3 posts tagged “cornerstone festival”
i just got back from Cornerstone yesterday. i thought it was one of the best years in quite a while.
in recent years, it seems that i haven't gone to that many concerts at C'stone. we would get bored and go off the grounds on a regular basis. in fact, some years we went to Walmart in Macomb every day.... but this year was not like that. once C'stone got going, we never left the grounds and i didn't even think about leaving.
the press tent of course kept me busy, but more than that, i was into the music this year. the first thing most people noticed this year that was different, and the first thing i got into was the generator stages. there's been generator stages at Cornerstone for a long time now, but not like this year. there were at least 30 generator stages all set up along the main road on both sides and it was just as crazy as you can imagine. bands constantly playing, one after the other on every stage, whether there was another band right next to them or not. and nearly all the bands were the same: screamo with some breakdowns.... yes there was a lot of mediocre to down right bad music there along "generator row," as i called it. but there were some gems too.....
there was also the return of a few 80's bands that interested me. REZ was fantastic. i always like REZ, but didn't think they could pull it off after so long away from the stage. i was mistaken. the guitars were blazing, Wendi was feeling good and her voice was really strong and fine. even John was obviously practicing. he's a big strong guy and could have hit those drums a little bit harder, but he was pretty much on target all night. and Charlie Peacock came back to Cornerstone after about 12 years. his show was wonderful! he sang the old songs and a couple of new ones that were also good. he had Jimmy A with him as well as Steve Hindalong and Kevin Max. fabulous. and one of the big surprises was DeGarmo and Key. they've been gone for a long time, but they've kept up their chops, fersure. Dana still rocks on guitar and can still sing and preach. they caught Linda by surprise too, with the song "Accepted." she got rather emotional. it was a good old Jesus Music revival.... good times...
i also got into the hard core scene this year. of course Living Sacrifice was ridiculous! but there's a move of the Holy Spirit in the hard core scene that is building like i don't know if i've ever seen before. these bands are serious about God, and prayer, and revival. from what i saw, xDeathstarx, Impending Doom, and Sleeping Giant are at the forefront of it. they are some of the scariest, most brutal bands now, but the shows are so worship filled and anointed.... the second time i saw Sleeping Giant was at the Anchor stage and they had all the Anchor staff come on stage and pray before the show. Thom the singer explained that he felt like the Spirit was not as free there as the other night and that he wanted everyone to start praying and worshiping God. one girl had a vial of oil with her on stage and anointed the band and prayed as the crowd joined in worshiping and Thom began to worship and pray over the mic until the place was noticeably filled with God. once the band got going, the ministry and music was amazing. there's also another wave that's going to hit the hard core scene when Brian "Head" Welsh and Dan Spitz release their separate records. i can hardly wait for those two projects!
it was exciting to me to feel that and see it at Cornerstone this year!
on the non music end of things i also had a good time with Norman and Marie this year. of course spending the week with Linda was great. Shari, Steve, Kyle and Marlene also camped with us. and we met some fun new people that were camping next to us. Nathan and Raul are young and lots of fun. the youth group from NC are good to us as well.
i got to lead a round table discussion at the press tent about "Cornerstone: past, present, and future," with Johnny Herrin, J Robert Parks, John J Thomson, and Doug Van Pelt that turned out ok. it was cool, but we only had an hour and it ended a bit too soon. John Herrin had just brought up and was talking about the roads and showers when we ran out of time. i didn't say it, but that was a great time to rebut his thought that the showers are ok... they are not... but we didn't get to talk about it anymore and that is my only regret of the fest.
after i go through my pictures i'll post some and talk about the fest a bit more.
Cornerstone Fest was a great time again this year. i think it was a particularly good year actually. i saw, and enjoyed, more shows than i have in the past few years. but i'll talk about the music a bit later....
Norman and i started our trip Friday the 22nd. we usually leave a couple of days earlier, but it didn't work that way this year. we got there Saturday and set up camp. the youth group that comes from North Carolina was already there a couple of days, and had their huge deck already up by the time we arrived. we like the youth group and Stewart the youth pastor that brings them. and they actually helped us cut the grass and set up in the press tent this year! it was very nice of them, we appreciated it!... Linda and Shari joined us Sunday evening. so camping up on Tony's Hill we had Norman, Jacob, me, Linda, Shari, Steve Ewers, Kyle, and Marlene. the weather for the week started out rainy and muddy, but cleared up and most of the week was lovely.
as always, we (the phantom tollbooth) ran the press tent, but this year was a bit different. we were combined to Mike Hertenstein's idea: the Talking Stage. that meant that after our seminars and press conferences, the Talking Stage moved into the tent and did their programming. Mike is already a busy man at C'stone. he runs the Imaginarium, and oversees all the seminars as well. the Talking Stage was kind of a talk show - discussion - interview format most of the time, which is close to what we have already been doing for years and that's why we're now linked together. that change also meant more visibility for us as we moved into a much bigger tent right in the action of the fest midway. at first i think we were a little leery of the changes but once the fest got moving we really liked our new location. and the way we set up the tent was pretty cool with a little stage and a huge back drop, we had a back stage area that we've never had before and we put to good use. during the fest we had full days of press conferences and recorded them all for podcasting. [they're not quite up yet, but they will be.] i got to do some moderating (which i usually kick against but end up really enjoying and so glad i did them). i interviewed Skillet, Crimson Moonlight, Glenn Kaiser, X-sinner, and Sean Michel. two of my scheduled conferences didn't show up, Showdown and Bride. i was looking forward to both of those too... we had another good staff this year, and some cool moments.... Linda and Shari run the ship and do a very good job steering and navigating. the crew is me and Norman (facilities maintenance), Dan (is very busy running the sound and recording and moderating), Chris aka Grandfather Rock (famous DJ and moderator), Brett (did a great job this year moderating), Jonathan (moderating and encouragement), Julie (support and encouragement, not to mention feeding us!), Steve (all around support), David (all around support and help), Zane (support and smiles).
overall, i'd say the press tent was a rousing success, once again!
the concerts were especially good this year. the shows i caught all or some of were (i'll put stand out shows in bold): Rue Royal, Deas Veil, Mike Roe, Roe v. Pritzl, the Filthy 42s, Headnoise, Flatfoot 56, Maron, the Lee Boys, Glenn Kaiser, Lo-Ruhamah, Crimson Moonlight, Aletheian, Neviah Nevi, Skillet, Anberlin, Memphis Belle, Justin McRoberts, Michael Pritzl, the Violet Burning, beach worship with Violet Burning, Leigh Nash, Rex Carroll Sessions, Jonezetta, the Lost Dogs, Whitecross, Bride, X-Sinner, Bloodgood, Jeff Elbel + Ping, John Davis, Crimson Thorn, Norma Jean, Klank. i really did enjoy all these shows a lot, not a bad one in the bunch, well... maybe one. :-) ..... but the ones that just left me going "wow!" i put in bold.....
great week, great fest, great times.
i'm building a myspace that's just got Cornerstone 07 bands on it. so if you're interested in looking into Cornerstone bands that maybe you don't know much about, they're easy to find on our new myspace... it was Shari's idea so we're calling it the Phantom Tollbooth's music guide...
