K-State band director talks 'Farmaggedon' in Ireland

MANHATTAN (KSNT) – Kansas State and Iowa State (ISU) marching bands will be performing together during the halftime show for their week zero 'Farmaggedon' matchup at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland for the Aer Lingus College Football Classic.

The Kansas State-Iowa State football rivalry is one of the longest continuous series in college football history, having been played annually since 1917. After their 2009 and 2010 neutral site games at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, fans dubbed the game 'Farmaggedon' as a reference to the agricultural roots of both universities.

This year, the Kansas State Marching Band ‘The Pride’ won’t be in Kansas anymore when they leave for Ireland on Aug. 20. They will be in Dublin for four days, but will be packing their schedule full of events and appearances across the city. The event will feature performances by K-State's ‘Pub Crawl’ band at local pubs and bars, a show with the full band at the Guinness Storehouse and more that will be announced in the coming weeks.

“When we found out we’d be playing ISU, I immediately reached out to Michael Golemo (director of bands at ISU) about getting together,” Director of Bands at K-State Frank Tracz said. “It was a no-brainer to combine our bands in some way.”

The bands have had only one rehearsal so far, and they are only planning on one more when they are in Ireland. Their rehearsal took place at Liberty North Highschool in Missouri. 

“We didn’t want to play Irish music in Ireland,” Tracz said. “This game is college football at its best, so we wanted to give them some good recognizable rock’n’roll.”

The bands will be playing the music of Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame band Journey at halftime. Both bands will play their pre-game show independently and perform in the stands during the game in separate areas. 

Tracz wants people to know that both bands will be busy before and after the game with their own events, so if you’re planning on attending be sure to check their websites for the schedules.

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