Toronto Police Pipe Band » Pipe Band

The Band Welcomes Santa Claus to Toronto!

BrianYou — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:41:11 +0000

The Toronto Police Pipe Band was proud to once again start off the 107th Toronto Santa Claus Parade – This year, the band also traveled to Cobourg to participate in that City’s annual parade.

Grade 3 Band North American Pipe Band Champions

james — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:39:19 +0000

On July 30th, the Grade 3 Band competed in a field of ten bands at the North American Pipe Band Championships. This event is held annually within Glengarry County, at the small town of Maxville Ontario. The band won the contest and received three of a possible four first place scores. The entire band is very proud of they way the band performed, and are elated with the result!

The Grade 1 band performed very well in the premier event, and was placed first in one of the two event contests. The band placed third overall in a field of seven internationally competitive bands.

Next up is the historic Fergus Highland Games to be held on August 13th. This will finish out the competition season for this year.

View the May 21st el Mocambo Concert Live Here

Web Guy — Sat, 21 May 2011 16:28:58 +0000

For those who can’t make the concert – and we hope at least 200 of you do (since that’s the capacity of the el Mocambo Club) here’s where you can view the concert live, 8:00 pm (EDT):

Live Streaming by Ustream.TV

Guitar Great McManus to Play with PoPo at elMo Gig

Web Guy — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 22:59:22 +0000

Canadian-based Scottish Guitar legend, Tony McManus, will be guesting with the Toronto Police Pipe Band (the “PoPo”) at their May 21, 2011 show at the el Mocambo Club in Toronto. Last year’s sold-out show produced the band’s award-winning “Raw and Off the Floor” record and proved once again why the el Mocambo has been a home to some many legendary and historic shows: the accoustics are fantastic!

The well-mic’d guitar styling of McManus alongside the sounds of the pipe band (and a solo or two) will be sure to help make another unforgetable night of music.

Self taught from childhood, initially through listening to the family record collection, Tony McManus abandoned academia in his twenties to pursue music full time. The session scene in Glasgow and Edinburgh provided the springboard for gigs around Scotland and a studio set for BBC Radio, frequently rebroadcast, began to spread the word.

In addition to his prodigious solo work Tony is great demand as a studio musician having contributed to over 60 albums.

Tickets for the May 21 show are limited and at $20 can be lined up by contacting band management.

The band will be streaming the show live on ustream.com though nothing beats the ambience and unforgetable experience offered by the elMo!

See you on the 21st of May!

TPPB G1 Band Announces May 21 Show at Toronto’s el Mocambo Club

Web Guy — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 18:42:55 +0000

The grade one Toronto Police Pipe Band will again be hosting a show at Toronto’s iconic el Mocambo club, 464 Spadina Avenue, Toronto. The Saturday, May 21, show is slated to begin at 8:00 pm.

Elvis Costello’s “Live at the El Mocambo” and the Rolling Stones’ “Love You Live” records are two of the most famous albums to be recorded off the floor of the “el Mo”. The Toronto Police Pipe Band recorded a live show at the venue last May. The recording went on to receive the pipes | drums award for 2010 “Album of the Year”.

“I can’t wait for this show!”, enthused Pipe Major Ian K MacDonald, head of the grade one band, “we have incredible new talent in the band, we’ve got reliable experienced talent in the band, and we have a rocking new medley to lay out at the el Mo! The accoustics at the club are great and if this year’s show is even half as fun as last year’s, I’ll be happy beyond words”.

Additional ticket information may be had by contacting band management.

Archie Dewar Memorial Contest

james — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 00:41:17 +0000

Archie Dewar Memorial Contest for the A Division of the Toronto Branch Knockout (Round #5) took place on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2011 at the Moss Park Armoury.

Kyle receiving the Archie Dewar Memorial Trophy 2011

The final standings were:

A division – March, Strathspey & Reel
Judge: Charles H. MacDonald
1. Kyle Coughlin
2. Brendan Culver
3. Jon Bellia
4. Dylan Whittemore
5. Angelina Vaccaro
6. MacGregor Van De Ven

Congratulations to winner Kyle (TPPB Grade 1), and to Angelina (TPPB Grade 3).

It was a busy day, with the B and C divisions having competitions round as well. The MSR competition for the A division was concluded with a recital by Ian K. MacDonald (P/M Grade 1).

The final round for the Toronto Branch Knockout will be held on March 5, 2011.

Band’s “Live at the el Mocambo” Named Recording of the Year

Web Guy — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 16:26:47 +0000

The grade one band’s “Live at the el Mocambo: Raw and Off the Floor” project was yesterday named Recording of the Year by pipes|drums, the world’s most read piping and pipe band-related website.

The assessment panel provided some anonymous comment in their online summary including: “Something a bit different, lots of fun and a great vehicle for getting ToPo’s music out there, with no scoresheets involved.” “Raw and off the floor was a great way to describe this CD.” “Anyone who ignores this record in some sort of protest is simply missing out.”

Raw can be downloaded now from iTunes.

“It’s a real honour to have our el-Mo project named Recording of the Year by pipes|drums,” said Pipe Major Ian K MacDonald, “The show may’ve only been one evening but the end result represents hundreds of hours of hard work. I’m really pleased for the band. Congratulations to all!”

Ian advises that this is an official heads-up that more of that hard work can be expected in the New Year.

A Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year to all from the Toronto Police Pipe Band!

Seasons Greetings

james — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 17:24:59 +0000

An annual tradition, the Toronto Police Pipe Band has participated in the Toronto Santa Claus Parade for several decades. Sunday, November 21st started out chilly, but the weather held and even warmed up a little. This year, following Police Chief William Blair and the Chief’s Ceremonial Unit, the band played several crowd favourites including “We Wish you a Merry Christmas” and “Good King Wenceslas”.

Happy Holidays!

Early Halloween Greetings from the Toronto Police Pipe Band

Web Guy — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 23:53:29 +0000

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

What Makes a Great Drummer (aka “Play Your Way to Hollywood”)

Mike — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 22:44:06 +0000

I’ve been reading lots of stuff on percussion lately. I’ve been looking to educate myself further on what makes percussion what it is, why it is, and how a deeper understanding can help create great melodies. I came across this youtube mini-documentary and thought you might enjoy. The message here is about drumming, yes, but also about music and musicians: “great chops” [wrists, fingers] may be great to have, but we still have to entertain and move listeners – the audience:

Michael Grey