Back to Day 2
Celestial Static (4.0) was one of the many underground bands that gave unofficial concerts on the Cornerstone festival grounds. Thankfully, this Aurora, IL-based band put on a much better show than most of this group.
The CS lineup consisted of Jeremy on bass, Arial on drums and BGVs, and Julia on lead guitar and vocals, along with a guest bagpipe player on one song. Overall, I really like their sound, especially the chick-rock harmonies. The best comparisons I can make would be a combination of The Juliana Theory and The Buffys (my favorite all-girl punk band).
Favorite songs included “Static Cling,” a song that compares static cling with falling in love; “ Liquid,” a praise song; and my favorite, “Rain,” a song that speaks of God’s love falling like rain.
Afterwards, I talked with drummer Arial, who says that the band has a 3-song EP out now and will have a 7-song EP coming soon. However, if you want to try them for free, download their mp3s at [www.mp3.com/celestialstatic]
From the Celestial Static show, I headed over to the
Flickering Film Festival’s presentation of
Greetings from Missile Street, a documentary directed by Tom Jackson. This film was a powerful, heartrending examination of the effects of the US/UN post-Gulf War sanctions on Iraq.
One particularly gripping story interviewed an Iraqi doctor, who told of a difficult decision he was forced to make. He had one unit of blood left (according to the documentary, blood bags are on the list of items forbidden to be shipped to Iraq) that was needed by a hemorrhaging pregnant mother. At that same moment, he discovered that a newborn baby under his care also needed a unit of blood. He made his decision and one patient died. To this day, he says he still feels guilty over the decision.
At the end of the film, a message flashed on the screen: “During the time it took to watch this film, another five Iraqi children ages 5 and under died under the US/UN sanctions.” I pray to God that the men and women who have the power to lift the sanctions will see this.
At the film, I ran into an old friend, Rev. Lainie Peterson from Chicago. It was good seeing her and hearing about the new church she is pastoring.
From there, I made it to the very end of the
MxPx press conference. Though I missed most of it, from what I did get to see, I was very impressed with the humble spirits of these guys.
As a die-hard Cornerstoner, I was very pleased to hear the band say that “of all the festivals, Cornerstone has one of the coolest vibes.” I was also impressed by Mike’s statement that the band’s mission is “to be honest, compassionate, to do everything the best that we can.”
However, the band didn’t stay in the serious vein for long. When asked if he had any advice for new bands starting out, Yuri replied, “Practice. And don’t release a demo in the first six months.”
At the interview, Tom was asked, “Where do you see yourselves in the future?” His reply said it all: “Older. In Bremerton.”
After the press conference, I caught a few songs from old-school ska-masters,
The Israelites (4.6). The band lineup consisted of two trumpets, a trombone, a bari sax, a guitar (a white guy with an authentic Jamaican sound), a keyboard, drums, and a big-old stand-up bass.
The first song I heard was “Sally Brown,” a fun tune that the band dedicated to all the good girls in the audience. As the band played, I grinned from ear-to-ear at the skanking masses out in force. Interestingly enough, though, other than a few true-blue, two-tone rudies, most of the crowd hailed from the punk scene.
The next song I heard was the Israelites’ version of “Heaven came down and glory filled my soul”--the best arrangement I’ve ever heard of this old-school hymn. Sadly, I needed to leave after that, but as I was on my way out the door, the band busted out with some sweet, old-school reggae.
Madison Greene (5.0) played a small but extremely packed show at the Wycliffe tent. It was hard to see the band at all, but I’m not complaining. I’m just glad the Wycliffe folks set them up with another chance to perform.
The first song (one of the new ones off the EP) began with a thunderous drum rhythm that collides with the ethereal recorder played by Erin Beck. From there MG moved to an assortment of songs, mostly featuring tunes that were heavy on drums. (Many of their older songs seemed rearranged with even more aggressive drum rhythms.)
Highlights of the show included “Hey Child,” with lots of new changes incorporated; “Departure,” which features Bone on the harmonica (my favorite song is better than I ever remember before!); “Crywater Prayer” (Oh my!!); “Apology” (during this song, a barefoot, shirtless man in the audience provided a perfect interpretive dance); and “Amazing Grace” (beginning with a low rumble of drums, then congos, then guitar, then drums again).
