By Donna McMillan
THE Paris Port Dover Pipe Band has joined Sir Paul McCartney on stage four times as he performed an emotional, audience-favourite song, Mull of Kintyre: twice in 2010, once in 2015 (all at the former Air Canada Centre in Toronto), and on November 21 at TD Coliseum in Hamilton.
The recent performance, part of 83-year-old Sir Paul’s Got Back Tour, was the “crown in the PPDPB’s 25th-anniversary year,” said Gord Black, senior pipe major for the band.
Mr. Black shared that he was asked a month before the Hamilton event to perform with Sir Paul. There is a high level of secrecy surrounding the invitation, so the news was shared with band members only a week before.
Twenty-seven band members were on stage, but seventy-five were dressed and there for the event. Because some members have performed with Sir Paul in the past, “my hope was that some of the younger members would get an opportunity,” Mr. Black said.
As Sir Paul’s limousine arrived at the venue, the band was playing at the loading dock. “He spotted me as soon as he got out of the limo and pointed at me,” Mr. Black said. The band stopped playing for the official TD Coliseum welcome, and then Sir Paul went around shaking the band members’ hands.
“Sir Paul said it was marvellous to see all the youth in the band,” Mr. Black said. He mentioned that two 12-year-olds, one 14-year-old, one 17-year-old, and one 19-year-old got to play onstage.
Mr. Black explained that Sir Paul’s head of security and “right-hand man” is Mark Hamilton, whom he has known since 2010. Mr. Hamilton “[has] been taking pipe lessons privately” and asked Mr. Black if he had an extra B chanter, which he did. So, he met Mr. Hamilton and brought him onstage during the rehearsal.
“The look on Sir Paul’s face when he saw his head of security playing… not knowing he was practicing pipes” was surprised, Mr. Black shared. And it was special for Mr. Hamilton, who is Scottish, to play Mull of Kintyre in Hamilton, he added. The song is about the location of the same name in southwestern Scotland.
“That performance on Friday night was the best one we’ve ever done,” Mr. Black said. “Sir Paul is a very kind man. He had tears in his eyes. The band had tears in their eyes. The head of Sir Paul’s security had tears in his eyes… Everyone was over the moon.”
Many other highlights
PPDPB had many other highlights in its 25th-anniversary year. The band held a successful HaggisFest fundraiser event in February. They were in Edinburgh for five weeks performing daily from July 1–August 24 as part of the 75th-anniversary Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, which Mr. Black said sold out each night. The band also has two competition sections that have been active recently. And they hosted Fall Fusion, a workshop for pipers and drummers from across Ontario, in October.
Mr. Black said the band is also actively recruiting. “There is a place for everyone. All ages.”
Anyone interested in learning more about or joining PPDPB can visit their website, ppdpb.com, or Facebook page, www.facebook.com/PPDPB/.
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Originally published December 10, 2025
