I’m notorious for saying stupid things on a daily basis, so here’s one of the funniest moments from my last day at Kingdom Bound:
Before Fireflight performed, the emcee told the crowd that after their set the band was catching a flight to China to perform live at the Olympics.
I really liked Fireflight’s latest album, Unbreakable, and have covered them pretty regularly. The band has had their music used by NBC as the theme song for the Wednesday night line up and I’ve always been impressed by them, so the news that they’d been invited to play at the Olympics didn’t seem out of the realm of possibility. But I hadn’t heard about it yet.
Music writer Rick Campbell hadn’t heard about it either, so when I saw the band hanging out backstage after their set I went over to get the details. That’s when they told me that it was all a big joke, and that that emcee always introduces the bands with wild stories like that.
We all had a good laugh about that, and I told them that we really had believed the news so I was glad I did a fact check. While we all were laughing and chatting, and they started to tell me that while they weren’t going to China they were going to Holland, I pulled out the notebook to show them that I’d even taken notes, which said “Fireflight is flying to China to play live at the Olympics…”
At that lead vocalist Dawn Richardson took the notebook from my hand and with her Sharpie marker wrote “Fireflight” across the page. She capped her pen, and then she and the band simply walked away without a word.
All except for bassist Wendy Drennen. I clearly had a look of confusion on my face – uh, what just happened? – because she said, “You have Fireflight written down in your notes, but when you read it you said Flyleaf.”
I laughed at my faux pas, explaining that we’d just been talking about Flyleaf and so the word was still stuck in my brain. Sorry about that.
She added, apologetically, “We get mistaken for Flyleaf a lot so we’re really quick to correct it when people make that mistake.” The she joined her bandmates.
Ooops, my bad.
I joined Rick and my daughter Cassie and we had a good laugh, not only about my faux pas but their reaction. Not sure which was funnier.
So what started as a “This great band is having great things happen to them” story ended up as “This band is really sensitive if you accidentally call them Flyleaf” story.
Anyway here’s a public apology to the band for accidentally saying the name “Flyleaf” when I meant to say “Fireflight.” I hope it didn’t ruin your whole day. If it helps, I promise, I didn’t mistake you for Flyleaf.
You can learn more about Fireflight by visiting their website.
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posted August 7, 2008 at 1:55 pm
I have to laugh because I was standing in line somewhere at Kingdom Bound and overheard people making the same exact mistake, saying they were “going to see Flyleaf, oops, I mean Fireflight.”
posted August 7, 2008 at 7:06 pm
It’s ironic that this band keeps getting mistaken for Flyleaf considering that the lead singer sounds like she’s howling when she “sings”. I cant believe they got so offended by the compliment of getting mistaken for a REAL band. Firefight is what I like to refer to as a poser band… let’s wear crazy make-up, black clothes, chains and pretend we’re a rock band. Good job fireflight, don’t quit your day jobs.
posted August 8, 2008 at 8:24 am
Man Lucie, I don’t think I’d go that far. Fireflight is a pretty good band. I do think it’s noteable to consider something about these bands. we want to put them up on pedestals but at the end of the day they are just ordinary people with ordinary lives and ordinary hangups and let us not forget they are very young. We all have our things that drive us crazy and we all have our buttons, that when pushed no matter how innocently, set us off. The singer had a rough moment and maybe we could show some grace.
posted August 8, 2008 at 4:59 pm
I agree with Grace. However, it is obvious here that the whole band decided at one point that if anyone compares them to Flyleaf again they were going to just walk away. Rude. How about some grace on their end? Afterall, they are the ones that God has blessed with a wonderful career, supportive fans and a platform to share the Gospel. In addition to grace on their end of things, how about a good old fashioned sense of humor? have they gotten full of themselves? They could have all had a good laugh together. they chose arrogance instead because their little sense of coolness was violated.
Oh, boo hoo, someone accidentally called us by the wrong band name! whaaaa, sniff sniff. Get over yourselves.
http://www.myspace.com/thedigproject
posted August 8, 2008 at 8:32 pm
I like both the music and members of Fireflight, and every interaction I’ve had with them has been very positive, so I’m inclined to say that though their reaction was sketchy, perhaps a long day in the middle of a long tour got to them and a little misdirected steam was blown off.
I know that I and the other members of TDP would have had a laugh and added it to the ever growing list of road stories, but we are not them, and we have no idea what sparked the reaction. I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt.
I still love their music, enjoy their shows, and look forward to chatting with them and sharing my gear when they need it. I just hope that this isn’t a case of a fast rise going to their heads, they are a quality band with quality members, and to see arrogance cloud such an amazing and potentially huge ministry would be a shame. They get my prayers, support, and friendship.
I’ve a bunch of respect for the way Joanne laughed it off. . . She is pretty darn cool too. . .
posted August 9, 2008 at 12:11 pm
All I know is everyone in the KB office kept messing up the name. I could never remember which band was coming and I work for KB. I was in the food tent with them and they were throwing oranges at each others backs. I think Im getting too old for this job, I cant stand when people act like little kids.
posted August 9, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Lisa, I’m glad it wasn’t just me saying Flyleaf when I mean to say Fireflight. Phew. I think it was the heat getting to us. Yeah. That’s it. Because we are definitely not too old for anything. Right? … RIGHT?! …
Joanne
host of the Gospel Soundcheck
posted November 29, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Hey Joanne,
For what its worth, I truly apologize that we came off that way, it was totally an accident. Im an awkward comedian so maybe what I thought would be funny came off as rude! I am also notorious for saying stupid things on a daily basis! But in any case there is no excuse for rudeness, and im going to be way more careful to make sure I dont come off that way no matter what the circumstances. Thats the exact opposite of how I want to be.
Sincerely,
Dawn