RED HOT CHILLI PIPERS :

 

I am including a page for The Red Hot Chilli Pipers as they firmly meet the criteria for our Society and Website - they play great Music and promote Scotland's heritage and

Culture.  AND they are simply awesome and we encourage anyone who gets the chance to go to see them live - do so, you will not regret it. 

They are not widely known south of the border - so hopefully this will address some of the ignorance and persuade folk to take the plunge and go see them !

 

PLEASE NOTE :-  This article is neither sponsored or authorised by The Red Hot Chilli Pipers - please go to their website  www.redhotchillipipers.co.uk  for official information.

 

The Red Hot Chilli Pipers at the HMV Shop in Buchannan Street, Glasgow for the launch of their new album "Music for The Kilted Generation"

Pictured above  are Chilli Pipers, Stuart Cassells,  Kyle Warren,  Dougie McCance and Kevin MacDonald.

 

We had booked tickets for the Concert that evening at Oran Mor, Glasgow but we couldn't wait to see them so we attended this CD Launch

at HMV where I bought the CD and got it signed by the band after this performance, which although fairly brief, was absolutely brilliant.

A small stage, with four pipers vying for position, together with Nick Hawryliw (Firestarter) - electric guitar,  Steve Lawrence - acoustic guitar etc,

Steve Graham (snare drum), Malcolm McEwan (marching toms etc), Chris Russell (Keyboards), Steven "Stav" Black (drums) all squeezed on to the set.

Unfortunately, there was no room for the Red Hot Chilli Dancers !

 

I hope that all the public attending this launch bought the CD and that it sold well - I understand it reached No.1 in the BBC Scotland charts and I

really hope it sold well and continues to sell well.  I have simply not stopped playing it since I got it - it is that good !

  

         

 

My signed CD.  As you can see they play a wide range and variety of music. And it was my 51st Birthday !

  

        

  Kevin signing my CD.                                                       Here I am pictured with Stuart and Kyle.                          Nick,                Malcolm,                    Stevie               Stav

 

      

 

RHCP at Oran Mor.   Dougie and Nick at front of stage.                                The Red Hot Chilli Dancers.

 

We feel quite privileged to have been at Oran Mor, Glasgow on 18th October 2010, the special CD launch concert which was a small

intimate venue.  This was a rare (apparently) opportunity to see all FOUR Pipers on stage together as normally just three perform at

a concert.  The stage was small but they coped extremely well as did the dancers, who add a bit of glamour and choreographed distraction

to the event, even if inhibited by the lack of space.  It appeared as though Nick, a genuine Rock guitarist if ever there was one, was also similarly

inhibited as I feel that perhaps he restricted his knee dives and runs across the stage to a minimum.   A nice touch was when Nick loaned his

guitar to Ben Holloway, who had performed with the band on their US/Canada tour and also on the album but had resumed his further education

on return to the UK.  Ben played a brief guitar solo and was thanked by Stuart on behalf of the band, as was Willie Armstrong, who was attending the

event, even though he had left the group before the global tour - he is actually a firefighter - and if you have seen him on "BLAST" the RHCP live Video,

you would not be surprised at that. Some would say his stature was made for firefighting and also wearing the Kilt ! 

 

There was also a special appearance by the Glasgow Gospel Truth Choir singing Amazing Grace which was also brilliant.  Honest !

 

WE TRAVELLED OVER 1000 miles (from Dover, Kent - there and back) to see the Chilli Pipers   -  WHY ??   Well, having travelled to Scotland many times

over recent years, visiting Dumfries (my place of birth) we hear this great music being played in several highland shops and after making enquiries

we purchased the DVD  - it was confusing initially as some shop assistants would have us believe that the American Rock Band had employed

the bagpipes in their songs !   Anyway, on getting the DVD home and watching it through, we both agreed we just had to see them.  This meant

we had to wait for them to return after their overseas tour and the first opportunity was the CD launch concert at Oran Mor in Glasgow. 

IT WAS WELL WORTH THE TRIP.  ABSOULUTELY AWESOME !!!

 

 

Having listened to the CDs Bagrock to the Masses, Music for the Kilted Generation and Blast almost constantly we just had to see them live again

so booked up to see them at The Alhambra Theatre, Dunfermiline on 30th December 2010.  I had actually asked my wife Davina how she wanted to

celebrate her 40th Birthday on 29th December and she said " it's obvious -go to see the Red Hot Chilli Pipers!"  .  So having seen them on my birthday

we booked a couple of nights at a hotel in Dunfermline and bought tickets at the Alhambra, making sure we were  there early in order to get front seats

in the Circle - the only seats available.  (They obviously did not appreciate our standing in the community as otherwise I am sure they would have offered us

the Royal Box !  LOL !)

 

The Theatre would not allow us to take photographs of the performance so I am unable to reproduce pictures here, so I thought I would

give a sort of written portrait of the band members here.

Stuart Cassells  - is the leader and musical director etc.  He is a former BBC Young Musician of the Year and is a brilliant piper. He introduces

most of the tunes and the band members.  He not only plays the pipes like a dream but adds fun to the occasion - he is a great captain of this team.

