Costa Mesa Games 2011 photos

[OC Richard]

Well it was cold and raining early Sunday morning- I drove through rain my entire short drive to the Games- but the rain stopped and by noon it was brilliantly sunny and a perfect temperature.

I spent the whole time listening to solo and band piping, save for listening to the Fife & Drum group.

Solos in the morning: Richard King of the LA Scots



(the flag below the US flag is our state flag, having a bear, a red star, and the words California Republic)

LA Scots performing for the crowd at noon- the red-haired girl likes it!



Then the Los Angeles Fifes & Drums played. They told me that on Saturday they had their whole fife section but only two of them could make it on Sunday! The drummers are mostly seasoned Pipe Band guys who decided to get into Revolutionary War drumming. They made their own drums. As you can see, one of the drummers was doing double duty that day.



Now the band competition! The Edmonton Boys travelled quite a distance to get here






From the Phoenix Arizona area, Mesa Caledonian



Glendora High School, a very impressive-sounding young band



The University of California Riverside band in their bespoke tartan



and the Pacific Coast Highlanders, in Hunting Thompson

[OC Richard]

More!

Here are the Pasadena Scots, who will be travelling to Scotland this summer, going to The World Pipe Band Championships and a couple games the weekend before, wearing the California tartan






And the impressive-looking and sounding Wasatch & District, "from within the shadows of the Everlasting Hills" (the famous words heard every Sunday morning by millions of Americans) wearing MacTavish












(note the airplane taking off from John Wayne International)



The Irish Pipers of San Francisco, California's oldest pipe band






(oops one guy has white, instead of offwhite, hose)

[CMcG]

I'm always happy to see pics of my dad's old group, The Edmonton Boys Pipe Band

And seeing photos of pipers reminds me of how much influence their uniforms have on civilian dress, especially in North America. Ghillie brogues, white hose, Glengarries, evening sporrans worn during the day, etc. I suppose there is a big dose of influence from the Highland attire industry too, in terms of what is readily available and affordable. The pipe band is still many North American's intro to kilts...

[KiltedDixon]

Nice Pics! I can hear the Pipes now.

[Santa Kona]

Looks like you have great weather thanks for sharing your photos.

[Mike_Oettle]

A fascinating assortment of pipers and their kilts.
Regards,
Mike

[cessna152towser]

Fabulous pics Richard.
Those Edomonton Boys fairly get around, I photographed them in Scotland last year.

[creagdhubh]

Great pics! Thanks for sharing.

[Alan H]

I was over there on the grass, heaving heavy stuff. One of the piping judge stands was immediately behind the stones trig, it was kind of interesting to see how it's done.

[Dixiecat]

Is that Maclean of Duart on the LA Scots?