Let's see you kilts worn for St. Patrick Day celebrations;;;;;

[Scooter]

I had a County Cork tartan, navy hose, a highland green vest and a Jacobite shirt. It was a great night out in a kilt for the first time, and had many compliments.

[EagleJCS]

I was home working on my truck (changing out the front ujoint and two power window motors) on the day. Here's a pic of me the week before - Sat 3/11 - in the local AOH St Pat's Parade.

*

That's me front & center between the banners, big belly & all. That's the uniform of the Louisville Pipe Band (substituting a fleece jacket for the usual Black Argyle jacket due to the upper 50's F temps). The Louisville Metro Police Pipes & Drums joined us. They wear the same tartan - Ancient Henderson - but a generally more military-style look: spats, horsehair sporran, black & white diced Glengarries, etc.

I play the pipes (I was once the Pipe Sergeant of the band), but have some shoulder issues preventing me from playing extended periods of time (i.e. over 10 minutes - like for a rehearsal, competition or even a parade) right now.


* Pic courtesy of The Courier Journal

[RichardtheLarge]

I was at the Harrisburg Parade

Attachment 33507

This picture is the greatest.

Nothing like a bearded, kilted man with his war beast.

[OC Richard]

I play the pipes but have some shoulder issues preventing me from playing extended periods of time

Have you thought about switching shoulders? That is if your shoulder problem only affects one side.

We had that happen to an excellent piper in our band.

BTW I looked up the Louisville Police Pipes & Drums. A great-looking band, and I really like the Police Dice Glengarries.

Handy that both bands in town wear the same tartan!

[EagleJCS]

Have you thought about switching shoulders? That is if your shoulder problem only affects one side.

We had that happen to an excellent piper in our band.

BTW I looked up the Louisville Police Pipes & Drums. A great-looking band, and I really like the Police Dice Glengarries.

Handy that both bands in town wear the same tartan!

I'm just a so-so piper and haven't quite gotten up to speed on playing the 'dance' tunes (strathspeys, jigs, reels, hornpipes). I was just getting a few 2/4 and 6/8 tunes up to speed. Never did any solo competition - not really my thing.

I hadn't thought about switching shoulders for the drones, but my concern would be that the same thing would happen in short order. (I think my shoulder issue is more stress-related muscle tension than anything else. Keeping the drones still increases the muscle tension, driving the pain/tingling down my arm and loss of fine motor control in my left hand. In my hand, it feels kinda like I hit the funny bone in my elbow, but the sensation radiates down from my shoulder.)

The Louisville Pipe Band helped the LPPD with some of the initial organizational details and provided lessons to get them started. As part of the discussions, the LPPD decided to go with the Ancient Henderson tartan that the LPB has been wearing for the last 20+ years to allow for a uniform look when there are crossover events like the parade. It also allows members from both bands to play with the other as desired. Just relatively minor uniform changes are needed, if necessary.