Around 40 members of the WA Pipe Band community gathered at the practice hall of Perth Highland Pipe Band to watch the World Championships streamed live from Glasgow onto a big projection screen.
After some initial technical hiccups, the crowd were soon treated to the Grade 1 heats with frosty beers, hotdogs and haggis. With it being a cold wet night, it really did feel like being in Scotland!
The crowd spontaneously cheered when they spotted anyone from WA on screen. Picture above shows Peel Regional Police with Perth Metro pipers Matt Walker and Lachlan Boath performing as guest players.
At the halftime gap between the MSR and Medley contests, members of Perth Highland kept the crowd entertained with Pipe Major Malcolm MacLean piping in the haggis for a guest address to the haggis from Pipe Bands WA piping judge, Alicia Manolas. For an Australian twist to this, a meat pie was then piped in by Pipe Sergeant Gary Macintosh, with an hilarious address by piper Phil Richardson. You can see a video of the Adress To The Meat Pie on the Pipe Bands WA facebook page. CLICK HERE to see the video and photos from the night.
The crowd was then treated to a spectacular recital on Deger pipes by WAPOL’s Stuart Robertson, followed by a recital on ancient shuttle pipes by Alicia Manolas. Malcolm MacLean played a set on his Technopipes with his BagpipeStar backing music, and South West Highlanders Pipe Major, Duncan Rankine, also played a Deger pipes set.
Hopefully, we can make this an annual social event on the Pipe Bands WA calendar.
