Cornerstone Festival 2004

1 June 2004

It used to be said that all roads lead to Rome - the cultural and polital capitol of the world. In Islam, Mecca is considered to be the spiritual center and muslims make a priority to travel there at least once in their lives. In the Bible, God instituted the concept of Cities of Refuge where the persecuted could go to find safety. There is a place in the middle of Illinois that combines elements of each of these. It is a place to find fellowship and camaraderie - shelter amongst those who live on the fringe. For many, it is a mecca - an oasis in the desert of modern Christianity. It is a circus, a celebration of freaks. "Vive la différence!" is their cry and this is their home. This is Cornerstone and for them, all roads lead to Bushnell IL. Sometime around the 4th of July, tens of thousands of pilgrims gather to listen to music, watch films, view and create art, learn from the wise, dialogue with kindred spirits, and bask in a festival of arts unlike any other. There are other festivals. There are bigger festivals. Some would even say there are better festivals. But there is nothing else quite like Cornerstone.

Every year tens of thousands of people come from miles away to experience Cornerstone. Hundreds of bands to listen to on about 20 official and unofficial stages. An art gallery. A film festival. The Imaginarium - an area devoted to worlds of wonder in the spirit of CS Lewis and his friends. A lake for swimming and boating. Sports. A comprehensive children's area. A skateboarding park. Three large exhibition tents. A "university" for learning and dialogue. And this only scratches the surface. All packed into about four days of sensory overload. Nearly 600 acres devoted to worship and community. Overwhelming is the operative word.

For years I have wanted to attend and never been able to make it for various reasons. 2002 was my first time and I really was overwhelmed! This year, 2004, is my third year and I feel rather like a veteran. At least I no longer feel overwhelmed. I consider myself to be a hardened Cornerstoner. Its just as exciting as the first time and I have the experience to actually get the most pleasure possible from it... (Umm, we're still talking about Cornerstone, right?)

As is my tradition, I took the entire week off (although I did work Monday and Tuesday to get some extra cash). The plan was to leave Wednesday morning so that we wouldn't miss anything. (The festival officially started Thursday.) I got a call from Ted, my Cstone buddy, that he had to fix his radiator on the Tahoe and would have to delay departure until Thursday. We decided to leave as early as possible. 3am was our target.

I got up at 2am to finish getting ready and make sure that I was prepared. It seemed better to go to bed earlier and get up earlier than to go to bed later and get up later and then feel rushed. Ted arrived about 3:30. We hooked up the bike on his new hitch-mounted rack. He commented that it was good that he had gotten it for Father's Day because he couldn't figure out how to get the bikes inside the truck. I pointed out that last year he hadn't brought along his wooden sling-chairs which took up a lot of room. I do prefer the rack, though: much more convenient and potentially less damaging than trying to cram two large metal things into a small space.

It is much nicer to start driving early in the morning and see the sun rise. Finishing in the light is easier than starting during the day and ending after sunset, somehow. I've noticed that on all my bike trips as well.

Traditionally, we are both expected to bring CDs to listen to. I try to alternate between a couple of his and a couple of mine as I play them (my job as copilot). Of my CDs, I played The Benjamin Gate, K's Choice, Cush, and Rock and Roll Worship Circus. We stopped several times to stretch our legs, use the restroom, grab a bite to eat, or get gas. The weather was great. Sunny, warm: just all around wonderful. In addition to listening to music, part of the journey's appeal is talking to each other. It did seem that we talked more on the drive down this year than I remembered from previous years.

This year was my first year with my VirginMobile phone with which I can send and receive text messages. So that was fun while we were on the interstate. I could keep my parents updated on our progress, etc. Unfortunately VirginMobile uses Sprint as a carrier. Based on my own experience and that of other users that I have talked to, I have a pretty low opinion of Sprint. My Nextel phone has had much better coverage and I have been very happy as a client. But I'm not willing to pay for the text messaging service and I like the option of having another carrier as a backup - even if it is a lesser carrier. Its a prepay phone so that helps justify the expense, too. I was disappointed that off the highway (which means the entire time at Cornerstone) I had no Sprint coverage so my VMobile phone was useless. But it certainly didn't surprise me.

We arrived at the gate sometime around midday. It wasn't overly crowded and we were able to get to the campsite fairly quickly. I began setting up my hammock as Glenn Kaiser stopped by and chatted a bit with Ted. Finishing, I laid down to rest and try to get rid of the headache that I had woken up with... Ted made some comment about how it wasn't fair that I was done setting up my camp and while I tried to sleep, he was still just getting started. My response was that it seemed like a classic case of "hammock envy". We both tried to nap and he succeeded where I failed. Eventually, around 2 or 3, I decided that even though I hadn't been able to sleep, laying down had done me good and I wasn't really going to get anything more out of it so I might as well get up. I waited for a short while for Ted to wake up but he didn't. Once I realised that, I rode down to the main festival area to check everything out. At some point I called my parents to finalise the plans for them to visit me. I have almost no cell phone coverage until I get to the main area so my campsite is a bit of a black hole and I have to go a ways to be able to hold a conversation. Frustrating, certainly, but I'm grateful for the coverage that I do have.

Most of the tents were still in the final setting up process. There were a few bands playing - none of which really appealed to me. The first day of the festival is known as "Tooth and Nail Day" due to the large number of artists from that label that play. I probably wandered around for an hour or so before heading back to camp. I ate a bit and basically just sat around doing nothing until 6pm. Eventually Ted woke up and we went down to Main Stage for the Opening Ceremonies which ended up being 15 minutes of welcome and announcements, basically done with humour.

At 6:30 Dave Crowder and his band led worship and it was very cool to experience them live. It was essentially the first thing happening at Cornerstone and it ended up being one of the high points. Really, I can't think of anything else that I saw that topped it. Certainly other great things were experienced that I would even say were equal to the worship time but none of them really surpassed that opening act. The next band on Main Stage was Kutless and since I didn't have any desire to see them, I left Ted and went up to the main festival area.

Flickerings (the film festival area) was showing The Man Without a Past which is a Finnish film about an amnesia victim who essentially gets a new chance at life by having his past wiped from his memory by a mugging/beating. He becomes a better man as a result. A touching, beautiful film full of deadpan humour by fimmaker Aki Kaurismaki. Discussion of the main character as a sort of Christ figure occurred afterwards but I didn't stick around.

Over at The Gallery, which is the number two stage after the Main Stage basically, Infradig was playing. An instrumental band full of uptempo rhythms and a rocking, jazzy flair, they were very cool and I enjoyed them enough to purchase two of their CDs.