What I saw at Cornerstone 2011…

…or my recollections of another great fest.

First off, I want to apologize. The awesome potential of the internet is that you could have read these thoughts and seen these pics just a few days after the Cornerstone Festival ended. I’m sorry, but my life is just so busy and I spend so much time on the computer that the last thing I want to do at the end of a day is blog. This sucks, because I think I do alright as a writer/blogger, but my energy is getting used up on all the necessary little business things that it takes to keep a magazine business going, like answering email, routing things to do, prioritizing this and that. Something like this (since I assigned another writer to review the fest for the magazine) gets put on the back-burner. I suck, I know, but hey.

The first thing I noticed was the usual sights and sounds. People dressed casually for the heat, sporting various apparel that shows allegiance to this band or that movement. I love this. Then there’s the sound of the generator stages and artists trying to get attention. Say what you want, but this capitalist mindset for the arts is a good thing. It’s equal footing for those that hustle and work hard and that is simply not found at other festivals.

Another thing I noticed when talking to people early on was pessimism. “What do you think this year? I heard they weren’t going to have a fest next year. Wow, the attendance is low. Blah blah blah.” Like a bad attitude or gossip, these vibes spread so easily. I made it a point that all such talk stopped with me. Not that I could control anyone else or slow down the tide of negativity, but it wasn’t going to be encouraged by me. It wasn’t even a front, either. I genuinely love the festival this year and last and I didn’t have to fake my positive attitude. All the ingredients are here and our individual attitudes either build on that or tear it down.

This year at Cornerstone was really like no other. My old punk band (Lust Control) has reunited and we were asked to play the Underground Stage. I decided to play it smart and take it easy this year. This would save my voice and energy for our Thursday evening performance. I assigned the annual festival review to an intern that happened to live fairly close to the fest, so that took the pressure off of having to attend as many “HM-related” shows as possible and just chill. While my band played an officially-booked show back in 1989 and an impromptu set at one of the speaker tents in 1992, in those years I was catching as many shows as possible, banking on the common tastes and interests between Heaven’s Metal Magazine’s readers and myself. Those gigs were fun and quite memorable, but it’d been awhile since we’d played, so I wanted to do whatever possible to keep it from sucking. As a band we rehearsed a lot and had played a warm-up show in Austin on May 8th. I was confident that we’d do well. The day of the show it was pretty much my major focus, though other things were going on. As a husband and father, of course, there are priority relationships. There was the keeping track of my bandmates to make sure they were all safe and accounted for, there was the HM Magazine merch booth to attend to (with help, fortunately) and there was also this Global Roundtable speaking gig I signed up for. Our show was at 6pm, which was split between us and the band we somehow partly inspired – Sexually Frustrated) and this 30-minute speaking gig was at 4pm. While I would have prefered not to schedule something so close to our performance time, it was really no big deal. I made an effort to break the norm of huddled around in chairs with no microphone and no podium to the more formal podium – just so I could benefit from the microphone and amplification and thus save my voice.

My little talk was a planned no-notes and share-from-the-heart message. I simply shared about how HM was at a very tenuous and vulnerable place in time. I talked about not knowing what the future held. I laid out some of the HM Volunteer Army details and overview plans and openly shared my struggles and how I was leaning on God – an “onward thru the fog” kind of motto, sort of (though I did not use the slogan of one of Austin’s headshops as a direct reference). While the future is uncertain, fortunately our God remains trustworthy and stable.

One note about Lust Control: Because I was in a band and also ran a magazine that covered a music scene that said band played in, I made it a point to go out of my way to avoid “conflict of interest” and keep from promoting the band from within. This is why I never scheduled the band to play the HM Magazine Stage, for instance. This is also why I didn’t tell our intern to cover our set. Secretly, of course, I hoped he would catch wind of the set on its own word-of-mouth or whatever merits and attend and review. No such luck, however, ha-ha. So, since this is my blog, this’ll be the place I give any ink to the band (as opposed to bringing it up in the Cornerstone Festival review in the magazine). A funny side-note: When Lust Control started out in 1988, it was an anonymous act (which is why we used our middle names only, we wore ski masks and everything). No one knew who was in the band. And I reviewed the first tape (This Is A Condom Nation) in Heaven’s Metal and I slammed the lead vocals like I thought they were horrible and awful. Nobody was the wiser, which was funny.

