Cornerstone Festival 2006 Review

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(the long version)
Photos and Review By: Kelly Benson

The challenge is to write a review of Cornerstone Festival that has taken place in Bushnell, Illinois since 1990. Thinking about this, I’m wondering, “Is it possible to condense five days of awesome into something that can be easily digested?” Probably not, which is why we’ve made this longer version available for you. I hope you don’t get a stomache ache.

As I drove to the festival grounds on Monday morning, I wondered how the cloudy skies and sporadic rain would affect the week’s events. Luckily, during my hour wait in line at the front gate, God parted those gray clouds and threw sunshine down to set the stage for the most beautiful weather Cornerstone has seen in years.

It didn’t take long for bands to unpack their U-Hauls and power up their generators to play impromptu shows for whoever would listen. These driven go-getters took up predetermined grassy stages and loose gravel roadsides in the hopes of getting their music heard throughout the week. Most generator bands, like Bringing Down Broadway, gave listeners the chance to practice their hardcore dance moves in a smaller setting while bands like

Sivan left the hardcore breakdowns at home and replaced them with a dance beat that could refresh even the most worn out festival attendee.

Tuesday’s Tooth and Nail Day was the prologue to Cornerstone Festival featuring prime bands from Solid State and Tooth and Nail Records. Becoming the Archetype attracted fans of all ages for the first of their three shows scheduled for the week. A middle-aged man with a long blonde mullet raised his fists in the air while a tall, lanky teenager quietly observed next to him. One pit quickly grew to two as fans physically reacted to Wisdom’s low vocals and

BTA’s swirling long hair and metal power chords.

August Burns Red and As Cities Burn followed up Becoming the Archetype’s performance with enough energy to keep the tents packed tight. If how many people come to your shows is any indication of your band’s popularity, August Burns Red proved their growing success on Tuesday night. Fans chanted along “take this life, make it yours” during “Endorphins” while Jake shoved the mic into the crowd. As Cities Burn followed by playing an emotional show as the band has decided to break up due to TJ getting married. The crowd showed their supported during the set but between songs shouts of, “Don’t get married!” could be heard. TJ didn’t let that hold him back as he used his mic like a grappling hook to catch one of the tent’s support poles, which he later swung around like a less provocative pole dancer.

While Hawk Nelson attracted a younger crowd in the Encore 2 stage, Encore 1 was packed with mewithoutYou fans. The band offered an intimate set, which featured new songs off their upcoming album, Brother, Sister. The crowd stood in awe as Aaron Weiss switched from sleigh bells on “January 1979” to an acoustic guitar, which he used to accompany a soft song about an orange spider on an orange leaf,

to an accordion that complimented a song with a harpist. The energy between the band was felt on the small stage while some of that intimacy was lost when they played the main stage later on in the week. The harsh 5:30 sun and a large metal barrier made for a different atmosphere as they stretched across the stage, but the presence of members of The Psalters and a man dressed up as a giant white bird that “flew” among band members made for some interesting visuals. In between songs, Aaron encouraged the audience to love and, above all, forgive and promoted the Jesus Village as a place to hang out and learn while at Cornerstone.

Solomon Olds of Family Force 5 helped get Wednesday, the first official day of Cornerstone, started by shouting, “Let’s get crazy at 1:00 in the afternoon!” which they most certainly did. A cross between Squad Five-0 and Showbread, Family Force 5’s stage presence was an example of how the crowd should respond. If in doubt, Olds was there to give direction, “If you’re not jumping around on this next song, I’m going to count you physically ugly.”

The south rose again on Wednesday afternoon as Dallas Taylor of Maylene and the Sons of Disaster cast out his mic like a fishing pole to catch blips of his own lyrics from the over-stimulated crowd while a confederate flag waved from the sea of open mouths.

Immediately after Maylene’s set, hyped up hardcore fans made the long walk to the main stage.

