The jet lag was starting to wear off but Michael Mann was still smiling Saturday afternoon as the Red Deer Royals unpacked following a two-week trip to Malaysia.
The Royals Marching Show Band returned home early Saturday morning with an international gold medal, earned last week at the Championships of the World Association of Marching Show Bands in Kuala Lumpur.
In addition to the competition Mann said the trip was a major cultural experience as well.
The percussion director said the 99-member Royals placed 10th of 23 bands from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, mainland China, the Czech Republic and Canada.
The Royals achieved a mark of 86.1 points.
This year represents their third international gold medal and was their strongest performance to date, band director Rob Goring, who remained in Malaysia said.
Their gold medal indicates that they achieved a superior rating when compared to the rating standards, and does not indicate a first place standing, Goring said.
A gold standing indicates a mark of 85 points or higher.
Mann said it was a very competitive field and Asian bands finished in eight of the top 10 positions. The only other non-Asian band in the top 10 was the Calgary Stetson Show Band.
This was the sixth appearance for the Royals at the World Championships (1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2009).
In addition to the band competition in Kuala Lumpur, the Royals Drumline also performed in a separate competition for percussion groups.
They did a couple of outstanding performances in the preliminaries and earned their way into the finals where they were eliminated by a drumline from Thailand, Goring said.
The Royals drumline finished in the top eight out of 16 competing groups.
The Royals also had a week of sightseeing around Malaysia, Mann said.
Highlights included seeing the sights of Kuala Lumpur, including the Petronas Towers and visiting the vibrant Chinatown.
Outside of the capital city, they also toured an elephant sanctuary, visited a historic mountain-side Hindu temple, went to the oldest Muslim mosque in Kuala Lumpur, did a jungle trek in the world’s oldest rainforest, walked the world’s longest canopy walk in a national park called Taman Negara, toured around the historic colonial city of Melaka, and spent the last three days at a beach resort on the east coast of Malaysia.
Mann said July was a most busy month for the Royals.
“We only had three off days when we weren’t marching in parades or touring in Malaysia,” he said.
Mann said despite the temperatures in the 30s and the humidity in the mid 40s they were warmly received everywhere they went and found the Malaysian people to be wonderfully warm hosts.
The band in now gearing up for their 2011-2012 year.
They will participate in the World Championships in Calgary next July.
The Royals are also recruiting new members to begin with the band in September.
There are still openings in all sections of the band.
For more information on auditions, please contact Goring at 403-343-2079 or Mann at 403-346-3911.
jwilson@www.reddeeradvocate.com