October 5, 2001: Beautiful Creatures at The Rave in Milwaukee

October 5, 2001
Tantric, Oleander, Beautiful Creatures, Transmatic
The Rave – Milwaukee, WI

I couldn’t wait for this show! I was ready to be rocked again by Beautiful Creatures! We got there later than I wanted (it rained the whole way) so I jumped out of the car when we got to the venue. I went inside to get the tics from Will Call while my husband parked the car. While I was waiting for Al, Charlene and Flynn walked in so we all went in together.

When we walked in, the floor was really crowded. I walked to the right side and all the way up to the front on DJ’s side and lucked out with a spot 2nd row but off to the side. There were two guys standing nearby with a pretty big gap in front of them. I asked, “Can you scoot over or can we stand in front of you?” He said they would move over. A few minutes later he said we could stand in front of him. I said thanks and that we would be leaving after BC anyway. The spot was a little farther to the side of the stage than I liked but hey, can’t win ’em all!

We didn’t have to wait that long before the show started. A band called Transmatic opened. They were tolerable BUT, the drummer was hysterical. I have never seen a drummer with so much character!! He kept making all these crazy faces. He was a riot! They only got to play for 20 minutes and Beautiful Creatures went on around 7:45pm.

Of course they came out kicking ass and taking names!! They RIPPED THE ROOF OFF THE FREAKIN’ VENUE!! MY GOD! Of course they were good Wednesday night but DAMN they KILLED it that night! The crowd was totally into them too.

They played the same songs as Wednesday night in Chicago, just in a different order. Afterwards, DJ dove into the crowd! During the set, it seemed like Joe was throwing water a lot more than the previous show. Luckily, we were far enough away that we didn’t get any on us. Kenny came to our side once, maybe twice. He reminds me SO MUCH of SIXX! Anthony didn’t come to our side at all, but we thought it might have been due to his corded guitar. I didn’t remember him really moving around a lot Wed night either.

At the end of their set, DJ threw out picks but of course, not really near us and Glen threw some sticks, but towards the middle of the crowd. They left the stage and we left our area. I went to look for my Aunt and cousin. I found Rebecca and she said, “OMG they kicked ass!” I said, “I TOLD YOU!” I brought the pics of Charlene and me with the guys in Chicago so I showed her. I guess while I was standing there showing her friend the pics, one of the guys from Oleander walked by and my cousin shook his hand (she loves them). My Aunt came back from the bathroom and practically attacked me with a kiss on the cheek. We talked for a little bit and she commented that they weren’t going to stay for Tantric. I told her that I thought the singer looked, sounded and acted like Scott Stapp so she said she would probably check ’em out. I headed to the back to wait for the Beautiful Creatures guys to come out.

While we were waiting, Flynn said to me, “There’s the lead singer from Tantric.” I had to go meet him. I told him I saw them Wednesday night and they were really good and he said “thanks” and that he appreciated me for coming. I walked away and then thought, “I’m going to have him sign my ticket” so I walked back over to him and he did.

While we were standing there, a guy walked past and I thought, man he looks familiar. Then Charlene said, “Isn’t that the guy from Oleander?” I told her I thought so but didn’t know for sure. Well, after we saw Oleander on stage our question was answered! It was him!

Oleander’s set was 10 times better than the night before. We watched their set back by the merch booth, which was in an area behind the soundboard. After Oleander started, one by one the guys in Beautiful Creatures came out. I cannot for the life of me remember who came out first though. Charlene and I were also on a mission to get a picture with Joe because we missed taking one with him at the show at the House of Blues. It all worked out. Joe was wearing this stocking cap and later on in the night I said to Charlene, “You ever watch Ed, Edd and Eddy?” She looked at Joe and cracked up! THEN SHE TOLD HIM! I wanted to kill her! Luckily he didn’t know about the cartoon or what we were talking about.

Glen, Kenny and Anthony remembered me from Wednesday night. They even thanked me for coming to see them again. Really, it wasn’t a problem! After the other guys were out, we had them sign the back of our pictures. I hadn’t planned this, I just brought them with to show Charlene and to see if she wanted to retake any of them. I believe Anthony offered to sign one and we just kept on asking. The guys were really looking them over too. When Kenny looked at mine he said something like, “Awww, look at us…” and with the picture in both hands, he made it dance and continued, “…we’re all happy looking.”

