Cornerstone Bound

I'm interrupting the Monday and Tuesday regular features (although Sunday's post probably should count as the Monday, ease-into-the-week posting). I'm technically on vacation for two weeks, and my normal schedule is thrown off.

Tomorrow, the family leaves for Cornerstone Music Festival -- the hippest, edgiest, counter-culture-est of the Christian music festivals. If I'm remembering correctly, this will be my ninth Cornerstone ('88, '89, '90, '00, '02, '03, '04, '06, '07). Of the 20,000 or so people in attendance, there aren't a lot that fit my demographic. And I suppose that is part of the attraction: it is different; it is a cross-cultural experience.

This will be the sixth C-stone for our kids. And given that the youngest is only 9 years old, it has been an experience for them that seems like a normal part of life (I hope we don't have too many counselling bills later on for that!). Some of the highlights that come to mind:

• Playing frisbee as the sun was setting at the old Cornerstone Fair Grounds in '88 while Margret Becker wailed songs from the Never for Nothing album.
• Watching One Bad Pig in '89 in one of those metal buildings (my introduction to the punk scene).
• Larry Norman's come-back concert in '90 (along with cameos with Geoff Moore and the Distance on "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music" and with DeGarmo and Key on "They Said He Was an Outlaw.")
• Dancing in the shoe-sucking mud to the W's in 2000 at the mainstage.
• The packed-out tent in 2002 for the first Lost Dogs show after Gene Eugene's death
• 2003 20th reunion concert at mainstage at which all the classic Cornerstone acts were paraded through for a song or two--and the full concert by Steve Taylor coming out of retirement.
• The Alarm late night in 2004.
• P.O.D. and David Crowder Band -- unlikely bedfellows, but my two fav's last year.

Some lowlights:

• The heat
• The dust
• The mud
• Going to see Pirates of the Caribbean 2 during a raining afternoon
• Losing the 3-on-3 basketball tournament in 2000 after making it to the finals of the winners bracket
• Everyone getting sick on the ride home in 2000
• Seeing my favorite bands get old

Hopefully we'll add to the good column this year!

I may try some blog posts via email, live from the festival. We'll see if they've gotten reliable cell service out in the cornfields yet.