What? Has it been 4 years already? Seems like only yesterday, well maybe last week to many of you. (ok, just pretend the picture says “4th” anniversary – I’m too tired to try and change it!) I did not find 
this site til about a year later, about June 2014. I have to say though, sometimes it feels like it’s been a lifetime already. How much the boys have done, grown, and accomplished in these last 4 years!
A little birdie swooped down about 6:30p last night to “remind” us it was the site’s 4-year anniversary. But before I could catch her, she swiftly few away as quickly as she made her fluttery appearance. So…. I thought I’d repost the “first” post, but somewhere the original Aug 8, 2013 post had disappeared? So, I went with the first one that is dated August 10, 2013 – 100 Comments in 2 days! Wow, those were the days!? It was written by Kelly and had 14 comments.
100 Comments!!!!!!!!
August 10, 2013
Wow we work fast! 100 comments in only 2 days!
I think The Boys approve! 😉
It’s looks like everyone here is having fun. I hope anyone that hasn’t made it over yet, will find their way. We miss you guys! *hugs*
Happy commenting!
Kelly
I know Kelly and a few others are still around, that is pretty awesome! So, in honor of all of you who started with this crew and all of the new people that have joined us in the last few weeks even – a GRANDE GRAZIE MILLE! We couldn’t have done it without you!
Today, this is going to be YOUR post – made up of all of your comments. I will post it on Wednesday. I’d like you to answer 3 short questions:
- Do you remember how you found this site? How did you feel?
- What kept you coming back?
- What are some of your favorite posts or memories from this site?
I will give you my answers:
- After I had seen my first concert at Freedom Hill in June 2014, I just started scouring the Internet and somehow this site popped up. I felt I was finally at home, surrounded by hundreds of crazy people, just like me!
- I loved all the stories and each and every tidbit I could get from the site about the boys, personal details, pictures, concerts, meet/greets, and when they were coming back. I also loved reading all of the comments and the fun sparring back and forth of the fighting over the guys from all the “grandmothers!” 🙂
- Of course I have to say I love the things I wrote – lol! And of course all of the meet/greet reviews, concert reviews, heartfelt stories from Mary and Jane, and can’t forget Marie’s poetry – I love “Night before Christmas….”
Ok, here’s the challenge, we want to hear from you!! Let’s go for a goal of at least 50 comments. Pretend it’s one of those Il Volo polls and you can vote as many times as you want! Please feel free to comment, even if you never did before! And even if you have commented a 100 times before, like Loretta, Penina, Pirate, Rose Marie, Rosemary, Cynthia, Victoria, Gina, Jane, Kelly, Marie, Ann, Pat, Daniela, Dani, Lydka, Joanie, Madeline, Lynn, Mary, and these are just right off the top of my head, I know there are many more out there!! It says we have over 270 followers….
On your mark, get set, Il Volo!!!
Love this site – always has the best stories and information
Camille, how lovely to hear from you!
Love this site. Found out about it from an Il Volo follower who I made friends with on fb. I have made so many friends on fb bc of these three amazing young guys. I just love them all but have to admit Ignazio pulls at my heartstrings. I look forward everyday to look at my e-mails to see if there are any new posts . So happy I found this site. Thank you.
Awesome, maria!
Hi Maria, glad to see you here. Enjoy😊
Thank you Rose Marie. I came on and checked it out bc of you. I wrote that in my first comment. Love the site.
Great minds think alike Maria.
Thank you Jana for including me in your post. I’ll never leave this site because you girls work so hard to give us all the up to date information of where & what our precious young men are doing. Still saying Ignazio is MINE.
I love Ignazio too.
He’s MINE! All mine! Will always be mine! Can’t bring myself to share him, but I understand how you feel.
Igna is just special, there is just something about him. Many start liking Gian or Piero, but then all of a sudden, they start to stray toward Igna. There is something about those eyes and dimples!
