Cornerstone Festival 2011, Friday July 1
Alien Worlds seminar (Tent 2), Zombies on Jeopardy seminar (Tent 2), Science and Religion seminar (Tent 2), Children 18:3 (Texas), Triple Stitch (Legacy), The Scurvies (Legacy), POD (Main), Debtor (The Skatepark Shed), Beggars (The Skatepark Shed), Call to Preserve (The Skatepark Shed)
Jeff the Girl: Be at the skatepark at 11:30 tonight.
Me: Why?
Jeff the Girl (walking away): Just be there!
When Leanor – better known as Five Iron Frenzy’s Jeff the Girl – told me to go to the skatepark, I first thought, “Secret Five Iron reunion show?!” Such a possibility seemed highly unlikely, but diehard fans hold an irrational hope for their favorite bands. I recalled that Five Iron played their first Cornerstone shows at the skatepark – the precursor to the modern generator stages. What better way to generate buzz for a possible reunion than by playing an impromptu show at the site of one of your earliest successes?
Alas, I did not witness the return of perfect ska goodness. I didn’t leave disappointed either. Jeff the Girl had placed me in the center of the best experience of this year’s festival.
Next to the skatepark stands a shed about the size of a small ranch house. Over six Cornerstones, I walked past the building countless times without ever really acknowledging the building’s presence. The aluminum walled structure sits on a concrete slab that juts out towards the skatepark. Over this patio stands a sliding metal door that reaches from floor to ceiling. At various points in its existence the shed has surely housed tools as disparate as farm equipment and stage pieces.
As I approached the shed, a floodlight shone onto the patio. A table sat to the left of the sliding door with Beggars merchandise. A small crowd gathered but no one seemed privy to the secret of this meeting.
People moved in and out of the shed through a smaller door in the large sliding door. Through it, I spied music equipment, amps and guitars. I heard tuning and sound checks. Somebody planned to play a show in this little shed! Certainly the Cornerstone officials hadn’t given permission for this guerilla performance. Then again, Cornerstone has long promoted an atmosphere of Christian liberalism. As long as something doesn’t disturb the public order, they have a tendency to turn a blind eye to lesser disruptions like this.
Suddenly a couple of men shoved the large sliding door to the right. As many of us herded into the shed as possible, but less room existed there than anticipated. Walls divided the shed into thirds with the show in the center third. The band stood right on top of their audience in a space no bigger than a bedroom. Friends of the band sat in the rafters to the right of the “stage,” but most listeners remained on the patio. Still, with a now gaping hole in the side of the building, even those fans could enjoy the show.
Debtor opened the show. I’d seen the band at previous Cornerstones. I don’t dislike the hardcore punk band, but the vocals involve too much screaming, border too much on metalcore, for me to really enjoy them.
But really who played or what they played became irrelevant in this situation. The scene, the experience, the novelty became larger than any one band or any group of fans. The close quarters made the event feel like the perfect house show. Such proximity compels you to feel the energy, the raw power. You merge into something intimate, yet larger than yourself.
That this happened at a secret Cornerstone show only took the feeling to the next level. The festival draws those who possess a true passion for music. The covert nature of the episode meant that only the most dedicated and the most curious of that group stood at that spot. This was pure, concentrated house show.
Chicago’s Beggars followed. I overheard someone connected to the band mention that they had only played two or three shows before this one. I certainly couldn’t tell. The hardcore/post-hardcore band compares favorably to Fugazi. They offered all of the chaotic energy of punk but with the attention to melody developed by those ’90s post-hardcore bands. They currently have a four song 7″ out on Chorus of One records.
I wouldn’t typically go for Call to Preserve‘s more metalcore stylings, but they won me over by playing two Minor Threat covers at the beginning of their set. Without any regard for the crowd or my own safety I charged to the front and got in the face of the band as we roared “I Don’t Wanna Hear It” and “Straight Edge.” My voice never recovered. Those two great songs left me hoarse for the rest of the weekend but I have a great memory for far longer than that.
The Beggars
Minor Threat Covers (Check out the crazy guy in the black fedora)