Kevin MacDonald  - another founder member since 2004 - is a frequent winner of the RHCP "pipe-off" when the three pipers play against each other

and the audience are asked to cheer for the winner.  They are all brilliant and it would need a better trained musical person than myself to be

able to distinguish between them BUT, Kevin wins by his expertly executed Highland Limbo performance, where, despite his sturdy stature,  he drops to

his knees and lays his back flat to the floor whilst still maintaining his pipe playing (and dignity!)  - I could describe it as a sort of back flip but those in the

crowd would know it was not really that gymnastic - but nevertheless was a treat to watch.  Stuart complains this is why Kevin wins and that it should be

a musical contest not a dance contest !  It was all in good fun anyway.

Kyle Warren - is a newer member, taking over from Willie Armstrong - and he is a holder of a degree with honours from the BagPiping University -

I think it was actually Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.  He says he is the quieter of the pipers - I think he can only mean vocally as his

drones are as loud as any !

He is also fantastic with extremely quick fingers and is definitely part of the RHCP youth policy ..................

As is, Dougie McCance - another new member - Willie Armstrong must have been a great piper as they replaced him with TWO new ones !!!!

Dougie was not performing at Alhambra (at that point we had not realised they usually only appear with three) and was in the foyer performing as the

purveyor of fine Chilli Pipers apparel and CDs.  We feared the worst as following Dougie on Facebook it would appear that he is somewhat accident

prone and wondered if he had suffered a broken arm whilst on tour.  Fortunately this was not the case, simply he had drawn the short straw and

had to miss out and do the "selling".  It is remarkable to think that he is only 18 years old and such a brilliant piper  - I think Davina instantly became

his number one fan - due to his cheeky smile ! One can imagine the discussions in his house when he said " Och Maw, I'm gonna leave School and go

and join a rock band !"    Meeting him in the foyer he is such a nice young man with a great personality and spent lots of time chatting .

Nick Hawryliw "The Firestarter" is on Electric Guitar and is a typical Rock guitarist.  Lightning quick fingers and moves across the stage like a rock

performer in his designer bumper boots. He also sports a "Rooneyesque" designer "V" neck T shirt - obviously meant as a fashion addition rather

than thinking he needed extra room to get his head through !  He is a fantastic guitarist - the passion flows through his fingers and plectrums!

Stevie Lawrence - is a more mature member and plays a variety of guitar shaped instruments as well as supporting percussion.  He is also a brilliant

musician and in fact composed a brilliant tune "The Hidden Gem" (on the album) which starts with guitars and includes all the instruments including

the brass section - it is as though he wrote it especially for the band so included bits for everyone and it is a brilliant tune.  At one point Stevie

appears to play something resembling a stretched banjo, but it adds dimension to this band of brilliant musicians.

Chris Russell is also a quieter member (or so it appears) but is a brilliant keyboard player and adds synthesised sounds when necessary and Stuart describes

him as the real talent of the team.

Malcolm MacEwan plays the marching toms and bongo drums and other instruments which either need hitting, smacking or shaking ! And very well he does it

too !   His hands are mightily quick - I am sure the reverberations are being felt worldwide and he has such energy across the stage (though seemingly not

as much as Nick !)  He teams up well with Steven Graham, twice world champion snare drummer and I actually think at this concert, his hands were even

quicker than he had been in Glasgow. I actually think he drums at faster than the speed of sound !  His drum off with Malcolm was brilliant with them swapping sticks

in mid-air and not having a need to pull substitutes from their socks !  It was a fabtastic display of drumming and making up what Stuart described as the "3 Amigos"

was Steve "Stav" Black on the drum kit.  He is everything a Rock drummer should be - flamboyant, fun, quick, loud and in time.  He is a brilliant musician too, even

though we may agree to disagree on what constitutes a "Groupie" he is also a fun guy though I think with the hairstyles they more resemble Muskateers than Amigos !

The Chilli Dancers add a bit of glamour and finesse to the proceedings, all excellent Highland Dancers, they also improvise around the other musicians and are

very pleasant on the eye.  I am sure all would agree they enhance the show but perhaps sometimes could do with a little more space.  Perhaps they could

help Stuart with his personal choreography to help him beat Kevin !

Also appearing was vocalist, Chris Judge who also performed on the CD and at Oran Mor as the lead of the Glasgow Gospel Truth Choir.  Singing, Amazing Grace,

if you could not see him, you may have mistakenly thought you were listening to Luther Vandross - his voice is that good and what a range.  He also added

vocal accompaniment to other tunes, such as The Voice, where his "whooaaaaars" are as good as any I have heard and helped get audience participation.

 

All this added up to a great concert, fun and fantastic music and well worth the thousand mile round trip we were making to see it.

 

After the show, they all turn up to meet fans and sign anything put in front of them, hopefully CDs but as we already had copies of everything, they were quite

happy to sign tickets, envelopes, postcards etc.  They are all charming, very affable young men and not "precious pop-stars" . They all gladly spent time chatting and

being photographed.

 

A nice touch was that whilst we were queueing up outside we were treated to some pipe music by the Inverkeithing and District Pipe Band,  a local band whom

we understand Steven Graham was once a member. There was also a local connection with Nick hailing from Glenrothes and we met a nice young lad outside the

venue who said he was a piper in the Glenrothes Pipe Band of which several band members were attending this evening.

 

All in all a great evening.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's wishing the Red Hot Chilli Pipers a succesful 2011 .

When are you coming to Kent ?