Red Hot Chilli Pipers frontman ‘bags’ favour from Oban musicians
TWO Oban musicians piped up to save fans’ disappointment at a sold-out Red Hot Chilli Pipers gig at the weekend.
When the band’s main man, Kevin MacDonald, discovered his bagpipes were missing just two hours before going on stage at the Corran Halls on Saturday, Alasdair Murray from Oban-band Skipinnish and Niall Jordan from Oban Pipe Band came to the rescue. Without their help, the show would still have gone on but only with two pipers instead of three.
Mr MacDonald, who told the story to the crowd, said it was ‘lucky’ the pair could help. He borrowed a chanter from Mr Murray and pipes from Mr Jordan.
He told The Oban Times: ‘The pipes are the last thing to be checked at soundcheck so it was only then that I asked if anyone had seen my pipes – turns out they’d been left in Dublin, miles away!’
Mr MacDonald had missed the gig in Ireland because he was ill but his bagpies had still gone with the rest of the band and their equipment and been unloaded at the venue.
Due to a mix-up, the bagpipes never made it back onto the van, he said.
Yesterday (Wednesday), Mr MacDonald had to fly out to retrieve them and bring them home.
‘It will be good to get them back but it was very kind of Alasdair and Niall to help me out. The show would still have gone ahead without me but I wouldn’t have been able to play and that would have been disappointing.’
Mr Jordan, 25, who has played in Oban Pipe Band for 11 years, said it was about 5.30pm on Saturday when he saw a Facebook post asking: ‘Are you in Oban Pipe Band and can you help out?’
‘I was put in touch with the band and I ran down to the halls with the pipes. To be honest, loaning them out isn’t something I’d normally do but as they were going into professional hands, I had every confidence they would be looked after and I’d get them back in one piece. I picked them up the next morning,’ he said.