cornerstone, how i love thee

we're back, it was great. Not nearly as many bands as I would hope that I actually planned to go see (I could think of a few that were sorely missed) but I did find some new bands worth noting...

now, how to go about summarizing 5 days worth of experiences so as not to become incredibly boring....

I guess maybe I'll break it into a few bite-sized morsels, that way I have things to write about over the week, and it'll keep everyone coming back for more (that is, the people who haven't totally given up on me ever updating the site again)

hmm, for starters, I do believe that I saw no less than 3 different guys who looked remarkably like one Mr. Timothy F. Potter. That was wierd. I would certainly hope that if he were to sneak over to Illinois, that he would have said something about it. Well, at least you were there in spirit, Tim.

There was also another moment when I thought I saw someone I knew - we were walking to the main stage to catch the David Crowder Band play - they were leading worship, of course. Across the street from the hill where the main stage is located is a lake, and on top of the hill looking over the lake was a girl who was faced away from the stage, toward the lake, with her hands raised, worshiping God on her own. I could have sworn it was Simona Sheehan, it was very much something she would do. I realized at that very second how much I really really really miss her. Really Really a lot.

Some other quick observations:

biggest disappointment: realizing that a lot of the big bands out there sound a lot like what is on the modern rock radio stations right now. The disappointing part is that I'm not crazy about this latest modern rock movement. It's catchy music, good beats, etc, but it all pretty much sounds the same to me. All of a sudden there was Franz Ferdinand and the Killers and Snow Patrol and they are really similar. And then on the Christian side of the scene there's Anberlin and the Myriad and several others that sound remarkably similar...no wonder it's been awhile since I've bought a brand new CD.
My other big disappointment was that Joy Electric was a no show. I haven't seen them in concert since the last time I was at Cornerstone, in 2001. =(

big surprise: David Crowder is kind of a wierd looking guy.
I feel kinda bad saying it, but he's just not exactly what I was expecting - not really anything like Chris Tomlin or Jeremy Camp, all clean cut and good looking. He's got crazy hair that sticks straight up all over about 8 inches off his head it seems, and he's got this gotee that's a good 3-4 inches long, and he's tall and skinny with a long and skinny face, and he's just something else to see. But hearing him in concert - we all know the struggle I had admitting the beauty of his songwriting and enjoying his Illuminate CD...well, he's amazingly likeable in concert. Didn't get to meet him or anything like that, we just sat on the hill and watched him do his thing. He just seemed really genuine, you could tell he enjoyed what he did, and he has a passion for it, it was a really good show.

fun new bands we discovered:
Flatfoot 56 - Celtic punk w/ bagpipes...fun times
Forever Changed - if you like Juliana Theory, they're really good
Yellow Second - modern rock, but Seth really liked them. They've got a nice sound, well put together.
After the Tragedy - really good harder rock band
Over The Rhine - I had discovered them recently and then caught the show - very beautiful music

There may be more bands, I can't remember right this minute...but there is definitely more to tell, which I hope to do in the following days, so stay tuned!