While I was watching Tantric I felt what I thought was water. I guess DJ and his tech were spitting beer at each other. It got so bad that DJ ended up changing into one of their merch shirts. When I got the chance, I asked Glen, Joe and Kenny separately if they had any 8×10 band photos. They all thought there might be some on the bus, but to ask them when they were leaving for the night. Charlene asked Kenny for a pick and he had one. I asked, “Did you bring enough for the whole class?” He laughed, said no and told me to ask Jason (his tech). He didn’t have any either.

While talking with Kenny, and I don’t know how it came up, he said he was the only one who dove off the stage and we were like, “No you weren’t, DJ did too!” He said, “No he didn’t.” We said, “Yes he did.” Another girl overheard us and confirmed that DJ did too. I guess Kenny never even knew DJ did and we couldn’t see Kenny do it because we were so far to the right.

At another point during the night, I saw DJ again and asked if he had any picks on him. He didn’t. In talking with him I asked if he wore contacts (his eyes are such a light blue) and he said that was the question he was asked the most. He confirmed he didn’t. Later, I asked him what nationality he was. He said he was still trying to find out, but he knew of Cherokee, Swedish and German.

Off and on during the night, I kept seeing this bald-headed guy so I asked him if he was their road manager (he wasn’t) then I asked him about band photos and he thought there might be some on the bus and he would check later. He reached into his pocket and gave me a pick I hadn’t seen before. I showed Charlene and she was like, “Hey, I need one of those too!” Luckily, he had another. They were DJ’s picks because he was DJ’s tech.

Sneak Peek Info: Joe told Charlene that “Ride” was going to be in some movie, but he wouldn’t tell her which one. (Ride was featured on the soundtrack to the 2002 remake of Rollerball.)

At some point in the night, Charlene and I were talking to Kenny again. She told him he was her fave bass player and I said, “I’m telling Nikki (Sixx).” Kenny kind of backed off, jokingly, like, “Oh, I see.” haha She tried to cover it up. Then he said, “Nikki is a great person/bass player.” I asked Kenny who his fave bass player was and he said he couldn’t pick one. My question was the same as asking him to pick a fave song. But he said the person who had the biggest influence was…ready for this? Duff McKagen! I said, “REALLY!?” He then mentioned Geezer Butler, Gene Simmons and Robert DeLeo, (bass player from Stone Temple Pilots) in that order. (On a different night, I was telling someone what he said about Duff and then it hit me. The way Kenny stands when he plays is A LOT like Duff does. But Kenny still has “Nikki” hair.)

Oh, Al tried to buy a sticker but the merch guy said he couldn’t sell them. I told him, “Give me the money, I’ll get one.” I asked about the sticker and I guess at The Rave, you are not allowed to sell them because people stick them on the walls. Damn.

After Tantric’s set, (Tantric sounded the same as Wednesday night’s show but they didn’t stage dive) the Beautiful Creatures guys were STILL hanging out with the fans. They were a lot of fun to talk with.

After the show was over, there was a girl who wanted a group photo with the guys in Beautiful Creatures. Well, I wanted just a band photo so Charlene got them all back together and I took one. It was kind of dark but it turned out GREAT! Now that the show was over and the merch guy was counting stuff, I said to him, “The show’s over, can I have one now?” He gave me a square sticker.

Because the guys had to go downstairs to get their stuff before the place closed, I said goodbye to them. Almost all of them said, “Are you leaving?” Surprised at the question, I answered no and then commented that I didn’t know if I would see them since they had to go get their stuff. I told them all good luck with the rest of the tour and that I hoped they come back soon.

They all came back up and then we were being kicked out by the venue. We walked out with Glen to the bus. Once we were there I said, “Can you look for the band photo?” He said, “What band photo?” haha I wanted to kill him! I said, “The one I was asking you about.” He came out with 2; one for Charlene too!! YEAH!!! I thanked him and we had him sign it and he went back onto the bus. (Oh btw – it was fucking freezing out and we didn’t have coats!) Charlene made the comment that we probably wouldn’t be able to get all their sigs but one by one we did. WOOHOO!

At one time or another, they all stood outside for a little bit and talked with the fans (we weren’t the only crazy ones.) I think we finally left around 1am. Al and I were starving and ate at a 24-hour restaurant near The Rave and didn’t get home until 2:30am. What an AWESOME NIGHT!!! I cant wait for them to come back!!

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