I agree there is something about Ignazio. He gets under my skin and pulls at my heartstrings. I love all of them but he stands out more for me. ❤️❤️😍
My day starts on this site. And ends on this site. I don’t remember the date I started to read the posts on the “official” site, but happily came over here to be among the loving fans of Il Volo from it’s beginning. Our combined love for Il Volo has made us a family that is just as caring and nurturing as the blood related family God gave us. I am grateful for our boys, their talent, their hard work and most of all, their love for us, their fans! Thanks to everyone on this site. Love you all.
Thank you so much, Linda! I sure like a lot of these people on this site better than my family! 🙂
I truly don’t remember how I found the CREW, but it was one of the best things that I ever did! As I approach my 8th birthday I still enjoy seeing posts from all you gals and guys! Some are just fun, some newsy, and some informative! Keep up the good work! Here’s to many more years and many more concerts….but hurry! Lol, love youall…Dot in Texas! <3 <3 <3
Hey there Dot!! Thanks so much – we are all young at heart… 🙂
Just reread my message! Wishful thinking on the age! I’m nearing 86, my finger sometimes develops a mind of its own! Lol
I was introduced to the Flight Crew by a fan I had met on fb. What a delightful place it is. I don’t comment a lot, that is just me. But I do love it here. Here’s to many more years together!
Laura – yes, I recognize your name! 🙂 That’s ok if you don’t comment much – thanks so much for commenting today! Many, it seems found us from FB friends – that is awesome!
I discovered the boys in 2012, and literally hung on YouTube looking for music, and reading all the other comments from old ladies like me, shocked that I wasn’t the only one. I went to Meadow Brook for their concert in Aug 2012, then started searching the Internet for more than just YouTube. Somehow I found this.
I keep coming back because it is just chock full of info, pictures, reviews, fun reading.
I don’t have a specific me ryan of anything special, but I do remember you, Jana, contacting me when you read I was also from Detroit. I think that is pretty cool, and then I got to meet others thru you.
,
Oh, Barb, that is so sweet!! You know, you are always welcome at our parties and your hubby, too! 🙂 We just may need to do some more convincing to him of your affections to the guys! Next time a concert or trip is planned, we will just drag you along!
I found the Flight Crew from an internet search for IL VOLO. What kept me coming back was all of the comments about the guys and stories of the concerts and meet & greets. I had yet to attend a concert and was craving information about what everyone else had experienced. You all did not disappoint! 🙂 I don’t really have a favorite post because I love them all!
That’s great, Pat! So glad you found us, and we met in Chicago. 🙂 Too bad we never made it for dinner, but breakfast was fun!
Yes, I’m still sorry we didn’t make dinner. But fortunately we were staying in the same hotel and could meet for a couple breakfasts. I’m sure we’ll meet again at another concert, Jana! How about one in Italy next time? 😉
Four years already, I cannot believe it !!! Four years of going to the Flight Crew site first thing in the morning and a couple of times during the day to read all the comments. Flight Crew members may unknowingly pass each other in the street , but when we come to the site we are the best of friends., as we are all united in our admiration, (and love) for our 3 handsome young men. How they have grown since the first PBS concert in Detroit in 2011, and we have followed them along that path.Thank you to everybody who originally started the site, and to all who followed and continue to keep the site up and running. Thank you for keeping us all up to date on their various activities and future concert dates, where and when.Long may the site flourish, and continue to grow.
I love your last line there… 🙂 So wonderful that our site ranks right up there with your morning cup of coffee. Such devoted fans and followers we have. Let’s hope the people we pass on the street are not people we “think” we don’t like for some reason? lol!
Thanks for staying with us this whole time – cheers to many more years! 🙂
Even though you don’t hear from this little birdie much, this site is still my heart.
One of my fondest memories has to be that when we started this site we were hoping to be read a thousand times. Remember, Kelly? We said if we ever reached ten thousand we would have a party. Well…this site has been read more than a million and a half times. Unbelieveable!
