Cornerstone -- where have I been?
Bill Dozier
of the time kicking myself for never going before. The following will
be a (hopefully) concise description of what I witnessed there:
Thurs.
My brother & I (we endured comments of, "You guys brothers?" the
whole fest) arrived just in time for the rain. Like the rookies we
were, we walked down the hill towards the main stage wondering where
everyone was, set up our folding chairs and sat for about 5 minutes
before some kind soul clued us in to what was going on.
Steve Taylor -- see JR Parks review & my followup.
Fleming & John -- I had to miss Sixpence to see them (Grrr), but I
couldn't believe how good they are live. I didn't expect them to be
as slick live as they are on the album but I was wrong. These guys
have "can't miss" pasted all over. They performed the entire album
plus a couple of extras: a song called "Summertime" (?) that was
a request by some people in the crowd that were from Nashvegas and
had seen them before and "Sunshine" by John Denver to the tune of
"Ramble On" by Led Zeppelin. ROTFL! We met Fleming the next day at
their table and she was very sweet. Her parents were there, too. It
was cool seeing Fleming later in the Fest walking around everywhere
with her mom.
Fri.
rmc BBQ -- got to meet a few of you net.friends. The folks from VIA
were there. They not only show up here but in person. A good time
was had by all, to coin a phrase. Thanks, Kyle!
Yonderboy -- We got there about midway through their set after
sleeping late. They were an entertaining metal trio, if not very
original.
Renay Presley -- Appeared with members of Audio Adrenaline. Great
voice, but I didn't understood enough of the lyrics to say whether
I liked her songs. Musically pretty ordinary.
Thomas' Wanderings -- Hyped as "next cool thing" and the band that
all the labels were after, they were a disappointment. Soft-edged,
folksy rock with some art-rock tinges. Can't really say what all
the fuss is about. I was particularly unimpressed with their lead
guitar player.
Audio Adrenaline -- A novelty band, at best, that should appeal to
people under 15 only. It was embarrasing to see that they have
many fans in their 20s and above.
Phil Keaggy -- Wow. It had been 7 years since I have seen PK with a
band and this was by far the best I've seen him. His band included
Sferra on drums and the producer of his new album on keys. I didn't
recognize the name of the bassist. He said they only got to practice
for 2-3 hours, but you'd've never known it. It almost made me cry to
hear him play his old Les Paul. I yelled "NO!" when he put it down
to play his Zion strat again. The Paul had such beautiful tone, and
Phil was really going balls out without a net (some mixed metaphor,
eh?). I heard a few mistakes, but so what? I hope I don't have to
wait another 7 years to see this again.
Charlie Peacock -- Not my kind of stuff, I'm afraid. We left after
a couple of songs to call the wives.
Vector/Jimmy A -- At least twice as good live as on CD. I'm kind of
lukewarm about the 2 CDs of theirs I have (Simple Experience and
Temptation), but like Jimmy's playing, so we went to see them.
Surprisingly, Davia's BGV were the one part of the sound that didn't
come off better live. I'm not sure I can recommend their CDs, but
I'd recommend seeing them live anytime. We didn't stay for the whole
set, as we spent Fri & Sat night an hour away in Burlington, IA (the
closest motel I could find) and we were getting sleepy.
Sat.
Atomic Opera -- Two of the guys in the band performed an acoustic set
in the Heaven's Metal tent. A little rough around the edges (this
was impromptu and apparently they hadn't rehearsed in a while), they
did several songs off the album ("Justice," "I Know Better," ...)
and some new tunes that are of equal quality but more explicit faith
statements. I expected to be impressed, but I gained a new respect
for the band as songwriters. I had never paid that much attention
to the lyrics on their album, but seeing an acoustic set sort of
forces you to do just that.
Piltdown Man -- Includes a former VoL guitarist and a great sense of
humor (bumper stickers like "You cannot both prepare for and prevent
Piltdown Man"). They were on the Impromptu Stage and my brother
wanted to go see them just because of their hilarious advertising.
They were pretty disappointing; I don't know how much of that was
due to the lack of setup time, sound check, etc. The guitars were
out of tune, the BGVs were flat, I couldn't understand the lead
vocals, etc. We left during the second song.
