AMES, Iowa — Gameday will look a little different for the Cyclones on Saturday when they open up the college football season. No. 22 Iowa State will face No. 17 Kansas State in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin. 

The Cyclones Marching Band will be along for the ride too. The Cyclones leave for Ireland on Wednesday, but the band got one more rehearsal in on Tuesday. 

The band has been preparing for this trip for more than a year. The group has more than 400 band members, but only 100 were selected to travel overseas for this trip. 

100 of the ISU band members will join 100 of the Kansas State band members to put on a “Journey” halftime performance at the game on Saturday.

“For four quarters, we’re going to be bitter enemies. But for halftime we’re really going to work together and create a great show for the audience,” Cyclones Marching Band Director Christian Carichner said. 

“It’s just an absolute honor to be able to get this opportunity,” Cyclones sousaphone player Meg Sawyer said. “This is once in a lifetime, and we’re so lucky to be able to do this.”

“It’s crazy. We’ve been talking about this for about a year, and just the fact that we’re leaving tomorrow is absolutely insane,” Cyclones piccolo player Addison Salski said. “It’s just going to be so incredible to play with Kansas State and also just as a band in a completely different country, just experience a new culture all together and make music.”

The two bands will have to perform together but were only able to rehearse together a couple times. 

“You can’t just do a Zoom meeting and make a marching band work. You know, you really have to think about lots of pieces coming together. And these two bands are great programs,” Carichner said. “We were back-to-back winners of the Sudler Trophy, which is the highest honor you can win in a marching band.”

They wanted to play music that everyone would know, and they came up with the artist Journey. 

“Our band director is a dad, so he loves to make dad jokes with the ‘Journey to Ireland’. And so, we want to expand upon the Journey,” Sawyer said. “It’s going to start with ‘Any Way You Want It’, then a medley of ‘Separate Ways’ and ‘Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin”, and ending with ‘Don’t Stop Believing.’”

The band will also perform at Iowa State pubs in Dublin the night before the game. They’ll be hard at work but will also have some fun with a guided bus tour through the city one day.

“They’re so excited. I think they’re really anxious because many of them, you know, they’ve only flown once or twice in their life. They’ve never been abroad,” Carichner said. “They also recognize that they’ve got this responsibility to represent Iowa State University abroad. It’s going to be a life changing experience for all the students, for sure.”

The game starts at 11 a.m. CST on Saturday.