The main stage lineup indicated the growing popularity of hardcore music at Cornerstone with the unbelievable lineup of As Cities Burn, The Chariot, Norma Jean, As I Lay Dying and Underoath. As Cities Burn played a more laid back set than the previous night, but

Josh Scogin from The Chariot livened up the mood as he thrashed around the cat walk, hid under Jake Ryan’s drum kit, knocked over a speaker and then stood on it defiantly and tried to force a piece of his broken mic stand through a speaker.

Josh’s energy was carried over to Norma Jean’s set as the crowd moved forward and the metal barriers began to break giving the security team the task of pushing on the barriers throughout most of their set to keep them from toppling over and spilling out front row viewers. Even the more lazy viewers that wrapped around the main stage valley edged forward in their fold out chairs as Aaron Weiss came out to perform his part on "Memphis Will Be Laid To Rest." It wasn’t long before Mr. Scogin joined him and aided Cory Brandan in the song.

As I Lay Dying followed Norma Jean and wetted the crowd’s appetite for Underoath’s set, which was what the majority of people were waiting for.

Underoath gave an unusually long performance as Spencer Chamberlain explained, “This is the most songs we’ve ever played at a show and to be honest, I feel like I’m going to puke.” He didn’t.

Thursday brought some much needed relaxing music after a huge night of rock. Absent minded smiles and open mouths accompanied Anathallo’s set as the crowd stood mesmerized. The eight-member band created beautiful sounds by using everything from their feet on the wooden stage floor to brightly colored balloons. Earlier in the day, several members from the band met for a panel discussion in the Phantom Tollbooth tent. They talked about everything from what it’s like touring with a girl to how they write songs. Matthew explained, “I’m a parasite, I just hear stuff and can’t stop thinking about it.” Having started playing generator shows in 2000 at Cornerstone, persistence paid off for Anathallo as the indoor tent filled with fans and their merch table was bombarded with eager buyers.

Texas natives Widows&Orphans played to a smaller crowd on the Decapolis stage but left nothing to be desired. Their high-energy performance prompted photographers, including myself, to snap pictures of the front man’s foaming mouth and ballet-like dance moves.

Mute Math got people’s attention on the HM Magazine stage with fancy drumming and a homemade instrument that Paul Meany shared with the crowd, giving them a chance to make their own sounds during the closing of their set.

Friday night brought another great lineup to the main stage as Krystal Meyers paved the way for MxPx’s set. Although chick magnet Mike Herrera sported a haircut almost exclusively reserved for middle-aged men, MxPx proved that people still want to go to a punk rawk show. All ages and walks of life turned out for this show including Santa Clause, a cow and a banana to name a few. They played songs spanning their entire career and even headed back to the 80s with a cover of The Proclaimers’s “I’m Gonna Be (500 miles)” which Herrera dedicated to the working class and people still in school because, “that’s work too, you just don’t get paid for it.” Relient K closed out the main stage with tongue in cheek songs and humorous stories.

By Saturday afternoon, grassy spaces began to open up throughout the campgrounds and lines for the porta potties got shorter as it was rumored that about 10,000 people had already made their way home. However, there was no shortage of people at the HM Magazine stage for Bradley Hathaway's set. He informed the crowd that, although the last few years have brought a lot of emotions, he is now a happier Bradley and very excited to be at Cornerstone. He performed a few folksy songs as well as popular poems like “The Annoying Hardcore Dude That Goes Too Far” and “Big Things in Big Packages”…or I could say the crowd performed them as they recited every line along with him and even corrected his mistakes. Hathaway took advantage of his time on stage to act like a rock star by crowd surfing, which quickly turned into a group of people parading him around while he exclaimed, “I’m a goddess!”

Showbread closed out the HM Magazine stage for the week with the same intensity they brought during Tooth and Nail day with the added theatrics of a battle between two dinosaurs, which resulted in the beheading of the larger reptile. And really, what better way to end Cornerstone than with a prehistoric beheading?