I think the best part of this show was Erin on the fiddle. Her performance that day was the best I’ve ever remembered hearing her.
Tired and out of breath, I made my way back to camp to chill for a bit, and then from there to hear
Five Iron Frenzy (5.0) at the Main Stage. I was so looking forward to this show after missing them last year.
Reese Roper was again wearing his denim cowboy hat and a NASA shirt, and Jeff the girl was as cute as ever. (Yeah, I’m flirting. Shoot me. I can’t help it. Chicks in bands are so cool!)
This was by far the happiest crowd I’ve ever been in. Maybe it’s because it’s hard to be a mean skanker.
The set list was…
- Huge dramatic rock star opening that flows into “451”
- “The Phantom Mullet”
- “A Flowery Song”
- “From Zero to 15”
- “Handbook for a sellout” - The band added, “this is dedicated to our friends, MxPx”
- “Beautiful America”
- “Blue Comb ’78” - The entire crowd sang along on this one.
- “You Probably Shouldn’t Move Here” - featuring Reese yodeling
- “Our Death Metal Song” which lead into “Oh, Canada” - The highlight of this song was actual milk in a bag thrown onto stage by some crazy Canucks in attendance.
- “New Hope” - The horns sound very good on this one!
- “World Without an End” - Reese almost started preaching in the middle of the song, reciting the scripture, “There is nothing that can separate you from the love of God. Neither life, nor death . . .” The song then ended with just vocals.
- “Every New Day”
The band said this was their seventh straight year to play C-stone. Watching this show, it makes me so thankful for the ways that God has used and shaped this band.
In between bands,
L.A. Symphony (4.0) came to the stage. They did two songs that sounded excellent, including their new single, “Broken Tape Decks.” Lyrically, though, I thought their song selections were weak. However, I admit that my personal preference in rap is more of the “mad barrage of words” style (E.G.--Cross Movement). And of course, I’m sure it’s hard winning over a mostly white crowd.
MxPx (5.0) owned the stage. I’m surprised that Yuri’s drumsticks didn’t burst into flames in his hands or that Mike’s guitar didn’t melt down in a glorious explosion.
The best songs were “Party” (the entire crowd sang, along with crowd surfers galore, despite the warnings from the JPUSA folks) and two songs off their new EP: “Lonesome Town” (a great melodic punk rock song) and “Don’t Look Back.”
In the midst of this, one line from Mike stuck out in my mind: “Mediocrity is the mind killer.” So true. I can see that MxPx has kept away from mental homicide by striving for excellence.
We all thought the show was over with “Chick Magnet” (another crowd sing-along), but we ended up getting three more, including “Punk Rawk Show.” It was during the last song that a guy got past the barricades and jumped on stage. Security almost chased him off, but Mike let him stay until the end of the show.
By far, this was one of the best C-stone Main Stage shows I have ever seen.
After that, the crowd really thinned out, mostly due to poor scheduling. I felt bad for
Jennifer Knapp, who had to go on next, since her fans and MxPx’s fans are very different. While waiting for her to come on, I munched on some
Kitchen Cooked Potato Chips (www.kitchencooked.net) that are made in Bushnell and are sold on the festival grounds. In the interim, a representative from Wycliffe got up to speak. I love the Wycliffe folks and what they do, but it’s not cool to talk down to your audience. Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore, so I walked out, skipping Jennifer Knapp and headed back to camp.
Back at camp, I hung out for a while with one of my neighbors, Russ from Blacklight Records. We had a good conversation about their controversial T-shirts and bumper stickers. While I still think their shirts take the wrong approach, I did come away with a newfound respect for the convictions of the folks that make them.
Much later in the night, I walked over to the Underground Stage for The Psalters (not rated). The crowd was mostly hippies and punks, with a few other curious souls.
A Psalters show is a fully interactive worship experience, and I wanted to participate. What follows are my thoughts after the show:
It’s over. How can I describe it? Let’s just say that it’s 30 minutes later, and people are on the ground. The Holy Spirit fell on this place big time. I don’t know what else to say. I can evaluate a concert, but how can I grade the work of the Spirit?
All I know is that I came here pretty messed up, and now Jesus has taken my old, diseased heart out and put in a new one, a heart that pumps despair out of my body and replaces it with HOPE.
Thank you Lord Jesus. Amen!
Go to Day 4
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