The LC show started a little after 6pm. We were told we’d do a split-set with Sexually Frustrated. The split set was 30-minutes total, which meant 15 minutes per. When I pointed that out to Kyle (bassist of Flatfoot 56 and very capable frontman for Sexually Frustrated), he said that they would just split the time with Man Made Hell, who were to go on at 5:10. The day didn’t start on time and the stage crew were all about catching up, cutting sets short if necessary to get back on schedule (more on this later**). I can’t remember exactly when we went on, but we were told to play one more song midway through our 30-minute set. We cut two songs and went with our heaviest tune (“Finger”), which would roll right into our last tune – “Planned Parenthood.” It was really fun and a good show. One impromptu thing that happened was a spur-of-the-moment decision I made when our band wasn’t exactly ready to launch into the beginning of our song “The Big M.” Kyle of Sexually Frustrated had performed the entire set on the floor in front of the stage, so there was a live mic and stand in front at stage left. During this lull as the song preamble was rumbling to life I went over and put that mic stand back on the ground and told the audience to sing-along. Those in front responded with passion, crowding around that mic and singing with gusto. It was just a subtle on-the-fly decision that really worked. That brought a smile to my face. Oh yeah … we also played another show (this time a full-length, 45-minute set) the next day at the Texas Stage. By the way, there’s lots of footage of our sets on youtube.

I made it a point to get to the mainstage to hear some Resurrection Band on Thursday night. It was great, as always, to hear them soar on the tune “Shadows.” Such a moving, gripping, killer song. Wendy introduced another song, revealing that she promised to make Glenn his favorite dessert if they included this one in the set. “Where Roses Grow” sounded as good as that cappuccino-frosting snack she pledged to cook up.

It was awesome to see For Today unleash their explosive sound on the mainstage with that massive sound system. It was so fitting to see this killer band’s image all over the giant video screens on either side of the stage. The band killed it. Mattie delivered a clear call to this generation to stand up and take their flame and ignite the world. It was cool to see people not familiar with the band won over, like emcee John J. Thompson, who raved about what he’d just seen after the set. Brian “Head” Welch put on a nice show. Welch started one song on his back, screaming “Die, religion! Die!” Some of the Whosoevers shared between Head and P.O.D. The band that ruled the world for a few years in the early ’00s were in good form. Not their absolute best, but not struggling or misfiring at all. In other words, they sounded a lot better than last year. It was easier to totally “feel it” this year and it was so good you didn’t find yourself reminiscing back to the old days when they completely dominated. Sonny’s use of the stage a la Bono is fun and captivating to watch. The new song they played, “On Fire,” has some cool sing-along parts.

Campbell the Band was a nice surprise to discover over at the Underground Stage, who put the actual stage on the North end of the tent (opposite from previous years). They play a nice ethereal and acoustically layered and laid-back style with great vocals. Near the end of the night at the Underground Stage (before it switched gears at midnight for as the “HM Encore Stage,” Gasoline Heart was the last band to bear the brunt of the ongoing delays and catching up that was going on. When told it was his last song, the singer responded live on the mic by referencing snakes, vipors and hypocrites and that he’d play as long as he (bleep) wanted. Nothing like a little drama to distract from the massive amount of performances at the fest. White Collar Sideshow put on their wild and crazy show, complete with some gripping poetry by traveling emcee (and former HM intern) Levi the Poet. Levi shared a poem that referenced his first bicycle ride with his dad holding on to the seat until the last moment and it went from there to capture the anguish of losing his dad to self-inflicted death and missing his wedding this year, his sister’s future wedding. It was packed with emotion. The dude is using tragedy to bring about something good and that is priceless.

