MARCHING BAND/COLOR GUARD Q&A: LIBERTY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

Photos Credit/Phil Hadley Instagram: @philhadleyphotography)

With the Student Section in off-season mode, we look to put our focus on the Marching Bands and Color Guards!

This website obviously put the focus on the Student Sections as it is the only reason we stay active, but many of these Student Sections have some solid bands that give them the energy or at the least share that insane energy. They play the right music to keep the hype up, the interact with the Student Section and the work they put week after week to prep for the game is impressive and that deserves some recognition.

We did do a Marching Band/Color Guard Q&A called “I’m with the Band Q&A” (not my greatest title, I know!) with some Bands in Southern California in 2019 when we only covered Student Sections in SoCal, but with a much much bigger followed, we figured we bring this idea back to life!

Plus it helps to get the assistance from South Carolina Bands (@southcarolina_bands on Instagram), Alabama Bands (@bama_bands on Instagram) and Bands of the US (@bands_of_the_us on Instagram) helping us out to find the best Bands that want you to get to know them!

Today we start with the Liberty Red Devils Marching Band and Color Guard from South Carolina. Some of these school names we are familiar with as we cover some of their Student Sections, but we haven’t been familiar with Liberty. Perhaps this will help and perhaps they give the band credit if we do. Again, if you have a solid band, you most likely have a crazy Student Section. One must go with the other.

We spoke with Riley Troyer of Liberty on how the Liberty Marching Band and Color Guard prepare for Friday Nights and other events while also having some fun!

MARCHING BAND/COLOR GUARD Q&A: LIBERTY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

What is the weekly routine to prepare for a football game and the halftime show? Are there adjustments made every week?

Liberty: Each week we have three rehearsals starting in August and going until the start of November. We perform our competition marching band show at halftime and each week we make small changes and tweaks to the show while we grow as a program throughout the season. For football games, we prepare plenty of fun stand tunes for each game, our fight song, National Anthem, etc. 

Do you enjoy the game or follow it as it goes along or are you focused with your job?

Liberty: Our band tends to have fun in the stands and enjoy the game while still giving a great performance to the home crowd. We like to goof around but we also understand the importance of staying focused. 

Do you play any pop culture songs and if so, which is your favorite?

Liberty: One of our favorites as a band is probably Hot To Go by Chappell Roan. It’s a great, fun, and well known song and the colorguard loves dancing to it. 

Make Sure to follow us in Instagram (@studentsectrep). The more followers, the better chance we can travel to visit your Student Section.

What kind of appreciation do you get from people at the games?

Liberty: Our audience at football games always receives our shows very well, cheering at big moments, standing ovations, supporting our band boosters at concessions, etc. We love positive feedback from the crowds!

Do you guys interact with the Student Section?

Liberty: It depends on the game and the theme, but usually if there is a cheer that the cheerleaders are doing we will participate! 

Want to see your Marching Band/Color Guard on here? Message us on Instagram (@studentsectrep) and let us know!

Do you perform at other Liberty sports functions like basketball and how has the reception been?

Liberty: We have a basketball pep band and drumline each season, and the reception is great! Basketball is harder to play during since the rules are so strict about noise, but the crowd always loves how loud we get. 

What is the funniest or most embarrassing moment as a member of the band/color guard?

Liberty: One of the most embarrassing moments for me personally as a colorguard member is when we’re running a drill set at rehearsal and I accidentally go too far or don’t go far enough into the set! Always humbling. 

Any other band that you enjoy hearing from the other side of the stadium?

Liberty: We always love interacting with the other bands in our county, we even host a premiere show with all for of our schools in September to kick off our competition season! 

Be ready for August for our 2025 Fall Student Section preview for all 50 states as well as Canada and Washington DC. Let us know who should be ranked high in our preseason preview!