The very best thing though has been meeting people like Linda, Jane, Jana, Kelly and many more of you who have had the good taste to love those boys as much as I.
Grazie mille, little birdie!! 🙂
Doesnt matter what you say or how you say it Marie. Keep dreaming, its good for the soul & I can also understand how you feel. No matter he is still & always will be MINE & eventually he will permanently belong to someone else.
Marie – yes, even though I have sort of taken over managing the day to day postings, this site will always be “your site.” I and everyone know it! You are a legend in your own time! 🙂 And Linda, may she rest in peace and keep a look out over the boys. You, and Kelly and a few others have kept it going. Let’s all keep it going as long as we can! Let’s get to 2 million! The we’ll really have a party!
Marie is legendary, alright.😂
Yes; it’s all about “good taste”, Marie! (Truly!) 🙂
I started watching the old Il Volo Music site and through that got to know Marie if I remember correctly. She cued me into the Flight Crew site when it was just getting started. I immediately loved the intimacy of its format and getting to know the people who commented regularly like family. I would be hard to identify a favorite post, but it would have to be one of Marie’s. When she asked me to be a regular contributor I was pleased, but very unsure of myself. I actually wrote over 60 articles, some under the title Personally Speaking, a task which has been a great joy to me, and spurred on by the encouraging comments of our readers. Our boys are truly an inspiration, and the Flight Crew blog has been the perfect place to share our admiration and love for them.
Mary, wow, 60 articles! That’s incredible! Thanks for sticking it out from the very beginning. I was also honored that Marie let me write for the site too – what a monster was unleashed, she had no idea! lol! It’s definitely like coming home again – your safe place. 🙂 You are indeed an inspiration to all of us, as well as a beautiful writer.
I discovered Il Volo in 2012 and went to my first concert that year at the Kravis Center in FL. My next concert was in Orlando FL September 2013 and afterwards I immediately went into unimaginable Il Volo PCSD (Post Concert Stress Disorder) !!! There was not a soul who I could vent my pent up love and emotions to !!! I wanted to scream !! I was tired of being looked at like I was a mental case !! Then in October while scanning the Internet I thankfully found the Flight Crew !!! Finally a place to go where everyone felt the same way and shouted out their love for our three talented and endearing young men from their hearts without reserve !!! I was welcomed with open arms !!! I was home !!! All the posts are my favorite and although I don’t post eveyday I read all of them !!! It’s been a fantastic 4 years and I hope we will all still be here for many years to come !! Congratulations to all of you who keep the Flight Crew going day after day !! You are doing a fantastic job !!
Thanks so much Joanie! Yes, we all had those same crazy thoughts – we thought we were crazy. Until we found this site. Then we realized, we were perfectly normal. It was everyone else that was crazy that they didn’t understand us! 🙂 Thanks for coming back!
Hey I have been on board since that first PBS concert from Detroit. Never mind about Igna. He is wonderful, but Piero is all MINE. JoanieG
Sorry Joan, but you must share. Piero has held my heart since his first PBS concert at Detroit Opera House. He only gets better – voice, looks, smile, eyes!
Chris might have something to say about Piero, he keeps calling her, but she is having troubles with her phone, so he has to call me. I keep telling her to get a new phone, that Piero is calling! 🙂 No one wants Gian?
I do!! I dooo!!!!!! Give him to me.
Me !! Me-e-e !! I want him !!!!
Joanie and Laura – I think you might have to fight Kelly for him!! She’s been away for a few days, but she’s rested up to come after you! 🙂
I run fast !!!! Catch me if you can !!!! LOL !!!!
I’ll meet Kelly out in the alley. She will never know what hit her. He is mine. Sorry Joanie
While this response is a little late, ladies the game is on. Jana, thanks for taking Piero’s calls for me but as of next week he can call me directly. The new phone is on it’s way.
In the fall of 2015 I was browsing many pages of facebook searching for IL VOLO News.