One of the very exciting things about Cornerstone is the family atmosphere and there’s something familial about the word-of-mouth recommendations and “inside information” shared between friends. My bud in Grave Robber – that freak who fronts the stage with a shovel in hand – told me that Saviour Machine’s Eric Clayton would accompany them on a cover of “Children of the Grave.” Awesome. I made a mental note to remember that and see it go down. Prior to that late-night set at the Sanctuary Stage, Otto of Leper came over and told me that Mr. Clayton was accompanying Will (from Wedding Party, iDragon I) over at The Asylum. I came in just in time to hear him running through a cover of “With or Without You,” which he did well with this low register. It was interesting that he crouched down in a low-key manner. Ever-surprising that Eric Clayton. Later on Grave Robber was tearing through its set, who always deliver massive fun and great tunes. He mentioned with glee how he’d stayed up late the night before with Clayton and how they came to realize that, not only had the band Black Sabbath pioneered the heavy metal genre, but the goth genre as well. The rendition of “Children of the Grave” brought some sonic points to that argument. Clayton squatted through most of the song, which sounded great. It was hard not to recall Rackets and Drapes, whose song “Ball & Chain” conjured accusations of riff theft of Marilyn Manson’s “Beautiful People.” It was cool to see Kandy Kane explain how both his band and Manson were both ripping off “Children of the Grave” in their own, unique ways. He even played the two riffs on stage, showing how different they really were.

Seabird put on a great show on the mainstage, which was a bit ironic, since their tunes and sound are so organic and built for small, intimate clubs. But the tunes sounded great and the band delivered them as if they were totally relaxed. Frontman (let’s call him front piano-stool-man instead, okay?) Aaron Morgan told how excited they were to play Cornerstone, even telling stories of swimming in the lake, etc.

It was great seeing Blindside again – and especially so on the mainstage. They rocked that thing like they owned it. Frontman Christian Linkskog prowled the stage like a very tall lion, getting into the audience at times thanks to the catwalk and barricades. It was awesome to view it from the back and watch the big video screens at times, as the camera followed the charismatic singer around. At one point there was someone in the audience (videotaping, I guess) with an iPad and the camera splashed this image on the big screen. It had the effect of showing a picture of Lindskog inside the iPad frame with the larger true image of the man in the background. Would love to have a shot of that.

Anberlin took the stage and, instead of playing a litany of all new songs, they spread it out all the way back to their first EP. With a giant banner (which I think they used last year) that spelled ANBRLIN. I guess their name is too long to fit on the giant fabric…

I was over at the Sanctuary Stage later and saw Dark Valentine, which included Sheri Luckey (from Wedding Party). Singer/guitarist Simon Björn wore a top hat and cocked his head sideways a lot, as if he was very curious – like a character from a Tim Burton movie. Fellow Wedding Party co-hort and sister Libby Luckey played bass and the drummer for Grave Robber laid down the heavy rhythms (without his skeleton garb). The band had an unusual delivery and a nice dark and doomy sound with lots of clock-ticking sort of ambient sound effects thrown in with tracks. I liked what I saw and would love to see them play more.

Saviour Machine’s acoustic reunion show was appropriately at the Gallery stage late at night. The stage set was beautiful, spread out and the band started without me. Ha ha ha. I was late getting to the show for some reason (probably another set or three I was catching, I don’t remember). When I got there, I knew it was special, but the performance was overwhelming me. I’m not sure if it took me getting aclimated to the musical “weather” or not, but I was feeling it. Then, by the time they hit “Sword of Islam” they were in a groove and hitting on all cylinders. It was special from there on out. In fact, it was amazing. I was so glad to be right at that spot. I had that thing – that musical joy that I so appreciate. I love moments like this. The performers seemed to be giving it all and the mood, ambience and layers of sound of these songs were just filling the large tent.

When the night was getting along, a notice was given to the band or maybe it was a response to frontman Eric Clayton asking, “How are we doing on time?” When told one more song, he paused, smiled, chuckled a bit and asked if they could have 30 more minutes. They had something like 9 more songs to play. They could compromise and just play 30-minutes of them. He even said, “Come on, man, people have only been waiting 10 years for this.” When denied, he graciously thanked the crew, told the audience that he understood that they had a stage to run. It was a classy move by the frontman. He could have pouted and/or tried to turn the audience on the stage and sound cr ew, but he did not. I was impressed.

Cornerstone was, once again, a great experience with loads and loads of hidden gems and great music. And don’t forget the fellowship and hanging out with such wonderful and valuable people. When someone tells you it’s like heaven, it means there’s so much love, acceptance and great art around that it’s hard not to enjoy. My only regret? Not seeing Destroy Nate Allen later that Thursday night. I heard the tent was packed and hoisted Nate up in their arms and they were all singing along. From the descriptions I heard, that was one magical moment.