MY CORNERSTONE 2004 JOURNAL - FRIDAY

Friday morning I started the day with another mocha mint frappucino. I walked over to a set of tents, where the seminars would be held. In one of the tents, I caught a writing seminar led by a poet named Jill Alexander Essbaum, where I spent a couple of hours learning about writing. She has a book published, so she knew what she was talking about. The seminar was quite enjoyable, and I enjoyed getting to know Jill and the other students in the class, and enjoying a calm morning before a full day filled with rock and roll. After lunch, I walked over to the Gallery stage, where many of my favorite bands would be playing throughout the festival. The first act of the day was Miranda Stone, a cool hippie chick, and her band, which included Jeff Elbel on bass guitar. She put on a fun show of energetic rock and roll, and entertained the crowd with amusing banter. Miranda also refreshed us with the fragrance of a basket of rose petals she tossed into the crowd before the petals settled into the dusty ground. I then walked over to another tent which had its own interesting name, the Imaginarium. A guy named Peter Chattaway whom I have known for a few years from the Daniel Amos discussion lists, was giving the first in a series of three lectures on memory and the movies. The talk was quite interesting and informative, and I saw several friends from yesterday‘s lunch in attendance. I then headed over to the Flickerings barn to catch a French film called "The Son", which was a powerful and moving exploration of the themes of loss, revenge, and forgiveness. I continued to think on these themes as I headed back to my tent for some late afternoon relaxation.

For the evening’s entertainment, I first headed back over to the Gallery tent to see The Crossing, an Irish-influenced band who plays at Cornerstone every year, and always puts on a fun show. I also saw a few songs by Sandy Wellman and the Hebrew Hillbillies, who play traditional Jewish music, a refreshing change of pace from the growling bands. I then walked down the long dirt road to the Main Stage to see Skillet, the only main stage band this year that I was interested in catching. I was interested in this band because I know some of the people from the band personally, since the guitar player was once a member of my church’s youth group. Skillet played an energetic set of what most people these days would called "modern rock". It’s fun for half an hour or so, but quickly gets tiresome and repetitive. Fortunately, they closed their set with a soaring rock worship song instead of the same kind of song I hear on the radio every half hour. I then walked back to the Gallery Stage, where I caught a few songs by the Psalters, a truly unique band who played a weird hybrid of tribal drum music, progressive rock, and spoken-word kind of stuff. I then saw a band called Arandha, who played worshipful Indian-style music, complete with a guy playing sitar. I share with George Harrison an admiration for the mysterious appeal of this unique. I then saw Madison Greene for a second time, only this time I was able to actually see the band! Finally at midnight, I moved toward the front of the stage and settled in to see one of my favorite bands, Over The Rhine. As rain poured down outside the tent, inside the tent Over The Rhine played a beautiful set of mesmerizing coffee-house rock, propelled by the amazing vocals of Karin Bergquist. The highlight of their show was a beautiful rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". I think Karin's version tops even Jeff Buckley's version or the song.

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