Aviva Stadium history, location ahead of Florida State football game
Florida State and Georgia Tech play in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic on August 24, 2024 in Dublin, Ireland.
Florida State’s Marching Chiefs are doing their part, too, to be ready for Dublin.
After being pushed back a day as Hurricane Debby made landfall in Taylor County, the Seminoles’ renowned marching band reconvened last Tuesday for rehearsals and practices for its trip to the Irish capital.
It has been a whirlwind and unique start to learning arrangements, returning to playing and marching while also holding its annual band camp with auditions for potential new members.
“It’s early mornings, late nights, and a lot of work,” said drumline senior Riley Curls, who will be making her first trip overseas to Ireland.
“My body is pretty sore, especially being thrown back into it. It has been a minute since I played. But your adrenaline kind of keeps it moving and it’s a lot of fun, too.”
No. 10 FSU opens the 2024 college football season against Georgia Tech in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic Aug. 24.
There’s plenty of excitement surrounding the showdown between the ACC teams.
With more than 47,000 tickets sold, organizers announced Thursday the game was sold out. The 47,000 tickets sold includes more than 25,000 tickets purchased in the United States.
ESPN’s “College GameDay” will broadcast from Dame Street in Dublin City Center, the first time the pregame show will be broadcast from outside the U.S.
The noon game is also expected to draw more than 3.5 million viewers on ESPN.
FSU’s Marching Chiefs, who will play the Irish melody “Danny Boy,” and Georgia Tech’s Yellow Jacket Marching Band will each perform shows at halftime. The pair could also combine on a musical number.
The Marching Chiefs won’t perform during pregame since it is designated as a Georgia Tech home game.
Florida State’s Marching Chiefs make preparations for trip to Ireland with FSU football team
Preparations for the 4,000-mile journey started months ago for the Marching Chiefs.
FSU’s College of Music raised more than $160,000 to send 170-plus members (mainly upperclassmen) to Ireland. The Marching Chiefs consists of students from almost every academic department within the school and have averaged 400-plus members every year since the 1980s.
Flights for those heading to Ireland had to be booked and documents and passports acquired for international travel. Many instruments will be shipped to Ireland. David Plack, director of athletic bands, also credited FSU housing for accommodating early arrivals on campus. In Dublin, the band will stay at University College Dublin, with each member having their own room.
“There have been a ton of moving parts,” said Devan Moore, a Rickards High graduate who holds degrees from Florida A&M and FSU and is the Chiefs’ new assistant director of athletic bands.
“It’s also so exciting because it’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these students.”
The trip will feature plenty of quick pivots over three full days.
The Marching Chiefs’ schedule expects to include performances at the Irish Immigration Museum, Slane Castle and Royal Dublin Society, in addition to the FSU pep rally at Smithfield Plaza.
There will be time for sightseeing and enjoying the Irish culture, too.
Senior drum major Mark Stevens said the Marching Chiefs quickly adjusted to their accelerated schedule.
“We knew we had to accelerate everything,” Stevens said. “But the system we use to run our camps, run our auditions are like a well-oiled machine. This has definitely been – I don’t want to say an obstacle – but it has definitely been something where we’ve kind of had to adjust when we do things, not necessarily how we do things.”
The Marching Chiefs, of course, will do what they do in uniting FSU fans in support of the Seminoles and ringing the War Chant through the streets of Dublin and inside Aviva Stadium.
“There’s really a lot of excitement, but it also feels like a nuclear bomb went off right in the middle of our normal band camp,” Plack said and laughed.
“But we will do as we always do. We will rise.”
