Thursday I woke early to the sounds of my campmates cooking breakfast. I leafed through the schedule while eating and discerned that this day there were quite a lot of things I would like to hear and see. It would be a full day. I also was able to get aquainted with our new campsite additions (a group who had been ministering at the Jesus Kitchen at the Rainbow Festival in Colorado) who had arrived the previous evenings.
Our morning activities consisted of a mini film festival. We saw five short films. The one most of us liked best was called Preacher with an Unknown God. It was a mini documentary following Rev. Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping as he travelled to exorcise the big box and corporate stores and the big city Republicans. He's not really a reverend, he's a performance artist, but his message is still good. Stop buying into the "American Dream" lie we've been fed. Don't think you'll be more patriotic or fulfilled by buying more things. Stop supporting all the corporate big businesses that are driving our small family business under. A full length film (with the producer of Supersize Me and the director of the short film) is in production and I plan to see it.
One of my favorite shorts wasn't even on the "menu", but there was extra time and it was played anyway. Created by a guy from JPUSA and one of his young neighbor boys, it was a claymation short exploring the idea of what if Jesus took on the sins of the world while he was in hell. There was a clay Jesus, pierced and broken who fell down onto a scattered pile of magazine pages containing all manner of content to represent the sins. The pages were "absorbed" into the body until the last one was gone in what looked like painful convulsions. When Jesus had taken on all the sins, he was taken away to be with God. To me it was a very powerful image, all of those pages being the vastness of human sin and being physically taken into Jesus' body.
After lunch, I followed a couple of my new friends and their friends to try to catch a concert by a girl named Timbre who plays a form of rock/folk harp. Turned out she wasn't playing in the new artists' tent that day, but the band that was playing interested me and I stayed. I saw two new bands: Wolfy and The Divine Upstairs. I'm not the greatest at describing style so I won't even try here, but they were both quite dynamic bands. As good as anything on a larger stage.
I like to wander and look and soak things in. Cornerstone is the perfect place for this. You can just wander from tent to tent, peeking in to see if you're interested in it's contents and wander on again. And there is all manner of people to be facinated by while people watching. I decided I wanted to wander up to the Burning Brush (the art gallery). On the way there, I peeked into the Gallery Stage tent and there was a band which consisted of 3 girls playing and I kinda liked their sound. Turns out they're called Aracely and were one of the bands that had been garnering interest as a somewhat unknown at this festival. Generally that sorta girl rock is good, but I lost interest quickly, not sure why.
On to the art gallery I went. I was inspired to see some very progressive works there. All manner of media: oil, charcoal, wood carving, batik dye, yarn, clay, glass, found objects. There was a motorcycle which had been hand detailed, but the finish was so shiny I couldn't get a good photo of it. (didn't have my polarizing filter with me). I signed up to receive info on submitting my work to next year's festival gallery. I guess there were prizes for best in certain categories. Didn't really matter to me, all of it was wonderful.
While I was in the gallery, I heard some familiar lyrics whafting from the Gallery Stage. Aracely was covering my all-time favorite Emmylou Harris song! I thought about breaking into a sprint to get back there, but opted just to listen from the grassy floor of the art gallery and then check out the prayer labrynth.
After a quick snack back at the campsite, I wandered over to a couple stages I had not yet been to. The first one was pretty hardcore and not all that interesting to me. The second was packed and I mean packed, like sardines, only not head to tail. I couldn't really get inside, but I could kinda see from the edge. The music was captivating. A little like the band Polyphonic Spree but without the crazy Branch Davidian look.
It dawned on me that in the past 6 or so years I had been living under a rock when it comes to Christian music. I gave up on it due to a lack of musical quality and lyrical ingenuity for the most part. Not all the bands were at fault, but the movement as a whole began to sorely disappoint me. With bands like this, who could stay away. When the music ended and the crowd cleared, I found my campmates at the center of it all. This band was Anathallo, one I had been told I'd love and must go see. Interesting I should find it by chance.
Anathallo was followed by the Violet Burning who gave a rocking good performance, as usual. They are one of the few bands at the festival I was a bit familiar with. I stood right in the middle and tried not to go deaf. I covered the microphone on my camera to try to take video, but the wall of sound got through and it's pretty much a garbled mess. Oh, but it was fun.
Dinner was a fully cooperative event this night. There were extra mouths to feed, but plenty of food. Spaghetti was made by my campmates, and I made rice & beans for Scott and I (and shared them with anyone who wanted some cause there was so much food). As with many nights, we ended up with guests (invited or suprise) at our campsite for dinner. I liked having a fully communal meal where we welcomed those who needed something to eat. And there was always enough.
A large group was headed to see mewithoutyou (yes all one word and no capitalization) after dinner on the main stage. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but had been told it would be great. It was more than great. We sat way up on the hill, so I watched most of it on the jumbotron. But from there, the sound was just perfect. The passion in the voice and lyrics, our friends dancing on stage, a giant musical party. I didn't get good video at that distance, but I've found a Cornerstone podcast of one song I think you'll all enjoy.
Leaving the main stage after mewithoutyou, we were priviledged to see one of the finer sunsets I have seen in my nearly 28 years. An orange warmth from the setting sun casting its light over the sea of tents set up lakeside. A beam of sunlight glinting off the stillness of the evening waters of the lake. Time almost seemed to stop except for the steady flow of people back to their campsites or on to other venue tents. I had to stop and bask in the orange glow. To take in the wonder of creation and the beauty which God had bestowed upon us. For a moment, I could block out all the rest of the commotion and through the lens of my camera, see only that which was laid out in front of me. Even the air smelled better to me.
I can't fully remember how we wasted the entire evening, but it was probably just sitting around in our camp chatting. Which isn't really wasting it. When darkness fell, we lit tiki torches and continued to chat, people flowing in and out as they left to listen to particular bands. I enjoyed just listening to the sounds of the festival, feeling the coolness of night, and testing out my new bug spray on the few mosquitos Illinois has to offer.
After the final main stage show had ended, there were fireworks (postponed from the 4th of July due to permit issues). I stood with a couple friends in the main road and watched as fireworks exploded just over the treetops. We didn't want to waste any time walking down to the beach since the show would be half over by the time we reached it. And we had a concert to attend at midnight. The road was illuminated by the explosions and the headlights on oncoming vehicles, creating intersting sillouttes of the people streaming by.
Midnight at the Gallery Stage brought us Over the Rhine. By the time the fireworks were over and we arrived by foot, all of the seats had been taken. Instead of standing far away, I wove through the crowd to an opening I saw, which landed me on the edge of a wooden platform used to hold all the sound mixing equipment. The sound guy just smiled at me as I plopped myself down in the open space, found a good spot for my tea mug, and proceeded to get out my cameras.
Most of their set was from Drunkard's Prayer, a cd which I have only heard a time or two. It's a jazzy style and very different from the Over the Rhine I grew up at camp listening to (or should I say, being lulled to sleep by). I liked it. This music brings out personality in them you might otherwise miss. And it was a fun show for that time of night. I was tired from my full day, very tired. But determined not to miss out on one of the best shows of the year. Some others must have been more tired as they left vacating some better seats for Autumn and I. When it was all over, I returned to my tent for a very deep night's sleep.
mewithoutYou
the You refering to G-d.
:D