Suddenly I come across a review of their beautiful concert, I liked it as it highlighted the feelings and then talking about the meet and greet and how he was noticed by the guys and what a surprise when I read that whoever wrote was A man, John.
At the bottom of the review was written: posted on Flight Crew, here’s how I found it.
When I came to this site I read for many months without ever commenting but finally I was where I wanted to be, surrounded by people who really love Piero Ignazio and Gianluca.
I was at the concert in Florence on July 1, 2016 and a few days later I decided to comment. Ever since then, I follow all your comments with anxiety and affection.
I am enrolled in several fanpages but this one remains the page I admire most, the one I’m most fond of and where I have met wonderful people.
Becoming also an active part has been a further pride for me.
I feel in a big family.
Daniela – I never realized you were also at the July 1 concert! So glad you finally commented. We are so grateful for your almost daily contributions. You are key right now in keeping us informed over there. We are so glad you answered the “distress call” from Marie and started helping us out! Grand Grazie Mille! 🙂 I think we have a very unique site.
I found the Flight Crew about two and a half year’s ago, and if I remember rightly it was through the Il Volo Music site.
Everybody was so welcoming, and it felt like I had come home.
Since then, I go onto the site as soon as I get out of bed every morning, and several times during the day. I don’t want to miss any news about the guy’s.
My favorite post’s were when Marie and Jane were in Italy. They were so funny, and I told them they could be the opening act for Il Volo!
Their sense of humor is similar to mine( I don’t know if that is a good thing or bad)
Thank you to everyone that keep’s this site going❣
Jill – how lovely to hear from you! I’m sure Jane and Marie are very flattered you enjoyed their Italy posting!! I’m amazed that we are the first thing many go to in the morning! Hope you keep coming back for more! Grazie mille!! 🙂
I can not remember the date I joined but It has been my morning ritual to check to see who posted a personal story or news about the boys.
MY MOST FAVORITE time was before and during San Remo. We were excited and voting day and night on various contests and ‘yelling’ when the critics were so unfair to the boys during San Remo an Eurovision.
Gina – yes, Sanremo was an exciting and exhilarating time for us and the boys! Sometimes I think – where would they be now, if they hadn’t have won 2 years ago? Would they have tried again? Would they be drowning their sorrows on our shoulders at the meet/greets? I know our tickets to the concerts would probably be a lot cheaper! lol! Grazie mille for all that you do! We love all your ideas for posts, too! Just give us some time to put them together! 🙂
Like so many others my interest in the guys began with their first PBS special. After that, I began searching the Internet looking for information on who they were, where they came from etc. My first Il Volo concert was their first at Radio City. From then on I was in overdrive for more info. I don’t know how I stumbled across the Flight Crew but I was very hesitant at first to post. It wasn’t until June of last year that I posted my first comment. Like others I enjoy reading the many articles be it on the guys or the foods and customs of the different regions of Italy or the adventures of some of the Flight Crew members on their trips to Italy. And of course, the great stories and reviews by other Flight Crew followers after attending an Il Volo concert. Thanks to all who keep this site up and rolling!👍
Wow, Annette!! You waited a long time, just to be sure, we really weren’t crazy after all and joined in on the fun!! 🙂 We are so glad you did! But, I know how you feel…. when you first post, you are like “are they going to like me? what if I say something someone doesn’t like, or what if Marie says I can’t have Igna, because he is hers?” But, I’m so glad you were brave and took the plunge! So wonderful to have you here and your personal account of the Miami concert was terrific! 🙂 Grazie mille!!
Well, I guess everyone is sleeping right now, except me.
So now is the time for me to have the last post for today, and tell you “IGNAZIO IS MINE” !!!!!! 😊
Jill – I wouldn’t be too sure about that! I think Marie has special radar and zones in on her territory, might want to be careful!! 🙂
but yes, I’m going to bed, nearly 1am here!
buonanotte! j
I too saw Il Volo on their first PBS special “Live From Detroit” and couldn’t believe what amazing performers and how beautifully these three young boys sang. I attended my first Il Volo concert in Sept. 2013 at the PNC Bank Arts Center in New Jersey and after that, I was trying to find out as much as possible about them and came across this wonderful site. I too try to come here everyday morning and evening.
