Raider Brigade plans to rock on Westside with halftime show

  The West Laurens High School Raider Brigade plans to bring some rock and roll for its halftime entertainment in 2025.

WLHS Band Director Richard Horne said this year’s show theme are songs that are simply “rocked based.” The band will perform “Bad Medicine” by Bon Jovi and “Separate Ways (World Apart)” by Journey. Following a battery feature that will showoff the drum line, the band will feature “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC, “Master of Puppets” by Metallica before closing with Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life.” 

“I have a son who is in high school and I’m starting to realize that the parents who are in the stands are my age,” Horne said. “This was the music I was pretty fond of when I was a child and teenager, so it seemed like a natural progression.” 

The approximately 150 members will be led on the field by returning drum major Ryan Jackson and new drum majors Piper Schoen and Johnte Allen. 

As of July 23, they had finished with the opener. Horne was thrilled with the work upper classmen have been demonstrating.

“They have been working the students,” Horne said. “They have been a blessing this year. I feel like we are a bit further ahead of where we have been in the past.”

Jackson was ready to get his senior year going. 

“It has sunk in to me that this is my last band camp,” he said. “It made me tear up a little bit. It’s surreal.” 

Jackson likes the fact that the music is newer.

“In the past we have done ’70s and ’80s music and sometimes songs in the ’50s,” he said. “The style for these songs are very different. We usually do a little rock. A couple of years ago we did Motown. This year it is hard rock.” 

Jackson, who plays trombone in concert band, has seen fast growth from the freshmen class. 

“The upper classmen are getting back into the groove,” he said. “Our freshmen are showing a lot of energy. A lot of our energy comes from them, which is surprising.” 

Seniors Schoen and Allen are both having fun in new positions. Schoen has played bass drums in the past. 

“I’m very excited about the percussion feature,” Schoen said. “I miss it. I wish I was down there playing in it. But being drum major is pretty exciting. I have been wanting to be in this position for a couple of years now.”

Schoen likes the faster pace of the rock songs. She has also seen a lot of improvement with her bandmates.

“I feel like we improve each year as a band,” Schoen said. “We get better with each day in band camp. Every day we practice, we get better.” 

Allen, a trumpet player, likes the fact that he gets the chance to influence others in the band.

“I just want to make the program better,” he said. “Our show this year is very high-energy. I am a really high-energy person when it comes to music. There is a lot of movement that we’ve got going on. I just want to have some fun, especially in the stands.” 

He calls being in the band like having a musical family.

“And we are just getting better,” Allen said. “Discipline is my favorite thing that I’ve seen so far. From leadership down, they want to be the best they can be, and I love seeing that.”  

The mass band game and patriotic show is set for Oct. 31 when the Raiders host Westside-Augusta. The band plans to be ready for the scrimmage WLHS will host against East Laurens High School at The Shu on Aug. 8.

“We’ll be playing pre-game that night,” Horne said. “By our regular season first game at home (when they play Groves), we’ll be adding our halftime show to perform. It seems like band is a never-ending, year-round process. I think most people think that the band just hibernates during the spring, but we’re at it, working on concerts and planning on the next year. It’s almost like we never leave it.”