As the pipe band world headed to Glasgow Green on Friday to listen to the Grade 1 bands, Piping Live! kept the trad tunes playing at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery, in the Street Cafe and at the Old Fruitmarket.
The Armagh Pipers Club drew a large appreciative audience at Kelvingrove for their noon Gig in the Gallery, while over in the Street Cafe at McPhater Street, uilleann piper Leonard Barry got the afternoon entertainment under way. Up next were Falasgair to perform as part of the Emerging Talent series which is sponsored by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Falasgair are from the Isle of Skye and were led by a whistle and pipes duo on Highland and smallpipes and supported by a strong backline of guitar, bodhran and piano. The afternoon concluded with a wonderful, informal trad session in the Street Cafe. All musicians were welcome to join, and many dropped in for a tune across the afternoon and kept the crowd of onlookers enthralled.
The evening’s entertainment shifted to the big concert stage of the Oldfruitmarket and the Allan MacDonald Band, Ross Ainslie and Brighde Chaimbeul and RURA added a Friday night highlight to a wonderful five days of music. And it is not yet finished…
The music starts again tomorrow afternoon at 2.30pm with the Gordon Duncan Memorial competition in the The National Piping Centre auditorium, with a Survivor session in the Pipers’ Tryst starting at 3pm to keep the trad tunes going all afternoon. The festival will culminate at 7.30pm on Sunday evening with a ‘must see’ concert from Fred Morrison and Paddy Keenan – with live stream tickets still available.
