As usual, I detoured from the straightest path between Baltimore and Bushnell, Illinois, visiting the Conners (the current Conner line-up is Paul, Casey, Sean, Scott, and Kevin) who live about 15 minutes south of Lansing, Michigan. They put me up Saturday night, and left there around 1 p.m. I stayed Sunday night in the Canton Inn, room 11, in Canton, Illinois. That was the plan.
That plan was to be at the entrance to the grounds before 8 a.m., in order to be one of the first there. As I found out, for a daily fee, you can camp days before the official opening of the grounds. Still, I found a decent spot along the main road, on a small hill under a tree, with a view of the lake, near the four-way intersection just a few minutes' walk from the Main Stage.
"I really don't like setting up and taking down tents..." That's what I wrote in last year's recollections. I took a tent this year, a gift of my brother Paul and sister-in-law Irene. It served its purpose well, protecting me from a drenching rain on Tuesday (July 3) night....Next year, I'm going to take something warmer than a single sheet. I had remember hot nights; I don't think I ever experienced cold ones--in the 50's. A single sheet (plus a towel) was not enough.
On Tuesday, Tooth and Nail day, I saw Havalina Rail Co. and poor old lu. I'm sure I saw a couple of others, but I don't recall who right now.
As I realize more and more every year, the speakers and seminars are really what make Cornerstone worthwhile (said the old fuddy duddy.) As many of the bands start to sound more and more alike (invited bands and impromptu bands--the current preferred style is hardcore), one has to find other reasons to be at Cornerstone. This year, those reasons were Norman Geisler, the Passantinos, Dr. Richard Korn, and Kathy Kelly (a Nobel Peace Prize nominee.)
Norman Geisler is a renowned apologeticist; the Passantinos spoke on "One Faith, Three Expressions", exploring the similarities and differences among Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, and Eastern Orthodoxy. Dr. Korn, a non-believer but an expert often quoted in Cornerstone Magazine, spoke anecdotally on prison reform and the death penalty. He is one of the foremost psychologists in the country, having created a type of treatment called psychodrama. His stories from World War II, his time as a patient in a mental hospital, psychodrama, and his cutting-edge work with judges in the 1960's all kept me riveted for hours.
Kathy Kelly related her tales from Iraq, where she has toiled fiercely to end the sanctions against that country which have only served to decimate the people. She claimed that 500,000 children have died in the last decade as a direct result of the sanctions, primarily because of insufficient critical medical supplies.
P.O.D. played the Main Stage Thursday night, and they put on a good show. And I forget which day it was, but it was a big thrill for me to hear Brian Healy sing on the acoustic stage. While a dead ringer for Tom Petty played guitar, Brian sang some Dead Artist Syndrome songs that I consider foundational to moron.
Bride put in a surprise appearance; due to the cancellation of X-Sinner, Bride was invited to fill their spot. Fortunately, I heard of this change (it wasn't in the program--I overheard someone talking). They only played songs from their first three albums, plus two hymns. Here's their playlist, in order:
Same Old Sinner
Fool Me Once
Whiskey Seed
First Will Be Last
Thunder in the City
Until the End We Rock
Hell No (It's always a great joy to yell "hell no" at a Christian concert: "hell no we won't go to hell no") I'm sure that phrase is supposed to be punctuated in the following manner: "Hell? No, we won't go to hell. No." But of course, we all sing it like: "HELL NO! We won't..." Ahh, the simple pleasures of the prude.
I Saw the Light (an old hymn)
Power in the Blood (another old hymn, but maybe the best Bride song ever. Dale took that hymn and made it rock.)
Under the Influence
Saturday Main Stage featured Earthsuit (whom I had never heard of before, but whom I found to be the best new--as in new to me--band of the festival), Larry Norman, Third Day, and Stryper. I didn't listen to Third Day because I went to see Bride during that time. Larry was as fun as always, and Michael Sweet and the Stryper gang still had it.
I left Sunday morning around 2 a.m. and drove until I hallucinated three shadowy deer dancing across the road.
I didn't give away many CD's this time. There were so many people and I had so few CD's. "How do I choose the persons to give CD's to?" I asked myself. Whenever someone walked up to my car to take a picture of the license plate, I would give him/her a CD. That's how I decided: whoever took unusual interest in my car earned a CD and bumper sticker. I parked along the main road through the grounds, so thousands of people passed by the car everyday, which did foster a little bit of interest.