Cornerstone 2000: Jason’s Diary, July 6
After some sleep, I spent most of the morning walking around and meeting people. I was desperately looking for my friend Elaine, but could never seem to find her. That shouldn’t have surprised me, since the crowds this year were just huge.
The first show I caught was White Trash, Inc. To say they’re an acquired taste is an understatement. Imagine a bunch of guys in black robes and masks making a massive amount of noise with power tools, children’s toys, and tortured guitars, and concluding their set by building an orthodox cross. It was interesting, but not quite my thing. However, I did enjoy the Neutral Milk Hotel “cover.”
After White Trash, I rushed over to catch Professor Small. Definitely an interesting show. Imagine two robots armed with Ataris and Colecovisions making a hip-hop album. Their set was incredibly entertaining, with robotic vocals and breakdancing to boot. It doesn’t get better than that.
The rest of the afternoon was spent running around, seeing people, doing interviews… the usual press shtick. Early that evening, I headed over to the Gallery Stage to catch Denison Witmer. Although his music makes for great late-night listening, I wondered how it would translate to a live show, especially since I’d heard from a reliable source that his live show was, well, less than captivating. However, Witmer really surprised me with a nice, casual show of beautiful acoustic music. After the show, I finally caught up with Elaine and her friend Sharon.
The three of us hung out throughout the rest of the day, meeting up with more of my friends at the Psalters show. I was really excited to catch these guys with their unique brand of ethnic, middle-eastern worship music. Last year, they were one of the best shows I caught. However, this show was a little disappointing. It was really rough, full of technical problems, and seemed to miss some of the edge their show last year had. However, plenty of people were really blown away by the show, so maybe it was just me.
After Psalters was the second most unique show I caught all week, next to S.S. Bountyhunter. I’d never heard anything by Farquar Muckenfuss, but Nolan had heard their CD and really liked it.
I knew it’d be a good show when they filled the stage with televisions and guys wearing gas masks. After an introduction where, in a thick German accent, the emcee proclaimed that “some things you see will frighten you,” the band came out dressed in weird mad scientist gear. They tore through a set of eerie, sci-fi surf rock a la Man Or Astroman?.
The show ended with the band getting thrown off stage by the guys from White Trash, who proceeded to make a racket with Farquar’s intruments and set their drumset on fire. All in all, a nice show with plenty of weird humor.
We headed back to my campsite for a little rest and recreation. I don’t remember too much of what happened next, because I was pretty delirious and giddy, but I can tell you I honestly hadn’t laughed that hard in a long time. There’s just something about hanging out with the ones you love at Cornerstone.
Elaine and Sharon took off to go catch Cush, which featured members of The Prayer Chain and Michael Knott. I caught a song or two, but for some reason, it didn’t really strike me too much. I loved the Prayer Chain, and I love Knott’s stuff, but this didn’t do anything for me.
Nolan, Tricia, and I headed over to the Dance Tent (which was actually inside a warehouse with video screens, lighting, and everything) to catch some DJs. We were there for awhile, but again, fatigue reared its ugly head yet again, so I returned to my campsite.