Thursday August 16, 2000

the Rave with Switched, 40 Below Summer, and Chimaira

I went to the F81 concert Thursday! It was in the Rave Bar! I was mad cuz www.therave.com said that they were supposed to play in one of the bigger rooms, and if I knew before hand that they lied I would've brought a CAMERA! I was really angry at that point. Cuz I could be able to take pics now! But nooooooo!!! Anyways...

When I first walked in, the band Switched was playing. I didn't like them that much. :/ So I went over by the T-shirts. And Kevin (from F81) said, "Hey! I like ur shirt! That's a really kool band. Those guys are great." I waved at him and said "thanks!" and I grabbed a big F81 poster from the table and asked him to sign it. (BTW, I was wearing a Unloco shirt and black bondage pants.) He signed it, then he went over to Bill and told him to sign it! I said "hi" to Bill. And he smiled and said "hi". Then all of a sudden, Nate Wallace comes outta no where, whispers sumthin to Bill and Kevin says, "I'll be right back!" And they all walk in to the lobby. I was in an AWW when I saw him...I couldn't move. Nate looked unbelievable! Better than I imagined he'd be tonite. He did his hair. And it looked so good! He died it black and it was in tiny twists. It looked so good on him. Then a freaked out and told Jessica that that was Nate! And that I was stupid for just standing there. But it all happened so fast. So O well.

40 Below Summer was next. I tried moving my way to the front. But it was impossible at that time. So I chilled and stood there about 4th person back from the stage. Jessica found a stool to sit on. 40 Below Summer was really awesum! I like their music a lot! I wanna go get the CD now.

I saw the lead singer from Defiance and White Knuckle Trip at the concert. That was kool. (They are hott local band members.)

Next, came Chimaira. They were alright...they were pretty kool.

Factory 81 was next! And only 1 person was in front of me at this time. I love the spot I was in. Cuz it's like on the side of the stage (the stage is real small), so we can see everything and not get pushed around in the mosh pit. Smart people stand there (haha J/K)cuz it's perfect! I watched the helpers set up the drums and the stands for the mics. I was SO excited! Kevin and Andy came on stage to test their instruments and make em perfect. Bill did the same. Then Nate came on stage, he paced back n forth. Walkin around the stage lookin at the crowd, cuz he was bored. lol. He kept testing his mic. He's got sucha sexy voice! mmmmm.

He wore a plain white shirt, big baggy cut-off jeans, red and black shoes, and a black Chimaira belt. He looked SOOOO hott!

Nate went off-stage and went into the little black room. Finally, they were ready. Nate runs out. He's wearing a red shirt that's tucked through his collar. (Like that black guy that acts gay in Scary Movie but turns out not to be at the end.) And he says, "Does this shirt make me look gay?" I was crackin up. A bunch of guys in the crowd yelled, "No!". Then he un-tucks it and says, "How bout now?" And on the shirt it says 'I *heart* boys'. LOL! Everyone started laughing. =)

Then they started to play music right away. Everyone was rockin out. They were amazing! Everytime they play here in Milwaukee, the fans show such an awesum response. The crowdsurfing was going on a lot more. And the mosh pits were bigger and crazier everytime.

After the first song, Nate took off his 'I *heart* boys' shirt. hehe. And he said, " I hope I didn't scare anyone by wearing that. Is anyone homophobic in here? If u are, raise your hand." The guy in front of me raised his hand. lol. And Nate says, "It's alright if ur homophobic. I mean, I don't care." Then I forget how this is brought up. But then he asks, "U know what I think about when I'm all alone in my room?" And I yelled, "ME!", really loud! And I also heard a few guys yell, "Me!" LoL! And Nate goes, "You??, No, I don't think about you. U wanna know what I think about?" And sum guys in the crowd, yell, "Weed!". And Nate goes, "Well, yeah, I'll be smokin weed while I'm thinking about this guy over here." And he points to the guitarist Bill. hehe They played sum more. And I started going crazy. I moshed w/ the crowd, singin all the lyrics. I was all hot and sweaty. And when they played Peace Officer, holy shit did the crowd get tough! I accidently hit sum guy behind me in the face w/ my hand really hard. :/ Oops! He was okay though. But I was going phyco. I was second row. haha, we were all getting our asses kicked.

A few crowdsurfers bumped into Nate while he was singin on stage. So after singin a few songs he goes, "Where's that motherfucker that keeps messin me up while I'm trying to sing? And he looks through the crowd and says, "Where are ya? He's hiding from me. Well, fuck u man!" Then sumone yells, "Play sum fucking music!" And Nate goes, "U want us to play? No, I don't feel like singing anymore. I wanna know what Milwaukees fuckin been up to? I haven't been here in awhile." Then he stood on one of the speakers on the ledge of the stage and yells, "What the fuck have u been up to Milwaukee??". And people screamed out stuff at the same time. LoL, No one understood what everyone said. and he goes, "Yeah, that's what I thought. It figures."

Then, Nate plays sum more. I was soak n' wet by my sweat and everyone else's. Holy shit was it crazy.

Nanu was their ending song...lol, that's all I can remember that was in order.

I was kinda sad, they didn't sing 3 O' Clock Love Letter. They did play sum new music though! That was great!

They played a whole hour and a half! Nate was touching all the peeps hands that had their hands out to touch him. And I thought, WOW, this is a great time to get my autograph and give him my bracelets I made him! So I ran out by where Jessica was and I grabbed the poster from my purse she was holding. And I ran back inside. A lot of people had left already. And there was maybe 25 people in there. And Nate was gone. So I was like, "WFT??! Where is NATE!???" I sat by the Bar and waited for him to come out.

Then I saw Kevin on the stage getting his equipment. I yelled his name, and asked him if he could get Nate to come out and sign this. "Yeah, just go in to those black doors over there. And he pointed to them. And then he said, Oh wait, I don't think u can...(cuz the security guard for The Rave were by the bar, yelling at everyone to get out. So then he's like, "Hold on a sec! I'll get u in." Then the guard is like okay, u guys gotta get out of here, we have a curfew. (He was yelling at me and a few boys waiting for Nate to come out.) Then Andy (drummer from F81) and I asked him to sign it. And he said yeah, so he signed it and I asked him if he could get Nate out to sign it for me. And he said to just go throught the black doors. So I did! And Nate was sitting right there talking to a few fans. I was in an AWWW, again and asked him if he could sign my poster for me. He said "Sure!" And he signed it, then I gave him the 2 bracelets I made him. "Here Nate, I made these for you!" "For me? Thanks so much." He put them on. And told him which one glows-in-the-dark. "Thanks, this is so sweet of you. These are so kool! I like them alot." I was SO happy that he liked them. It felt so great, it was undescribable.

Then I said, "Bye!" And I left. I was so happy! I told Jessica when I got outside. She was talking to these two 21 year olds. :/ Too bad they weren't younger. They were funny guys... I played thumb wrestle w/ one of them. And he beat me, cuz he cheats! One of them gave me a long yellow plastic Factory 81 strap thingy...it's SOOOO kool! And the other dude was perverted and he wanted to see my boobs.

Then F81 came outside and they were carrying a bunch of stuff and taking it out to their tour bus. I yelled out Nate's name and people were all cheering for them.

-Holly