Review by Aaron Wilkinson
Well, after months of anticipation Cornerstone FL was finally here. I always wanted to go to Cornerstone in Bushnell but I never got the chance. As I walked I saw The Young and the Useless playing. They were in their last song but it looked like they did a good job of warming up the crowd.
I walked around the merch. booths and then went to go see Embodyment. Sean (vocals) moves incredibly weird. He was shaking his booty and going into all kinds of strange poses. They played a great set including a new song called ?Spilling Over.? They ended with a cover of ACDC's "Back in Black."
I then went to see Brandtson. I knew nothing about this band and didn?t know what to expect. I only caught 2 songs. It was just good ol' rock music. As me and my buddy Jorge were walking through the merch tents we saw Chad from Switchfoot unloading their shirts. We asked if they needed any help and quickly became Switchfoot?s merch boys for the night. This is Jorge's absolute favorite band so it was pretty cool for us to get to hang with the Switchfoot boys. We got some free autographed stuff out of the arrangement, plus an unforgettable experience.
Well, in-between selling stuff, I did catch some other bands. I was really looking forward to seeing 238 but they didn?t play their set. It was just Chris and his guitar. I was bummed but the next band raised my spirits.
Norma Jean Came out and from the first note played a brutal set. Josh (ED: the new vocalist is NOT named Josh... It's Brad) did two stage dives in the first 30 seconds and the rest of the band never stopped moving, that is, until Joshua from Further Seems Forever jumped on stage and knocked the mains out. Two songs into the set it seemed the show was over, but 5 minutes later everything was ok and we were rocking again. They guys truly have one of the best live shows ever. The whole show was a giant scream-a-long. Just as it began, it ended, with Josh (Brad) stage diving and the rest of the boys oozing energy.
I heard Dead Poetic's set as I was selling stuff at Switchfoot's booth. It was pretty good. Good enough to sell to.
Next was Bleach. This is a band I liked when their first CD came out, and then to me they fell off the face of the earth. They played such a good set that they tricked me into buying their new CD, "Again for the first time." They started off with a perfect live version of "Baseline" and overwhelmed me. I was totally trapped in the music and held me to the last note. During "Knocked out" God showed up in a big way. His presence was thick. Vocalist Dave Baysinger ended the set with a stage dive from the amp stack. Great great show.
The Insyderz then took the stage. These guys had disappeared and are now starting to resurface. They opened up with an Andrew W.K. cover of "Party Hard." They then played three new songs from their upcoming CD that is set to be released in October, including a reggae one that frontman Joe dedicated to his grandma and the inspirational "Call to arms." They hit us with "Jigsaw" and "The Hunted" and followed with two Skalleluia songs, namely my favorite "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever." They started the modern worship craze and are the reason I love worship. These guys just rock and it's great to know they are back.
After a getting a quick picture with Joe I booked it over to the indoor stage to see my buddies Switchfoot. They opened with ?meant to live? and had a legendary presence. They commanded the stage like the pros they are. They definitely get the award for Guitarists Who Jump The Highest. Jerome and Tim get up! They brought the acoustic halfway through and played ?Only Hope? and ?24?. During ?The Beautiful Letdown? we all felt incredibly accepted as we chanted ?I don?t belong here.? ?Dare You to Move? moved me even without a lead guitar. They ended with ?New Way to Be Human? which didn?t get that end song punch until the second chorus. But oh man, when that punch came, it was awesome. The harmony was so tight it was scary. At some point in the night Jon sang into his guitar. That was pretty cool.
Ok, so Five Iron Frenzy was next. They are the coolest band ever. Maybe not the best, or the most exciting, but definitely the coolest. They opened with the nerd anthem ?You Can't Handle This? and kept it coming. They played a couple goofy songs like ?Pootermobile? and Keith sang ?Trogdor? while wearing a Strong Bad shirt. (If you don?t know what I am talking about you are a loser and need to visit Homestarrunner.com immediately!) We got to hear O Canada, Pre-Exgirlfriend, A New Hope, Blue Comb 78, Dandelions, and the entire audience continued to sing the chorus of World Without End well after the song was over. The night ended with Reese leading us all in ?I Love You Lord.? Me and Jorge head to the hotel for much needed rest.
Day 2
After some sleep, a quick trip to Wal-Mart for a new camera, and a stop by Chick-Fil-A, me and Jorge were back at Cornerstone. We went to hear The Colemans but only got to hear one song, ironically called ?Hold On? because they started 15 minutes late. I think their bassist over slept. It was good.
I then moseyed on over to see East West play their set. They were all dressed the same, in black shirts and camo pants. They played a really good set including three new songs (Vacant, Dwell, and Drink Me) that got our tired bodies moving way to early?until the crowd started chanting for ?She Cries.? On the CD it has a beautifully sung chorus. Live, Mike butchered it. But he made up for it. For their last song they broke into Breathe. Mike gave a Sonny-esque performance where he was constantly in the crowd. It was so good it made us totally forget ?She Cries,? at least for a little while.
I headed back to stage 1 to see Copeland. Aaron used to play at a coffee shop in my home town. My acoustic group actually opened for him once, so I was excited to see him play with his guitar plugged in. They opened with ?That awful memory of yours? and kept it coming with ?Downtown? and ?Priceless.? They really stand out in my mind as one of the top ten sets played. They were just absolutely awesome.
I stuck around stage 1 to see Holland play. The brother Holland and Yogi took over Cornerstone while they were on stage. They of course played their single ?Shine Like Stars? and I think they ended with ?Goodbye Texas.? I really, really liked Goodbye TX.