What kept me coming back was all the information on Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca and what was going on in their world. And most importantly, I really felt that Flight Crew Members were kind, funny, warm and so welcoming. While I can barely explain how Il Volo’s music and these three young men make me feel, I realized many Flight Crew members expressed themselves so beautifully!
The excitement of SanRemo was extra special! Piero, Ignazio and Gianluca looked great, were confident, sang beautifully and just owned the stage every time they performed. They truly deserved to win and to see their happiness was wonderful. I also love the inspiring posts that describe how Il Volo and their music have helped get them through difficult times in their lives and the ones that have overcome so many obstacles they never would have attempted before Il Volo entered their lives.
Thank you all who work so hard to keep this site going.
Grazie mille, Margaret! Yes, everyone seems to have similar stories. It’s amazing what these 3 guys have done for us – for some, they have turned our lives around and gave them meaning, again! I love everyone’s stories, too! 🙂
Seeing the boys in concert is a wonderful experience. Their voices are truly amazing. I expect to hear Piero at La Scala in the years to come as he has the most powerful voice. Every time I hear him, I ask myself is this the next Pavarotti? Ignazio can hit the high notes like no other. Gianluca amazed me the first time I saw him in concert. A voice that caresses you like velvet but so strong. Considering their ages, they are exceptional and it’s obvious they study their craft.
Sent from my iPhone
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Hello!! Yes, they are truly exceptional for their ages, imagine what they will be like in another 10 years when their voice really mature?? They will make our pacemakers stop! Lol! Thanks for commenting and stopping by! 🙂
I discovered this wonderful site the summer of 2014 when looking through the internet for more information on Il Volo I saw the most amazing gorgeous picture of my Piero working out in a gym and with that picture Marie’s wonderful story of how she met him and and her interactions with him in the gym. Through Marie’s words I could almost feel as if I were there and through her words I could feel in my heart how special my Piero was. It was then I joined the Flight Crew that day and it’s been so much fun and given me so much joy to read other Il Volo lovers comments about the guys and whatever they were doing..
My story is so similar to so many others who post here. Thanks to Detroit PBS for having started the boy on the trip of a lifetime. I found them “accidentally” on the PBS special. Then searching the internet i “accidentally” found The Crew. It’s been quite a journey these past few years. I love you all for your friendship and our love of the boys and their music. C. Cavafy in his poem Ithaka, says it’s not the destination but the journey that is important. This journey has been one heck of a trip so far, thanks to all of you. My favorite memory was meeting Marie our Matriach in Detroit this year. I’m pretty sure she said I could have Igna. Thanks Marie.
Rose – did not know it was your first time meeting Marie!! 🙂 Funny how so many of us just seemed to find the site by accident on the Internet? Let’s hope it’s a long, long journey ahead for all of us!
Of course we’ll have to share Igna with Alessandra, but I’m sure she won’t mind? 🙂
Lucky Lady, how lovely to hear from you! Yes, that was one of the first ones I remember reading as well about her encounter with Piero. How incredible!? This is such nice place to share our comments and feelings! 🙂
Sorry I missed this post yesterday! I always try to read them but not necessarily the same day.
I first saw the guys when they did their first concert from Miami. They were soooo young! Then I started searching for them on internet. Eventually I found this group and have been a steady reader since.
I went to my first concert in Mesa, AZ shortly after having a total hip replacement. Unfortunately, I was still in a lot of pain so didn’t get the pleasure from the concert I expected. One thing I took away from it was Gianluca’s beautiful smile!
My husband went with me and he became a convert! That was a big plus!
I am saving my money for the next concert in Las Vegas! Hopefully it will be next year. I’m healthy now and really looking forward to a concert without pain!
