It was fun seeing my friends Disciple on the main stage last night. They performed really well on the large stage, with Kevin Young using the catwalk to his advantage. I stayed for most of the set, which consisted mostly of newer songs. Young shared from his heart as I headed back to the HM Magazine Stage for the start of our night. It's always funny to "hear" the thoughts of wondering what people might think as you're walking away during a sermon.
Thieves & Liars put out a very full and big sound with three instruments. It was so refreshing and enjoyable to hear Corey Edelmann (former NIV and Project 86 guitarist) play guitar. He masterfully bent the strings to add much feeling and accents to many a note. It's a rare thing these days to see skills and emotion from a guitar player.
Gray Lines Of Perfection next brought crashing bursts of hardcore with an energetic fury. Like a machine, they're able to pull off their Reaching The Ends Of The Earth album with gusto and precision. Listening and singing/chanting along to their tunes easily cultivate a community atmosphere.
I caught the end of the Family Force 5 set on the Main Stage, which was as crazy, energetic and fun as their performances on much smaller stages/venues. They never pull any punches on bringing out the goofy penchant for fun that many of us bring to a concert experience. The camera operator with that big crane camera adds a great sweeping audience shot and nice zooms that make all the antics and show feel bigger. The Cornerstone Main Stage is quite the perfect venue for shows -- with its natural bowl shaped hills around the stage.
Showbread put on a very cool and theatrical show, attempting to visually and sonically portray their Anorexia and Nervosa album themes. In the end, the whole thing might've brought more questions than answers, but it was a very cool show that'll be remembered for a long time. The tent was packed, but I'm sure those that were there will be sure and explain how cool the show was to those that missed it.
Once Nothing took the stage after a chorus of "Here we go, Steelers -- Here we go!!" from a large contingent in the front at stage left. Either hometown friends of the band or educated fans that know about the band's Pittsburgh roots. While they don't fit nice and neatly into the "Southern Metal" category we put them in with our similarly-titled article in the May/June issue, they had plenty of groove and heavy slabs of rock.
I rode a bike down to the Main Stage again to see Flyleaf's set. There's something really special about this band that makes me want to keep an eye on them. I was real curious to see what their shock-absorber-for-legs bassist would do with this enormous stage and catwalk. He launched himself over the corner gap between catwalk and stage several times, and he spent some time surfing on his back over the crowd and on the ground with the crowd as well. Lacey spoke very humbly and sincerely about how special it was for them to play to an audience that related with their spiritual identity. It was awesome to see the same kind of this-is-who-we-are humility here as I saw at every other (mostly mainstream) shows I've seen them at. They played a couple of new songs, giving us a taste of their new album. One was about a girl named Tina that had tried to kill herself by setting herself on fire, but had a revelation of the Lord when He rescued her from death. This little evangelist wanted to make sure Lacey knew about this God and so impressed Lacey with her inner beauty that she wanted to write this song. Another new one feature dynamics of soft vocals and their trademark screams. Pretty cool sounds.
I took in a few sights and sounds after midnight -- including the controlled fury of Becoming The Archetype, who also crafted some sweeping dynamics between hard and gentle sounds. It was a little melancholy to realize that this was Alec's last show with the band. The Myriad was rocking and mesmerizing the Encore Two Stage. Frontman Jeremy asked how many people were at Cornerstone for the first time. They'd been the past six years in a row and wanted to offer an apology for anyone that spilled mud on in a previous year. Their trailer was stuck in the mud and the driver hit the accelerator and sent lots of mud flying on anyone nearby. That was funny.
Right before retiring "early" for the night (about 1am) I popped into the Sanctuary Tent after catching a glimpse of four or five guys in military officer outfits. They (Drottnar) looked kind of like Nazi German officer uniforms in shape and color, but I didn't notice red armbands or swastikas, so we're probably talking about some other European country's military garb.* If it was just one member, it would be one thing, but having the entire band decked out in this fashion made it very striking. Kind of crazy, but intensely cool. I wonder if they'll pull off a different look for their HM Magazine Stage performance on Thursday night.
It rained Wednesday night, which has brought a cooler temperature to Thursday morning's wake-up experience. Time to break out the hoodie -- even though it's July 3rd.
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at July 4, 2008 12:53 PM