The SFU Pipe Band.Handout
Little did the Great Pipes know how well-loved they were.
When news came last week that bagpipes were no longer welcome on Vancouver streets, supporters of the much-maligned instrument came out in droves decrying the move – so much so that within days it was reversed.
"There are lot of Scottish roots in Vancouver, and the clans are hidden until something like this happens – then out they come," says Terry Lee, pipe major for the world-champion SFU Pipe Band, with a laugh. "It's very Scottish in nature to do that."
No doubt they'll also come out in droves for the SFU Pipe Band's 30th anniversary show – the group's first formal concert in Vancouver in five years, and the same one they will perform at New York's famed Lincoln Centre in May.
At the show, bagpipe fans will be treated to contemporary works and traditional marches, jigs and reels, performed by a group that has taken the top title at the World Pipe Band Championship in Glasgow six times – and landed in the top three for the past 14 years.
Mr. Lee, who founded the band 30 years ago and now plays alongside his son, his brother and three nephews, admits that when the bagpipes are played badly, it's a terrible sound; but when they're played by the pros it's glorious.
"There's a hypnotic and majestic nature to the instrument when it's played well," he says. "So when we get going at our absolute best, there is no sound like it."
The SFU Pipe band plays the Vogue Sunday (voguetheatre.com).