RSPBA L&B Branch Mini-Band Contest 2009

First Contest of 2009 a Truimph for Tweedvale Pipe Band.

Tweedvale Pipe Band played in their first contest of the season last Saturday 25 April at the annual RSPBA Lothian & Borders Branch Solos and Mini-Band contest held in Peebles High School. Tweedvale entered two mini-bands in both the Grade 3 and Grade 2 contests, named A and B. There was a large entry in the Grade 3 contest with Tweedvale drawn to play 9th and 12th out of 19 bands. In Grade 2 there was an entry of 11 bands, with Tweedvale drawn to play 2nd and 9th in this event. The test piece for both contests was a medley set, and both mini-bands played Tweedvale’s new set comprising the tunes “Calum Ian, Out of the Air, The Radar Racketeer, Big Mikey’s Farewell, Maids of the Black Gen, Keel Row, Tail Toddle and Dancing Feet”. Also new to the band this year were the bands leading drummer Calum Murdoch and bass drummer David Elder, who performed with the band for the first time on Saturday. Each of the four mini-bands that Tweedvale put out played the set relatively well though the Grade 3 performances were marred by the acoustics of the room which made playing difficult. When the results were announced Tweedvale A came 3rd winning the Fairclough Scotland trophy whilst Tweedvale B came 8th in Grade 3, with Tweedvale A coming 7th and Tweedvale B 8th in the Grade 2 contest. Grade 3 was won by Stockbridge, whilst Grade 2 was won by George Watson’s College.

On the solo front Tweedvale entered 4 youngsters in the 11 years and over chanter contest. All the bands solo performers gave creditable performances of their various test pieces with two making it to the prize list. Matthew Forbes took first place winning a quaich and an RSPBA medal, whilst Ruairdhi Hutton took fourth place in the same event winning an RSPBA medal.

Speaking after the solo and mini-band results were announced, Tweedvale Pipe Major Bruce Gillie said "I’d like to thank all the band players who participated in the mini-bands on Saturday. The performances were pretty good for our first outing of the year, though there is still room for improvement. Winning prizes so early in the year was also a good boost to band morale. The contest exercise was useful in other regards as well, pointing out some of the flaws and good points in our sets and in the playing of those sets. I’d also like to congratulate all of the band’s youngsters, who all played their solo performance pieces well - it was good experience for them, and well done to Matthew and Ruairdhi for taking 1st and 4th places in the event. I am looking forward to the outdoor season which starts in two weeks time. I am confident we will do well.”

The next few weeks will see Tweedvale Pipe Band hard at work polishing up their contest pieces in preparation for the first outdoor pipe band competition of the new season at Winterfield Park, Dunbar on Saturday 9 May. Band supporters are reminded that seats are available on most contest buses though it is essential to pre-book places this year as the playing size of the band has increased. Please contact the band secretary for further details via email: charles.gray@ed.ac.uk. If any local business would like to sponsor a Tweedvale Pipe Band coach, they are also encouraged to contact the band secretary.