Edinburgh Military Tattoo

[Argus]

Watched the 2004 Edinburgh Military Tattoo on TV last night.

Red Arrows 14 ship flypast looked good, as did the Queens Colour Squadron. But the RAF Band has gone to the pack. Pipers dressed in a so called RAF blue tartan (really); corporals in mess kit decked out like aide de camps, trying to sound like Glenn Miller acolytes; and a rather pathetic attempt to emulate US marching bands: all of which was presided over by a wing commander whose uniform looked as if it had been designed by Richard D’Oyly Carte and his Opera Company.

Stick to what you're good at, chaps - the RAF March and John Phillip Sousa!

[joe2812]

I think this has been discussed already but...

I thought the 2004 EMT was really quite good.

The pipes were brill and QCS were top notch as ever... not too sure on the Glen Miller thing but it's something new and different and I hear they've been quite a hit elsewhere.

Have to agree to disagree I think!

[Argus]

joe2812

Nothing wrong with the Pipes and Drums, and the Tattoo generally; just the RAF Band!

[allan907]

Have to basically agree with Argus. Singers with a military band are generally a dead loss (from whichever country). If they were any good at all they'd have been snapped up by a record company.

There was one Royal Tournament (86 or 87??) where the RAF were the 'lead' Service for that year and the production was stunning. Finalé was centred around Saint Saëns symphony No 3 "Organ". Presumably the Director of Music for that was quietly shunted off as being too 'adventurous'?

Technical question: Are the uniforms which were worn by the psuedo Squadronnaires the new No 1? If so, the addition of the belt and shoulder eagles looks good. If not, and they were trying to create a 1940s look then they should have paid attention to rank badges!

Edited: Royal Tournament 1989 - Director of Music Wg Cdr H B (Barry) Hingley

[Impiger]

Didn't see the Tatto last year nor the TV version so I could be wrong but...........

Suspect the 'Blue' Tartan is the recently approved RAF Tartan which used to be the unofficial garb of the ladies of the RAFA and the RAF Widows and adorns the dining room (as curtains and soft furnishings) of a secret service residence in Fife. If you like tartan at all, its not too bad (some feel a little bright) but the options for the RAF are few. The bands of 602 and 603 Sqns in the 30s wore Grey Douglas (the tartan of their sponsor the Duke of Hamilton) and this was adopted as standard rig for RAuxAF with mess kit when attending informal dinners in Scotland. For my money - Grey Douglas would have been a better colour for all RAF tartans. Other volunteer bands wore whatever they could beg borrow or steal as long as it had a Royal or Government tag of some sort. The secret Fifeshire airbase band used to wear Royal Stewart (basically red) with either a black pipers jacket or an RAF blue tunic depending on the formality of function.

As for the other official uniforms that the band wear well they are in the JSP and approved by the Defence Council. Not all military uniforms look good and some are downright silly.

All in all I think the RAF Bands do a first class job

[The Ferret]

ARGUS

I attended the EMT this year with my family and I thought that the whole affair was superbly executed and a sight not to be missed - as a member of the dark blue I even enjoyed the light blue involvement - something different and well presented!
:cool: :cool: :cool:

[Art Field]

Allan907. Agree about singers with military bands in general but anyone who was fortunate enough to be at the Los Cerrilos Air Show in Chile in 94 and maybe other years, will vividly remember the Chilian Air Force band singer, a Flt Lt equivalent, who was not only a superb performer (as a singer) but a very eligible contestant for Miss World. Could the RAF Band compete?, dreamer.

[L1A2 discharged]

military bands, tatoos etc, are in this age of scraping the pennies together are a waste of scarce resources. Paid technician pay, don't even do the stretcher bearer thing which was allegedly their combat role.

Get rid of them.
:mad:

[Argus]

The Ferret

One of the curious features of the EMT TV version is how the 'parade ground' appears to be quite large, when the reality is somewhat different.

I 'dips me lid' to the Scots Bandmasters who 'drive' with precision, the massed pipes, drums and others in such a confined space. To one of Scots ancestry, the skirl of the pipes brings a tear to the eye.

But when it comes to a Sassenach military band, you can't, IMHO, beat HM's Royal Marines.

[TheNightOwl]

I watched the tattoo on TV last Saturday, and enjoyed almost every minute of it. As an ex-pat Scot, the massed pipes and drums brought the usual lump to the throat, but I thought the only unnecessary items were the Estonian "gymnasts", the Indian dancers and the emphasis on the arty side of military music. It is a Military Tattoo and, IMHO, should remain such. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the Indians, they were fascinating, just out of place.

L1A2 - geta bloody life, mate, it's a once-a-year splendid show!!

The one slight disappointment to me wrt the QCS was the overall presentation; I felt that a liitle less of the counter-marching and a little more of the arms drill would have been preferable, but then I'm perhaps stuck in a time-warp! Their precision is marvellous, and it is far too easy to be critical from the comfort of a lounge chair, their performance as the Colour Guard was a sight to behold. All I have to do now is get my brother in Aberdeen to send me the DVD, so I can reminisce on how the "sheepskin piano" OUGHT to be played.

Kind regards from a happy

TheNightOwl.:ok:

[Flash2001]

About 12 years ago in Denver I attended a concert featuring the Pipes and Drums of the 93rd and the "Massed bands of the British Army". There was a CD offerred and like a fool I didn't buy it. I assume the musicians were on tour and that the CD was their standard production. Does anyone know where I might buy the CD? It had Strangest Dream (Not what you would normally think of as military music) on the pipes and an interesting drum arrangement called Victory Beatings.

After an excellent landing you can use the airplane again.

[An Teallach]

I think the album you're after is TC1018: Massed Pipe Bands - The Beating Retreat, available in cassette form from http://www.musicinscotland.com/musicstore/search_result.asp?category=pipe%20band

If you get in touch with them they may be able to rustle up a cd.

Happy listening!