Royal Marines/Scots Guards to perform in LONDON ON

[Father Bill]

...and a few more.











That's all she wrote!

Father Bill+

[plaid preacher]

Nice photos, Bill. At Roy Thompson they had scant room to march, although march they did. I wandered if they would have a slightly better space at the Gardens. On the other hand, we were in the front row of the first balcony, and I think it was great to be a bit above the fray.

[cck]

I see that our numbers attending the performance in Austin are increasing.
With a seating capacity of over 16,000 - Y'ALL COME !
There's plenty of room for viewing and marching

[imrichmond]

Unfortunately, this show will not be coming anywhere near my location on the coast of British Columbia. These are both great bands that I have heard in other performances in the past. I had the pleasure of piping alongside the Royal Marines band at the Intercontinental Tattoo in Toronto back in the late 1970s. I was impressed by their very professional musicianship. They were great guys to chat and joke with, too!

[OC Richard]

Thanks for those pics!

Interesting that they've gone with the full hose and buckled brogues. Every time I've seen any of the military pipe bands they've worn spats.

Yes about marching, in the 70s and 80s these tours performed here in our largest indoor venues (usually ice hockey stadiums or convention centers) and could do all sorts of marching, much like you show there.

Recent tours here have been in concert halls where the stages are too confined to do much. Those stages were designed for an orchestra to sit on and are hardly suitable for field shows.

And those older tours were often larger, having three bands rather than two.

For example the Pipes & Drums and Military Band of the Black Watch, and the Band of the Royal Marines. (Back when all the Scottish regiments had their own Military Bands.)

BTW the Pipes & Drums of The Scots Guards have attended one of our local Games, Pleasanton, a number of times. They performed alongside a US Marine Corps band, quite impressive.

Here they are rehearsing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJXPj41WOCI

And they've also competed at Pleasanton several times

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz3e4EqXR2Q

And here are a few members of the Scots Guards performing in their unique No1 Dress

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRqu1Joykvs

[OC Richard]

Well I finally got to see the concert last night! Very cool. Quite a few kilties in attendance. Didn't get any pics

They played at a concert hall which had a cramped stage. The conductor told a friend of mine that it was the smallest performing area they had to contend with on the tour. Musicians couldn't march on and off, but rather negotiate steep steps at the sides of the stage.

By the way, they announced, and wrote in the programme, that the band of the Royal Marines last toured North America in 1985, the pipes & drums of the Scots Guards last toured North America in 1977. I'd attended the local appearances of both those tours, but I'd forgot how long ago they'd been! How time flies.

The pipes & drums of the Scots Guards were just here in California last September, but not part of a North American tour, but to compete at the Pleasanton Highland Games.

The bands on tour keep getting smaller. This Royal Marines band had one rank of five snare drummers marching in front, in 1985 I count one rank of seven, in 1976 I count two ranks of seven snare drummers, 14 total.

The Scots Guards had ten pipers last night; in 1977 they fielded 16 (the old standard size for an army pipe band).