Freo piper Alistair McLaren goes from geeing up crowds at Optus to one of the world’s largest outdoor events

There’s no doubt Fremantle playing group are in a purple patch this year, but Perth bagpiper Alisdair McLaren reckons he knows what’s put a final fizz into their game.

The musician has been the Dockers’ official piper since round two this year. That means he and Freo’s guitarist Troy Nababan have performed pre-game on the Optus Stadium rooftop, helping to gee up crowds of more than 55,000 with a blast of AC/DC.

Co-incidence or not, McLaren is looking forward to the finals series and hopes he and Nababan will get the call up should Freo make it to the MCG in September.

“There’s quite a strong link to AC/DC and piping in general at Freo,” he said.

“I didn’t have to think about it too much before jumping on board and I’ve enjoyed being part of the journey this year.

“If they make it to the MCG, I’m sure Troy and I would love to rock out to give the guys a gee up before the bounce down.”

The opportunity has been “one of the big highlights of my career”, said McLaren, and that’s saying something given WA’s only world champion piper is currently in Scotland, where he is pipe major for the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Pipes and Drums corp.

He has held the pivotal leadership role since 2017, and this year, he also has the rare opportunity to be one of the solo pipers that close each performance. The job is usually reserved for the military.

“It is a pretty amazing feeling, obviously, being in such an iconic venue,” McLaren said.

“The lone piper is the emotional pinnacle of the show, and performs high on the castle walls overlooking the Esplanade. Being selected in an extraordinary honour.”

Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Pipes and Drums leads what is arguably one of the world’s largest, and most watched outdoor events. With 75 members this year, including 45 pipers, the corp is the tattoo’s largest single pipe band and possibly its most diverse, considering there are 19 nationalities across its players.

The corp are the linchpin in all 26 shows over the month-long annual event — held Mondays to Fridays and twice on Saturdays — in front of a 9000-strong audience each night. McLaren has performed in about 210 shows over this tattoo career.

As pipe major, McLaren is responsible for logistics, musical selection and commands, tuning the pipes and keeping time. The role involves plenty of administrative work and the chance to play alongside and mentor other Aussies in the corp.

This year, that includes his 2IC Hamish Cotton, who is director of the Perth Piping Centre and pipe major of Freo-based Coastal Scottish Pipe Band, as well as Scotch College’s 2025 pipe sergeant Joel Wilson and Perth piper Eoin Aiken.