Once again, I stayed near stage 1 so I could see Cool Hand Luke. Their mellow rock was the most distinct sound at Cornerstone. They sound like no one else. I didn?t know that drummer Mark was the lead vocalist. Guess I just never took the time to read their liner notes. They played every song so perfect that it sounded like the sound man had just popped in their CD and turned it up to level 328. It was touching to hear everyone join in at the end of ?So Shall It Be? to sing the Halleluiahs. They said everyone hates them because they never play any old stuff, so they ended with an old one called ?10 or 40.?
Next up, hometown boys Anberlin. There were groupies everywhere screaming ?I love you Steve, marry me Nathan!? It was kind of annoying, but Anberlin is so good that I totally forgot about the crazy people in front of me. They kicked off the set with ?glass for the arson? and kept pouring out stuff from their debut ?Blueprints for the Black Market? that came out Tuesday. Stephen had the whole crowd in the palm of his hand and definitely had the best frontman performance of Cornerstone FL. I Love their song ?Foreign Language? and seeing the groupies faces as Stephen sang ?Girls just lie!? was priceless! This band has what it takes to be huge. They ended with the MP3 hit ?Readyfuels.?
Now for legends ZAO. They used the first three songs to introduce us to their new project Jade Meridian. Then we got ZAO. Jeremy played drums for the first three songs, Russ played for two, and then Lance from Living Sacrifice played for one. I thought it was over and it had been I would have been satisfied. They were awesome. But it wasn?t over. They dragged Jeremy out of the lake (I guess he was hot) and made him play one more song with them. I know this had been said over and over by ZAO, but this may have been their last show, that is, if they don?t play Cornerstone in Bushnell, this year.
Now it was Denison Marrs time. These are Florida boys who sprang up under in my underground. I don?t own any of their albums for a reason?they don?t impress me. They played a semi energetic set that all sounded the same until the last song. They ended with a new song I really dug. If they keep making songs like their ender, I might actually buy their next album.
For dinner me and Jorge hung out in the Indoor Stage and consequently heard The Violent Burning play. I literally lay down and just listened. They were very melodic and soothing but at the same time inspiring, like having someone whisper revolution in your ear.
I didn?t see the end because I had to go see Living Sacrifice play. These 13 year veterans are hardcore kings. This is supposedly their last Florida show ever, so it was something I couldn?t miss. I love that they have a percussion/second drum set and that everyone but Lance sings. At anytime you can four LS members screaming at you. They got immediate crowd response, including a monster circle pit. They ended with Reject and didn?t have to sing a lyric because the audience was so loud. Almost everyone from the other bands were standing around to see LS for a reason?they rock!
Squad 5-0 was just getting started as LS ended. I don?t know what it is about Squad 5-0?s sound, but they are set apart from every other rock group somehow. Their set was all energy and very rock-n-roll. They played two new songs. I can?t remember the title of the first, but the second was called ?I don?t want to be alone.? They sounded just like all the other songs, so I guess that means if you like the old stuff you will like their new stuff.
I left early to get front row to Blindside. Oh I, oh my, was Blindside ever good! Their set was just crazy go nuts awesome! Jesus walks on water: Christian from blindside walks on crowds. He took 4 steps into the audience before he ever sunk below crowd level. After one song, Christian asked us to take up the energy a notch, and we did. When they played King of the Closet we took it up. Then they surprised us with the title track ?silence.? I didn?t expect a slow song. Then they played Pitiful, we took the level higher than before, and on the ender Sleepwalking we took it to a high. The best thing to me was that they didn?t play their song EXACTLY like they are on the CD. Most had extended ending choruses. What else could you expect from these Swedes but an amazing show?
The last band for me was Further Seems Forever. Busted the show open with ?how to start a fire? kept giving us songs from the album that bears that name, and gave us everything they had. Jason put every once of his power into every lyric. Between songs Chad (bass) asked us to support Christian bands even after they hit mainstream, not to just forget them. The crowd went nuts when they played the two old songs ?The Moon is down? and ?New Years Project.? I was very, very impressed by this bands live performance.
That?s it for me. I missed the last band of the festival, Pedro the Lion, but I had to go. Jorge?s mom wanted us to hurry home so we could go to church on Mother?s Day. End statement: Cornerstone is the best festival ever!
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Cornerstone Festival Florida
May 7, 5pm - Midnight
May 8, 10am - Midnight
Tickets: $49.00 - call 1-773-989-2087
www.cornerstonrflorida.com
Bands: Ann Arbour, Forever Changed, My Own Sky, The Roosevelts, Angela Griner, As I Lay Dying, Brandtson, By The Tree, Evan Anthem, Ezekiel's Eye, Decahedron, Denison Marrs, Fireflight, Further Seems Forever, Glenn Kaiser, Glory Bullfighter, Holland, Lovedrug, Mourning September, One 21, Over the Rhine, Pedro the Lion, Project 86, Rita Springer, Shane Bernard and Shane Everett, Smalltown Poets, Squad 5-0, Stephen Christian, Stereo Motion, The OC Supertones, Telecast, Underoath, Violet Burning, Watashi Wa, ZAO, Anberlin, Beloved, Bleach, Blindside, Chris Tomlin, The Colemans, Cool Hand Luke, Dead Poetic, Denison Witmer, The Kick, Noise Ratchet, Norma Jean, Number One Gun, The Party People, Pillar, Relient K, Saxon Shore, Skillet, Stretch Arm Strong, more tba…
@ Central Florida Fairgrounds, 4603 West Colonial Drive, Orlando, FL 32808.
Posted by:
Cornerstone on February 9, 2004 02:06 PM
