December 14th, 2000

the Rave with Gravity Kills, Tinfed, and Roast

This was my second time seeing Factory 81 (I didn’t get the chance to meet them the first time…. Sadness!) and Chelsea’s first (see her fan experiences) and we got there like 2 hours early. Just after getting there we went to the McDonald’s near the Rave and used the restrooms. As we were walking back we noticed Nate by the Factory 81 van. We called out to him and ran over. He signed autographs for us and took pictures with him and gave him a hug. Then he headed back inside. So Chelsea and I stood outside in the freezing cold until the people in charge let us in because of the cold. So we stood around inside watching the guys warm up. We tried walking into the bar during this time but were kicked out by the bartender. Then the security guys told us that we had to stand farther away. So we walked away and stood somewhere else for a while. Then Kevin decided to pop out. Two guys were already talking to him by the time we ran over. So we took pictures with him and got his autograph and hugged him. He told us some really funny stories. He’s so great when he talks he has the best expressions. He mentioned a commercial that would be on TV some time soon. Then he said that we could come out to the van after the show to watch commercial. We were so excited! We couldn’t believe it! Then Kevin went into the bar, and the fans all started forming a line at the door. Chelsea and I got front row center touching the stage and right next to us were the two guys that talked to Kevin with us. Well, anyway we had to go and buy our merchandise before the show. When we got to the counter we noticed that Bill was there with Kevin. So we got Bill’s autograph and took some more pictures and got hugs. We bought our coats from Kevin and returned to our wonderful spots (which by the way had been saved by the two guys next to us…. Thanks if you are reading this!). The show was great! Then when Gravity Kills was preparing the stage for their show we left our spots in search of Andy, and to hang out with the rest of the band again. We spent most of this time talking to Kevin and searching for Andy. We finally found Andy near the stage and got autographs and of course pictures with him. He wasn’t very talkative, but he looked really tired. After the show was over, we asked Kevin about seeing the commercial. So he sent us out to the van with Bill, after giving us both goodbye hugs. We went out to the van. It was so messy. We searched the van for the video, but we couldn’t find it. So we left, and Chelsea fell on her ass because she slipped on ice when getting out of the van. It was a great! I will never forget it.

-Kat