Friday July 29th

DRUM BATTLE!
A very early start for the Drumline this morning. Competition started at 9;00 at the Pavilion shopping area. Fifteen bands participated in today's competition and after the first Battle pitting Stetsons against Royals, both bands made it into the top eight! Awesome work by both bands.  The Malaysian band and the Indonesians were also in the top eight, stiff competition.

Returning for the quarter finals, Stetson's Drumline brought their best and delivered. Despite an awesome performance and stare-down, Stetson's lost to Indonesia. But, a well fought battle and an amazing experience for them all. Next year's World's will be very, very interesting and exciting, if you have never experienced a Drum Battle, it is surely amazing to watch. Choreography, musicianship, timing, and precision are all parts of this competition.

Red Deer Royals also put on a great show which was great to see and was well supported by both Stetson members as well as Red Deer Royals and staff. Both bands, although competing against one another are cheering each other on in the spirit of the competition. Ultimately, the Drumline from Malaysia took home the hardware. Congratulations to them.

In the afternoon we returned to the hotel once again. No rehearsal but a more in depth intellectual look at the show. Andrea and staff had a chance to review the comments from the judges from our preliminary competition and are sharing them with the kids. A great way to review things and a chance for them to hear what others, specifically the judges are looking for. 

Returning to the Stadium, we watched another group of bands compete in the preliminary competition. All the bands from tonight were from Malaysia beginning with a Klang from Selangor, followed by King Edward VII School Marching Band from Perak, Lembah Bidong Marching Band from Terengganu, Saint Columba Military School Band from Sarawak, Seri Garing Marching Band from Sultan, Ibrahin Girls School Marching Band, from Johor, St. Joseph Miri Marching Band from Sarawak, SMK Jit Sin from Penang, Ave Maria Convent School Band from Perak, Victoria Institution Cadet Corps Bad from KL, Chung Hua Miri Brass Band from Sarawak, and culminating with the Sultanah Asma School Band from Kedah  All fantastic groups and great shows. Once again, a late night and off to bed. Rehearsal tomorrow for the big final show of 2011.