Lovewar -- I wanted to see Blackeyed Sceva, My Brother's Mother and
Hoi Polloi, but the 7-ball tent was completely packed. We went over
to the HM tent and Lovewar was setting up. It was great. Excellent
musicianship and decent songwriting. I'll listen to their CD with
new ears, too. The guitarist borders on monsterdom and the other
two are also excellent. Very nice guys, too.
Jerusalem-- I also wanted to see Prayer Chain, but again the 7ball
tent was so packed we went to the main stage (the 7ball tent was
constantly way behind schedule; they were supposed to finish before
the main stage started) to see Jerusalem. They had not been in the
US for over a decade and we went largely to pay our respects to them
as ccm pioneers. Their stuff was pretty straightforward arena rock
and not particularly interesting.
Whitecross -- ditto the comments on AA. I've always thought they
were pretty lame. Now without Carroll, there's little to listen to.
The extended bass solo was bad to the point of being embarassing.
77s -- The third time I've seen them in the space of 18 months.
Mike's voice was really rough. After the Lost Dogs set Thurs., he
flew to Toledo for a solo show Fri. night and then back. I don't
know if the travel did it or what, but he had no high end on his
vocal range at all. The bonus was that he did even more of his
patented growling than usual. A rather short setlist, but more
extended soloing than I've seen from him before. He played with
a lot of passion (bordering on anger) and abandon. Mike didn't
seem to be in as good a mood as he was at the Chicago show a few
months back. The set also didn't include as many of the old tunes
(no "Do it for Love," "MT" or "The Lust,..." all of which they did
then), but did include "Tatoo" and an 8 minute+ "Veil of Ashes."
Ojo now reports that they've signed a new deal with BAI, so it
looks like they're going to continue in the ccm ghetto for at least
a while longer (no slam at Ojo or anyone else intended; I'd just
like to see them break out and wider success).
Rez -- I'd never seen them live, and sort of lost track of them
after Colours. The only songs that I recognized, then, were "Paint
a Picture," "Bargain" (that's right, the Townshend one) and
"Somebody to Love" (with Wendy doing her best Grace Slick). It was
a powerful set and I ordered their new album after hearing 3-4 tunes
from it. Glenn finished the set with a 30 minute sermon that was
also well worth hearing.
Sun.
Grammatrain -- Newly signed and from Seattle, these guys put out some
fine grunge/metal stuff. I bought their demo CD. Strong vocals,
OK guitar, good tight performance. They did "6 O'Clock News" on the
upcoming Larry Norman tribute. I looked around the crowd and couldn't
count more than 3-4 people (including me) that looked old enough to
know the original. It wasn't the only time during the fest that I
felt old!
Soulfood -- Didn't do much for me. I guess I just don't get it.
Love Coma -- Appeared in the HM tent with added bonus of Mike Roe on
lead guitar and JJ from 6p on bass. OK set with Mike as the highlight,
but did make me look forward to their upcoming Roe-produced release.
Funny moment: at the start of one song, Mike whispered, "What key?"
The singer just showed him what chord he was starting with and
didn't seem to understand the question and turned around to the
drummer (!?) for help. Finally JJ said "B," and everyone had a laugh.
Sunny Day Roses -- Our own Jeff Elbel's new band. I encourage each
and every one of you to order their demo cassette. I've listened to
it 5-6 times now and it's excellent. Their appearance at the 7ball
tent was over an hour late (which was OK since it let us see Love
Coma) and they seemed to be plagued with bad sound and technical
problems. Jeff seemed to have a lot of tuning problems and was
stepping on one of his effects boxes every other measure (well, it
seemed like that often). The mix was poor, with way too much bass,
way too little guitar (especially the second player who was mostly
inaudible) and too little vocals. I'll be enough of a sexist old
fart to say that their lead singer is stunningly beautiful. They
did well under trying conditions (following a poor rap act late in
the day on the last day of the Fest) and I'd love to see them again
after they've gigged together a bit longer. Buy their cassette! The
new stuff is really good! Oh, I almost forgot! Dan Michaels sat in
with them for a couple of songs and did a fine job.
