verve and energy. With 35 pipers and more than 50 musicians in all, this is not so much a band as a musical tour de force. From the minute they started with the Dragon’s Lair set to The Annihilator finale, the band met every musical challenge head on and they do not shy away from tricky material – tunes by Chris Armstrong, Mark Saul and Bruce Gandy pepper their set. They soon had the audience completely captivated. Using their accompanying musicians to great effect the band moved effortlessly from the atmospheric and moody to full-out rock and roll as the whole ensemble created a sound that radiated more energy than the sun’s solar flares. The band created a visual as well as an aural landscape and they happily moved around and brought on dancers to create more interest and had a bit of fun on the stage. The face-off between the tenor drummers and the snares during the drum salute was terrific fun and had the audience laughing loudly. Special mention goes to the tag team soloists, all of whom are only 14 years old, and played brilliantly: Christopher Gray, Andrew Clark and Connor Sinclair, take a bow; you have nerves of steel.
Angus MacKenzie
Ewen Henderson
Anxo Lorenzo
Do not get the impression that the NYPBoS are in any way shape or form a triumph of style over substance as this band can play — boy can they play. There are few bands in the world — Simon Fraser University, 78th Fraser Highlanders; St Laurence O’Toole, Field Marshal Montgomery and Toronto Police — that can consider themselves in the same league as the NYPBoS when it comes to giving concerts and without a shadow of a doubt they are the best concert band in Scotland. If they are playing anywhere near you, make the effort to get out and see them — you will not be disappointed. For the sound of pipes unfettered by drums, keyboards and fiddles, the fifth annual Gordon Duncan Memorial Competition at The National Piping Centre was the place to be. The contenders — Chris Armstrong, Cameron Drummond and Alistair Henderson from Scotland, Andrea Boyd, Ryan Canning
Dougie Murray
and Robert Watt from Ireland and the Breton contingent of Alexis Meunier, Sylvain Hamon and Xavier Boderiou — served up a feast of piping that was of the highest quality throughout. It seems that the Scots and Irish contingent are now getting a better grip on the Breton tunes giving that section a more even feel. The overall winner on the day was Alexis with Robert second and Sylvain in third. This was an excellent day’s piping but as it does take up most of the day it might make more sense — and in the spirit of Gordon Duncan, who never took more than 30 seconds to tune when on stage — to have the competitors play each set one after the other. After all, that wouldn’t have been an issue for Gordon. PIPING TODAY • 23