The Red Hot Chilli Pipers bring bagpipes & attitude to the Mendel Center
The Red Hot Chilli Pipers bring bagpipes with attitude to the
Lake Michigan College Mendel Center March 17
It’s going to be one hot St. Patrick’s Day at the Lake Michigan College Mendel Center. Experience a different take on Celtic festivities when the Mendel Center welcomes the Red Hot Chilli Pipers to the Mainstage at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 17.
Bagpipes with attitude. Drums with a Scottish accent. A blazing rock band and show so hot, it carries its own health warning. The Red Hot Chilli Pipers (NOT the Peppers!) are a nine-piece ensemble of pipers, guitarists, keyboards, and drummers. They have been rocking the world from New York to Beijing to Melbourne and everywhere in between with musicianship of the highest order and a passion for pipes that leaves audiences breathless.
Since they walked away in 2007 with the top prize on the primetime UK TV talent show “When Will I Be Famous,” the Red Hot Chilli Pipers haven’t stopped for a breath, other than to inflate their bagpipes. Formed in 2002, the Chillis have fast become a global phenomenon, taking their signature “Bagrock” sound to the masses with their unique fusion of rocked-up bagpipes and clever covers of popular songs from all genres. They have sold out tours across the planet including those in the UK, U.S., China, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Ukraine, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and India.
The musicians that make up the Red Hot Chilli Pipers are among the best from Scotland and across the globe, with many holding world champion titles. The band has four music degrees from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and all the pipers and drummers have played at the top level in bagpiping. They have twice been recognized as the Best Live Act in Scotland and achieved triple platinum album status for their album and DVD “Blast Live.”
Their wide-ranging setlist includes traditional pipe tunes like “The Flowers of Scotland,” The Hills of Argyll,” and “Amazing Grace” (Chilli-style, of course) as well as contemporary anthems like Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” “Clocks” by Coldplay, “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol, and a fantastic rock medley of Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” and AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck.”
Tickets for The Red Hot Chilli Pipers are available now at www.TheMendelCenter.com/events and by calling 269-927-8700, option 1. Tickets may also be purchased in person through the Mendel Center box office weekdays from noon–2 p.m. and 4–6 p.m. and two hours before show times in the Mainstage lobby.
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Mendel Center 2023-2024 Season Sponsors
Stage Side Sponsors: Meijer, Sturgis Bank, TPC Technologies, Wales Wealth Management Group,
Platinum Sponsor: CK Catering, Forte Coffee
Media Partners: 97.5 Y Country, 98.3 The Coast, The Herald Palladium, The Lake 95.7, MailMax, News/Talk 94.9 WSJM, Rock 107 WIRX, SuperHits 103.7
Preferred Partner Hotels: The Boulevard Inn & Bistro, Hilton Garden Inn Benton Harbor/St. Joseph
Artistic Partners: Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra, Twin City Players
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About the Lake Michigan College Mendel Center
The Lake Michigan College Mendel Center raised the curtain on its first Mendel Center season performance in the fall of 1992. Since then, it has presented performances and guest speakers to more than half a million patrons in the 1,559-seat Mendel Center Mainstage Theatre. Grand Upton Hall, first opened in 1979 and fully renovated in 2019, is a 13,700-square-foot venue serving the community as the host site for meetings, banquets, trade shows, weddings, and other celebrations. The 229-seat Hanson Theatre, which was renovated in 2020, hosts numerous Lake Michigan College Visual & Performing Arts Department performances as well as a variety of Mendel Center and community events.
The Mendel Center is 30 minutes from Niles and 40 minutes from the Kalamazoo and South Bend areas. It is located on the Lake Michigan College campus at 2755 E. Napier Avenue, Benton Harbor, Michigan, one mile east of I-94 (Exit 30) and one mile west of the US 31 Bypass (exit 24). Its GPS mapping address is 1100 Yore Avenue, Benton Harbor, MI.
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