We really only stayed as long as we did to see Jeff play because
my brother had to be at work Monday morning in Cincinnati. It was
very disappointing to miss "At the Foot of the Cross," which I'm
sure was fantastic.
Where have I been? Why did it take me so long to get around to
going to CStone? What a schmuck I've been!
Pluses - more great music in less time than I've ever heard and
constant reminders of our freedom in Christ. Amazingly organized.
Fleming & John.
Minuses -- 2 working phones for 12,000 people is not nearly enough.
No place to wash hands before eating (leading to my case of food
poisoning Sat. night). Didn't get to any of the excellent symposia.
Missing Sixpence, My Brother's Mother, Hoi Polloi, Prayer Chain,
At the Foot of the Cross.
Hopefully other attendees will add more details.
Bill (my first post from netscape; still trying out Mac readers)
Bill Dozier
Jeff Elbel
>Sunny Day Roses -- Our own Jeff Elbel's new band. I encourage each
>and every one of you to order their demo cassette. I've listened to
>it 5-6 times now and it's excellent. Their appearance at the 7ball
>tent was over an hour late (which was OK since it let us see Love
i *love* Love Coma. i was really bummed that i had to miss Chris' set.
i hope somebody video taped it. i've heard his new music for R.E.X.
Can't wait to get that. Mike Roe's presence on the project makes little
difference to me, but it can't hurt. :)
> and they seemed to be plagued with bad sound and technical
>problems. Jeff seemed to have a lot of tuning problems and was
Oy gevalt. what a sonic nightmare. i don't want to go into a gripefest,
but man, i could whine all day about that stuff. It's a long way to travel
to not have the perfect show. I'm glad for every single person who came to
see us, though, and i hope you could hear past our difficulties and could
enjoy the songs. maybe we can do it again next year, or we'll be able to
pull off our fall tour. we'll all be a little wiser.
>stepping on one of his effects boxes every other measure (well, it
>seemed like that often). The mix was poor, with way too much bass,
>way too little guitar (especially the second player who was mostly
>inaudible) and too little vocals. I'll be enough of a sexist old
>fart to say that their lead singer is stunningly beautiful. They
... and is also my pastor's wife!! :)
>did well under trying conditions (following a poor rap act late in
>the day on the last day of the Fest) and I'd love to see them again
>after they've gigged together a bit longer. Buy their cassette! The
>new stuff is really good! Oh, I almost forgot! Dan Michaels sat in
>with them for a couple of songs and did a fine job.
yeah, that was cool. i can remember a few years ago when i had a dream
that i was onstage playing with the Choir. :) Well, it was a big thrill
for me to have my favorite saxophone player on stage with us for three
songs. I hope people could hear him.
>we really only stayed as long as we did to see Jeff play because
>my brother had to be at work Monday morning in Cincinnati. It was
>very disappointing to miss "At the Foot of the Cross," which I'm
>sure was fantastic.
Thanks for staying! Very much! ATFOTC was beautiful, truly. i was
touched. the beginning was pretty hectic, though - i broke one of Derri's
acoustic strings before the set, and ran off to change it. The sound
guy turned off the house lights and stopped the house music right then!
i couldn't believe it! to top it off, i didn't have his backup guitar tuned
yet. my face was sooooo red. it was all during "Forgive Us," which is
such a moving song.
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"If all the trees were bread and cheese, there would be considerable
deforestation in any part of England where I was living." - Chesterton
James c Black
..
>Grammatrain -- Newly signed and from Seattle, these guys put out some
>fine grunge/metal stuff. I bought their demo CD. Strong vocals,
>OK guitar, good tight performance. They did "6 O'Clock News" on the
>upcoming Larry Norman tribute. I looked around the crowd and couldn't
..
Also at C-Stone, jonny Q public did a cover of a Larry Norman tune.
They did a great job with it, the crowd seemed to enjoy it. (it was on
the 7-ball stage one afternoon. BTW jonny Q public was great)
>upcoming Larry Norman tribute. I looked around the crowd and couldn't
I think I missed the boat, there is a tribute album comming out? I was
just thinking that one needed to be done (kind of like the beatles thing).
Whats the story on this?
James