It was three A.M. when I noticed the stars shining bright outside in the night sky. 

All I could see was red, white, and blue. Everyone in the country had lit fireworks all night long. Memorial Day Weekend has been one of my favorites since I was a child. People all over America get together to celebrate and honor our country. Every summer is something I look forward to because of the heat, the festivities, and our grand summer tour. 

My rock band and I have been touring around the Midwest since early May.  Every moment is spent feeling adrenaline and intense excitement on the stage. I feel the sun shining down on the band as we play our most famous song “The beginning”. 

The whole crowd shouts the lyrics. I get emotional as I look over everybody's faces and see happiness. I realize I am living in my best years and never want to grow up. Touring with my band is when I am the most excited to wake up everyday. We are about to head to one of the biggest country festivals of all summer. It lasts 3 days, and my band plays every night. Kentucky has always been a favorite state of mine. When we arrived there for the festival, there were hundreds of people already waiting for us. I couldn't wait to get on stage to give them the best show they've ever seen. Night one went as best as it could have. The crowd went crazy for us. Everyone was high on adrenaline and having a grand old time. I looked at my drummer and saw him lose his mind playing the drums. I am the lead singer, Jessy. 

Night two of the festival came very quickly.  We are the last act of the night. There are many popular rock bands playing at this festival in Kentucky.  It was imperative for us to stand out and be the best rock band out there. We want to sell the most records this year and blow the most minds. After Ozzy Osbourne, it was my band's turn to wow the crowd. There is really no way up scaling that man. I understood I had to pull out something surprising for the crowd to witness tonight. As I said, I love Memorial Day weekend and I love some fireworks. “Boom boom pow pow” The fireworks started going crazy off the stage up into the sky right above our crowd. I could see the excitement in the crowd but also I saw some fear. I began to worry “Am I overdoing it with these fireworks?” I began to question what if something that is special to me is not so special to someone in the crowd. I don't think everyone enjoyed the fireworks as much as I did. All the fireworks had stopped because we ran out,  but we were still halfway through one of our songs. The band was playing their hearts out when suddenly a random firework went off by itself. Startling everyone, the firework had malfunctioned. The firework went straight into the crowd, lighting people on fire. My exact thoughts were “ what have I done?” Immediately this is an emergency situation so the band stops playing and they get the ambulances out here. I'm in shock of what I have just let happen all because I wanted to surprise the crowd with fireworks on the second night of the festival. My heart is beating so fast but I need to get to safety and help others. I quickly learned there are 11 burn victims from the malfunctioned firework. I feel as though it is my fault that I let this happen to those people who came to watch my band play. In my truck that night I cried, I prayed, and I barely slept. Freak accidents happen,  

but never in all my years of touring has anything like this come before. It is hard to comprehend what's the next step for me and my band. Obviously the festival has been shut down so there is no night three. The media has blown up this whole accident giving out false information. Not only am I concerned for the 11 burn victims, I am concerned for anyone who witnessed what happened and is now scarred for life. It is my job to apologize to everyone even though I did not mean for this to happen. All I wanted was a great night at the festival, and I thought adding the fireworks was a good idea but now we know.

Over the next few months my band and I were able to sponsor those families affected by the freak accident. We were able to get them the resources they needed to recover. My band has decided to continue touring at a smaller scale without feeling the pressure of trying to be the best rock band out there. We want to do smaller shows and just focus on the music and not the ambiance of the show. The media coverage has tainted how people view Rock band concerts, so it is important for my band to restore people's trust in the fact they can be safe at the show. I have had intense support and love from the other artists at the festival where the freak accident happened. They all truly know the intention was out of love for putting on a great show for the crowd. Fireworks have now been banned for use at a concert in the United States. 

It's the following May, summer concert season has just begun. My band has decided to put on a smaller scale show in Michigan for rock lovers. It was scary getting back on stage for the first time since the accident but since I knew there were no fireworks going to be involved I wasn't afraid. The fans were supportive of the fact the concert was just based on our songs and the music, there was nothing added for extraness. 

We ended the show with our most famous song “The Beginning”.

“This is just the beginning”

“We are just getting started”

“Don’t be afraid my darling”.