Barb Walther
I’m so sorry you had to see your first concert in pain, hopefully they lessened it a little bit? How awesome to convert the hubby, a definite plus! 🙂 For right now, we don’t think they will be touring next year, so more time to save up for it!!
Grazie mille!!
Don’t know how to explain, nor where to begin to explain, why i pretty much ‘disappeared’ as a daily reader and frequent commenter. Complicated reasons. Would like to turn back time, but can’t, of course. Something suddenly told me to come here (late) tonight. Genuine sentiment and nostalgia. Those were ‘better days’. Always enjoyed coming here. A kind of sincere, caring, family atmosphere and a common interest shared with a wonderful, wondrously positive and mutually supportive energy and enthusiasm to which I was instantly drawn. The intelligence of the adult people here, the posts, the articles, the pictures, personal comments. Extraordinary. Marie’s marvelously ‘dead-pan’ humor was the irresistable icing on the cake for me; I was hooked. My life felt better, more hopeful. I somehow came upon this very special site probably soon after the Il Volo Live At Pompeii PBS concert that aired in August, 2015. I just stumbled upon that, too. As with everyone else here, those particularly charismatic singers, their beautiful voices, that music, the production’s quality — it all resonated deeply, personally. Hoping to experience a live Il Volo concert someday. Meanwhile, have always felt grateful for Il Volo Flight Crew’s written descriptions of your actual experiences at those events and even beyond the concerts. Greatly appreciated, believe me. Hoping to be able to join in the fun again. All best wishes tp you of the Crew, past and present.
Laura, good to see you back😊 I don’t know you personally, but we have a mutual love for our boys and their music. They have brought us all here. I like to think we are family now. Please stay with us.
Thank You, dear Rose Marie I will stay with you. I never expected, nor intended to be gone and I’ve felt badly about it. I don’t have a ‘real’ family now, so it made me feel good that you think of the Crew as a family, even though some folks have never physically met; that’s a wonderful and amazing thing. Reading the comments, I get such a kick out of the fact that just about everyone has an involuntary draw to one of the singers, even though they like and love all of them. I want to re-read the comments again, as I can’t remember now if you have a kind of ‘favorite’ among them. For me, it ‘s still Piero, even though I see and feel why people are drawn to Gianluca and Ignazio. I think Ignazio’s special fondness for animals is as beautiful as he is; I think Gianluca is classically handsome, for sure, and like each of them, beautiful on the inside, too, but he resembles my brother too much, except in height. Piero seems to have a quality of exceptional inner- strength and logic about him which I’m particularly drawn to, it seems, even in my ‘real life’. Guess that’s what I need more of, myself, when I analyzed it. (I do wish he’d grow out the sides of his lovely hair, though, and shave off his beard, as I think he’s much handsomer and younger-looking without the beard, still. (I think Ignazio actually looks marvelous in the style of beard that he’s kept. it definitely suits his face and his personality). Don’t know if you’ll see this comment, Rose Marie, but just wanted to thank you for responding so nicely to me. Hope others won’t mind me commenting when I can, after so long being awol here!
Laura, that was a lovely post. I know some of the people (men and women) have met at the concerts and have traveled together, so hopefully the boys will tour again and we can meet somewhere, somehow.
Personally, Ignazio is my hearts content and I think he is perfect. I love all three and as you have described them, they each have their own special qualities. Have you seen Piero’s new haircut? It makes him look more like his brother Franz. I wish you a buona notte.
I see your posts now, Rose Marie. Thank You, first of all, for your second kind reply. I see that you especially resonate with darlin’ Ignazio! I can definitely understand. I do hope that one day I can get to meet at least some of the Crew? It would be swell to meet you all in person! I wish for you a “buona notte”, too, Rose Marie. 🌹
Dang! i forgot to mention, Rose Marie, that I have seen Piero’s new haircut and I had a hard time at first glance figuring out who’s Franz and who’s Piero! lol..