Cornerstone Experience

As you may or may not know, I have just returned from an incredible event by the name of Cornerstone Festival located in Nowheresville Illinois (a.k.a. Bushnell). If you're not aware of what this event is (and you should be), it's a 6 day festival with 300+ bands, 20,000 people, and all the over-priced food you can eat. I will begin by explaining and highlighting the experience (hopefully in a cohesive and skimmable way). Following this is a list of things you ought to know (similar to my 2007 blog). Just skip to the bottom if you really don't care about the narrative.

Bushnell. This town is a small one built on agriculture and a certain homeyness. For the majority of the year, I assume it spends its time in obscurity. But for one week, it explodes as a population that is almost 2/3 of Alpena's converges on a single piece of land in order to share music, culture, ideas, and probably a few diseases transmitted via community showers and portable toilets. This year not only did I get to spend this experience with some incredible friends, but also with my mother (who turns out to be much more adventurous than the average maternal figure). I suppose the easiest way to talk about this adventure is by breaking it up into its various major facets and discussing them singularly.

MUSIC
At Cornerstone, not only are you able to see big names like The Almost, Anberlin, Flyleaf and Family Force 5, but you have the unique pleasure of being assaulted with a huge amount of no-name bands (Mark'd) and cult favorites (La Dispute). The diversity of genres is staggering from metal bands like Haste the Day or As I Lay Dying to indie bands like Homer Hiccolm & the Rocket Boys to strange cultural music like the Psalters. It's a pretty interesting sight to wake up to a metal band playing not far from your tent at 10 a.m. only to find that upon walking passed the generator stage (either small stages on which bands with little notoriety play or a patch of ground on which bands set up equipment in hopes of attracting a crowd) you are greeted with the falsetto of an indie front(wo)man. Discovering new bands and hearing old favorites creates an awesome atmosphere.

CULTURE
Only at Cornerstone have I seen a smelly punk kid and a tie-wearing speaker get along and carry on theological conversation without being out of place. This definitely does not mean that all festival-goers are Christians, but it seems to be a nice majority and there is a certain sense of brotherhood (particularly in a pit or at a generator stage). It was intriguing to see a booth set up in the giant merchandise tent devoted to the Greek Orthodox Church. The same can be said for a Tea Hut set up by some lovers of Indian culture (like from India) and seminars held by Christian hippies, all of which are very inviting. Awkwardness was a rarity.

IDEAS
Hearing two twenty-somethings exchange theological ideas about the rapture or God's love on the way to a show was an awesome and welcoming feeling, particularly as it seems that true and educated Christians seem to be a minority in Alpena (at least I haven't met many, anyway). Seminar topics ranged from "Jesus For President" to postmodernism and song-writing techniques. I will definitely say that I think I learned a thing or two about contentment and joy, particularly in the unknown and the future (relying in God seems so difficult these days).

PEOPLE
This is probably my favorite part, the truth be told. Our group befriended many bands (one of which camped near us and held a dance competition -- which my mother proceeded to win and was rewarded with a CD and t-shirt) as well as organizations and interesting characters. Most people were rather approachable (which was a good thing for Josh since he would probably get nailed in the face for saying a lot of what he said). Bands are basically desperate for people to see their shows, so we got a few of them to dedicate songs to us or say weird things during the set in return for our attendance.

CRAP
This topic is two-fold. Firstly, being bombarded with enough paper advertisements for bands and organizations to create a small forest is overwhelming enough. Then they start giving you crazy EPs, demos and samplers (about which I do not complain). These make for a lot of stupid souvenirs that I will probably forget about in a month or two. The second part of this topic is the disgusting nature of porta-potties and communal showers. Enough said.

DRIVING
Bushnell is about 10 hours from Alpena. Being stuck in a car for that long is rough -- especially when you're in a van filled quite literally to the brim with enough junk to lower gas mileage so much you might as well be driving a semi while being cramped with a bunch of sweaty guys and a mother. All in all, though, I can't think of a better group to be stuck with.

PROTESTERS
That's right -- Christians protesting the Christian event. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a group of extreme conservatives. They were pretty intelligent since they set up next to the incredibly slow-moving line of cars waiting to get in to the grounds. Josh and I really had to use the restroom after several hours in the van, so we got out and walked quite a ways and eventually found the protesters while we were on foot. There was an open-air preacher being heckled by some tattooed and pierced attendees as well as a few others with him holding signs saying things like "Christian Rock is from Hell" and similar messages. I got a few tracts from them. Josh and I debated with a guy named Phil about it whose argument was reduced to the following statement after being asked why Christian rock is so wrong and a lengthy dialogue: "It's just the beat, man." Not a very solid platform, if you ask me (note the lack of Scripture).

Oh well. They have good intentions (even though they're wrong). My thoughts on the subject were summed up by a band tee I saw there which read "DEVIL MUSIC FOR JESUS".

I gave Phil my e-mail. He has yet to message me.

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LISTS
10 Bands/Artists You Should Be Aware Of if You're Not Already*
-mewithoutYou
-La Dispute
-The Skies Revolt
-Glass Ocean
-Jack London
-Bradley Hathaway
-Showbread
-Josh Garrels
-The Myriad
-Flatfoot 56

*These bands/artists were chosen based on live shows and/or personality.

3 Organizations You Should Be Aware Of if You're Not Already*
-To Write Love On Her Arms
-Random People Who Care
-Compassion International

*These organizations were chosen based on creativity and trustworthiness.

5 Brands You Ought To Check Out
-Enthos
-Ephraim
-Naive Clothing
-Believe Clothing
-Inventage

Some Unique Experiences
-Having my mother win a dance competition.
-Being in the largest circle pit ever to hit main stage at a Flatfoot show.
-Watching and being in a pit at The Almost that turned into a dance party.
-Meeting someone from Alpena who just moved here.
-Bradley Hathaway.
-Showbread.
-Learning about the Greek Orthodox Church.
-Jack London - they're from Iceland. They're basically a band made up of all the foreign exchange student personalities at AHS.

Thanks if you read all of this.

--Dean

Oh, and for all of you 90s kids -- I saw Sixpence None the Richer. Kiss Me, There She Goes, etc.

Jealous?



**if you have had an experience at a concert or festival recently that you would like to share with the world, put it in a fun to read format much like Dean's and e-mail it to theoddnotes@gmail.com . After reading and possibly editing, we will more than likely post it. Also be sure to add pictures and please make sure that you attended the concert recently.