Attending Military Tattoos : Share your Stories

[Sir William]

I attended the Edinburgh Tattoo in 2006 and while I've attended a few military tattoos here in the States have seen nothing of similar scale or even as impressive as that of Edinburgh. I was fortunate enough to attend when they had the largest massed pipe band in Tattoo history and I was both awed and impressed by seeing the entire square full of kilted pipers and drummers.

I've attended the Virginia International Tattoo in Norfolk/Hampton twice and its pretty nice on the whole, but nothing like Edinburgh. When I attended last year I think I was one of about 3 outside the pipebands who was wearing a kilt.

I've also attended several military band "concerts" in that usually included a pipeband from one of the (then) Highland regiments, another military band (Royal Marines, Coldstream Guards, etc), and sometimes, but not always, a local US military band.

I also attended the US Army's Soldier Show which had a few bands, some singers, and a few patriotic themed acts.

Last but not least, I've seen the Friday night parade at the Marine Corps Barracks on 8th and I in Washington, DC, which has always impressed me. Usually only the Marine Corps band plays and the Silent Drill team performs several times, but it is very impressive and inspiring. Not a tattoo but a beautiful military parade to watch.

My favorite, bar none, is the Edinburgh Tattoo and I'm looking forward to when I can see it again.

[Tartan Shortbread Jock]

Thanks for that, Eagle JCS.
I have marked my calander.
Let's hope it does not rain.

[Bigkahuna]

The United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point New York used to put on a very nice Tattoo. Their Band is modeled after the Band of The Royal Marines and is quite impressive.They also used to have a group of pipers in their Cadet Corps.

[westie97]

The tattoo at the Military Academy is limited by the size of the area in which to have massed bands. If we can get authorization to use the Parade Field in the future it could be expanded. With that said, most bands prefer the venue exactly where it is, in the amphitheater overlooking the Hudson River. Small but "intimate" military tattoo if there is such a thing.
It is more about the atmosphere and the cameraderie than anything else. Yes we adevertise and yes our little band here at the Academy raises some cash (our primary fundraiser) but the important thing is our pipers and drummers get to connect with otehr experienced pipers and drummers, making some life long friends along the way.

P.S. BigKahuna....it was a pleasure meeting you on Sunday and I hope you enjoyed the Tattoo!

[Galician]

The United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York, used to put on a very nice Tattoo.

Their Band is modeled after the Band of The Royal Marines and is quite impressive.They also used to have a group of pipers in their Cadet Corps.

Really??!! That's only minutes away from me. If only they still had them, now that I know about this stuff.

[Bigkahuna]

The tattoo at the Military Academy is limited by the size of the area in which to have massed bands. If we can get authorization to use the Parade Field in the future it could be expanded. With that said, most bands prefer the venue exactly where it is, in the amphitheater overlooking the Hudson River. Small but "intimate" military tattoo if there is such a thing.
It is more about the atmosphere and the cameraderie than anything else. Yes we adevertise and yes our little band here at the Academy raises some cash (our primary fundraiser) but the important thing is our pipers and drummers get to connect with otehr experienced pipers and drummers, making some life long friends along the way.

P.S. BigKahuna....it was a pleasure meeting you on Sunday and I hope you enjoyed the Tattoo!

Madam, the pleasure was mine. You have a wonderful group of people there who will be a credit to their country.

[Bigkahuna]

Galician, keep your eye open. They are not very well advertised. They did put on quite a show and I would love to see them again. It was really great to meet up with you at West Point. Hope to see you again soon.

[Tartan Shortbread Jock]

Would like to see some of these American parades, they sound real good.

[Boy's war]

There is a lot of military parades in canada, great to see the horses and
gun carrages. The pipers are out of this world.

[thescot]

I believe that Monkey@Arms is reight: nothing compares to the military tatoo at Edinburg.

But there are many different tatoos (sp?) around the US. Many military bases have them as a formal show, often on Friday evenings, and I imagine that nearly all the military schools do. I know Riverside Military School here in Georgia does on a regular basis.

The most memorable one I've seen was at the Stone Mountain Highland Games here in Atlanta. They had the local Army post band and several others brought in for the purpose as well as the U. S. Marine Corps band from New Orleans.

The combined bands were magnificient, but the best part of the show was when the Marine Band brought in some Marines dressed in WWII period battle dress as a color guard, and as the band broke into the Marine Hymn, they broke out into a staged redition of the Iwo Jima monument in Washington taken from the Joe Rosenthal photo.

You could tell by those standing at attention who was what! It literally brought tears to my eyes--and still does as I write this--to see all the old guys snapping to attention as best they could with tears on their cheeks, too. (Rather than snapping, some were kind of unfolding the years.)

The rest of the folks were just sitting there, looking at us wondering why we were standing up. It was about 12 or so years ago, and they don't have the tatoo at Stone Mountain any more since they tore down the arena and no longer have a venue, but you can see that I was quite impressed.