Doug Van Pelt

Cornerstone = Austin TX

The last two days (Wed, July 5 and Thur, July 6) have been wonderful. The HM Magazine Stage was a revolving lineup on Wednesday, with Inked in Blood and Disciple leaving the Wednesday lineup (Inked in Blood had a good tour opportunity come up and they cancelled; and Disciple wanted to move to the empty Saturday midnight slot instead of play pposite Underoath. So, we moved Bloodlined Calligraphy to the Inked in Blood slot at 7pm and added The Dog & Pony Show and Lo-Ruhamah to the 9 and 10 pm slots. But the changes were not finished... I got a note that Bloodlined Calligraphy couldn't get their van started and would have to forego the trip and cancell. So I tapped The Gentleman Homicide to play that 7pm slot. They did well. Alove For Enemies played a great show, which included a massive dogpile near the end that was just ridiculously high. TDAPS were aggressive and hard. Lo-Ruhamah took a while to get going into their Scandinavian style Black Metal, but soon were on. After seeing 3 songs I hitched a ride to the mainstage (which sported an amazing heavy lineup of The Chariot, As Cities Burn, Norma Jean, As I Lay Dying, and Underoath -- how's that for a killer lineup?). Usually, some of the CCM artists that bring in crowds play the mainstage, while the heavier acts play mostly the encore or underground stages, and maybe one token night on mainstage with P.O.D. Reaching the natural "bowl" that sits opposite the stage was a sight to behold, as the crowd wrapped around the hill and all the flat land to the stage, which was accented by a huge video screen. Underoath was fired up and running all over the stage, keeping the video editor busy switching from Chris Dudley's hair-waving headbanging, Spencer Chamberlain's antics all over the stage, and Aaron Gillespie's vocal contributions, just to name a few. On the way back the HM Magazine/Encore 1 Stage was packed for Demon Hunter. They absolutely killed, with a powerful sonic and visual show. It was like mixing Queensryche, Pantera, and Marilyn Manson together for a sonice assault. You could see a guy with a steer's skull in the audience, and people singing along and throwing their hands in the air from the front to the back. Afterwards, I retired, but not before sticking my head in the Gallery Stage to hear a few 77s songs.

Yesterday I started my first seminar talk, which went well. I stayed for a few minutes afterwards to hear Chad Johnson, who went on afterwards with his life story. He's a great guy and a valuable treasure (one of many) working in this industry.

One more change would be had in the HM Magazine Stage lineup on this night as well, as Brandtson cancelled their show. A Sonny Sandoval look-alike named Jayden, from the band Noetic, had asked me if they could play if there were any cancellations, and when someone approached me in the Exhibit Hall to tell me about Brandtson, Jayden was walking by just at that moment. So I asked him if he wanted to play and they filled the slot like that. Man Alive from Israel played first, and they sounded really good. Very melodic and accessible, yet full of punk atttitude and energy. Noetic played next and even sounded like P.O.D. in places, with creative and tribal like drumming and a sometimes nu metal vocal approach. The night was to suddenly change toward the atmospheric next, as Bernard set up and played with a video screen accompanying their awesome music. I had a chance to interview Aaron Weiss for our mewithoutYou story for the next issue, so I had to miss the bulk of Bernard's set. Afterwards was Mute Math, and just like their sold-out tours this past year, the tent was packed with anticipation. This band is not much of a secret anymore. People know they're great live.

Mute Math was great, indeed. They completely slayed the audience. For their last song, an encore that the audience demanded (and there wasn't enough time for, but we did anyway) called "Control," they switched instruments. The bassist was swinging a club on a vertically mounted and mic'd kick drum, a drum stool was upside-down on top of the piano, which was being played with drum sticks, and the guitar played was controlling feedback by holding his effects pedal board like a guitar, "playing" it by adjusting pedals. It was unbelievable. It was so electric and everyone was pretty amazed. I asked Zao guitarist Scott Mellinger what he thought, and he said, "This is the best band I've seen in a long time." John Thompson got up on stage to plug the HM Magazine Podcast at the end and instead shouted gleefully, "Let's thank HM Magazine for sponsoring what was THE BEST CONCERT in Cornerstone history! Mute Math RULES!!!" That about capsulated the feeling at the time. It was just one amazing show.

I popped back to our campsite to say goodnight to my girls, and on the way there I stuck my head in the Rock For Life tent, where Blessed By A Broken Heart were climaxing a hot set with some sort of pyramid style pile-up on stage. It was crazy. Not exactly a dogpile, but almost a choreographed cheerleader type pyramid, but spontaneous and moving. So fun.

About an hour later Zao took the stage and it was another legendary performance to a packed-over-the-sides crowd. Watching their drummer from behind stage was a treat to behold. This guy was fun to watch. What a workout all those guys go through with their intensity on stage. After they finished, Cornerstone became for me like Austin, Texas on any given night. The thing about the "live music capital of the world" is that you can see a show in the entertainment district or "corridor" of 6th Street and watch one band, club hop over to another place and see another band, and so on and so on, all night long. After Zao was done, I checked out a little Cool Hand Luke, who were played great. Then I heard some Head Noise, which were so loud and awesome. They are such a great punk rock band. Then I stepped over to the Sanctuary Tent and saw Stevie & The Saints jam the blues for a good long time. It's a shame there weren't a thousand people to drink up Stevie Olson's great tone and blues playing. They had it going on. I was really feeling like I was in Austin, cuz blues is such a staple there. With no more energy I went home for the night to crash.

Posted by Doug Van Pelt at July 7, 2006 10:33 AM