11:00 am: I arrive at Cornerstone early enough on day 2 to catch the full Bible study lead by Todd of The Burial. He still looks pretty metal—shaved head, huge goatee, somewhat stocky—but he’s standing on the stage with his Bible and not with his guitar and bandmates. He looks rather vulnerable, actually, and maybe even a bit unsure of himself and his ability to lead the discussion. There’s a good-size crowd of people here, about four dozen, and I do see many of the red wristbands that I’m learning to associate with bands and their guests, so I think that many of his friends have come to hear him speak. He mentions that he feels a bit uncomfortable trying to impart wisdom in this format, but he feels that his divine appointment is evident through the people who have shown up to hear him speak. His narrative, while a bit rambling, has some pretty substantive points about one’s relationship to God and one’s responsibilities as a believer:

• God is calling on his followers to tear themselves and their hearts up in distress over the state of the world
• Let’s be honest with ourselves about our goals and God’s plan
• People tend to dwell more on God’s blessings than on his judgment—let’s use His impending judgment to work with our brothers and sisters in bringing each other further along in our faith
• Don’t be selfish but generous; seek God’s kingdom and will first, and everything else you need will be given to you according to His will
• Look for answers from God instead of making your own plans without first seeking His will
• Passive disapproval of others’ sins isn’t enough—we need to be active, and work towards providing answers to worldly problems
• There’s no gray area between glorifying God and not glorifying God—all lives and works are devoted to one purpose or the other, and we need to be absolutely clear with ourselves where we stand
• “If it’s not building up your spirit, then it’s no good. It’s wasted time.”
• Ultimately, we need to be completely honest and real not just with ourselves but with God

After the Bible study, I stick around a little bit to hear the female-fronted praise band for a few songs—this is a bit more soulful than you would hear in church, but it’s acoustic-driven, and nowhere near the aggression that heard from other bands throughout the week—before heading out for another walk. My goal today is to find a group to chat with, and I walk around one of the RV areas before heading out to Main St. I stop at the Chasing Canadia generator stage because the band (whose name I don’t catch) seems pretty decent, despite the amateur setup. I walk further down Main St., towards the beach and Main Stage, and pass a group of young adults that might want to chat. On my way back I just stop, ask them how they’re doing, tell them I’m doing a research project on Cornerstone, having never been here before, and do they want to chat?

Turns out that this group of young adults is totally cool. Half of the group is from Toronto, and the other half is from St. Louis—they met at the meWithoutYou record release show in Philadelphia a few weeks ago, and made plans to meet up at Cornerstone. While half of the group came to Cornerstone for the first time last year, this year they brought with them friends who hadn’t yet been. Those who were here last year spent a lot of time checking out new bands, and this year they’re taking it easier, enjoying the communal vibe and fellowship with each other. The like that Cornerstone is a huge, friendly community of people who all love music, just like them and their friends. Their faith is important to them, and it bothers them when they hear bands giving lip service to Christianity without it being an obvious focus of their lives—it’s pretty clear that some bands discuss their faith at Cornerstone only because it’s so expected here. Many of them still live with their parents, and are at a weird in-between stage in life where church youth group doesn’t have anything to offer them, but they feel awkward participating in church as adults, peers of their parents. Cornerstone provides a safe space where they’re surrounded by like-minded people who face similar challenges. Another thing they really like about Cornerstone is that it’s safe for non-Christians, because while faith is very visible, it’s not forced upon people—attendees can choose the degree to which they participate in faith initiatives (they mention the Bible study that I attended earlier in the morning as a case in point—”It’s there if you want it,” one of them says).

They’re pretty generous—the whole time we’re speaking, one of the guys is cooking some potatoes on a camp grill and passing it around, being sure to include me. I take out an unopened bag of trail mix and pass it around to everyone as well. A couple of girls walk up and give us invites to a free spaghetti dinner on the patio/basketball court overlooking the Main Stage this afternoon at 5pm. This weird dude walks up later to talk about how another group of campers is demonstrating the best way for Christians to disengage from the world: through converting their vehicle to run on vegetable oil and living an entirely self-sustaining lifestyle. Although his preachy demeanor could have been met with distaste, the group I’m sitting with listen to him respectfully. After he’s done, I expect his talk to inspire discussion among these kids, but they seem more interested in jumping in the lake and checking out some more bands. I thank them, snap a couple of pictures, and leave.

They’ve given me the names of a few bands to check out, one of whom is supposed to be performing right away on one of the generator stages, so I take a walk back up Main St. to see if I can find them. Turns out I can’t, or perhaps I already forgot the name, but I continue for a stroll to see what else is going on. I pass the first (and one of very few) female-fronted hardcore band I’ve seen here, performing at a rather amateur generator stage. Next I stop to catch my breath at a tent-covered generator stage where a synth-pop band is setting up. Their Nintendo beats and bounciness aren’t enough to hold my interest, however, so I decide to walk through the campsites again to find another group to chat with. This time I end up walking down a road that leads through the reserved group sites—most of these are youth and church groups, and the people I pass appear to be rather engaged with each other. I feel weird about interrupting their conversations and continue walking. Eventually I come to a fork where the lower road leads down to Main Stage and the upper road leads up to another RV site. There’s a campsite with another group of young people, and I decide to talk to them on my way back down—first I want to get a few pictures of Main Stage without anyone there. I take the upper road, find the patio where they will be serving free spaghetti later tonight, take a few pictures, and walk back down.

3:00 pm: I hail this second group—“Camp Busted Guitar”—and ask if they’d like to talk to me for my research project. Our conversation is less directed than the previous group’s—the dynamic is far more one of a group of friends hanging out with multiple conversations going on at any given moment; my questions just form one of many discussions. This group of friends is from all around Illinois, and not one single town. They camp in this location every year, introducing new friends to the experience, converging at Cornerstone where it feels like family, where people fully understand you. Most of them are between 18–23 years old, and while there are a couple of first-timers here, most of them have been coming for a while, some as long as 6 or 8 years. The long-timers originally came with their church youth group, but Cornerstone has since grown to feel like their home, their community, the best week of their year, certainly the best part of their summer. At least one member of this group—one of the older guys—enjoys the freedom to act up and be loud and roudy, a side of his personality that he can’t really indulge in at home. They’ve tried to explain to non-Cornerstone friends why it’s so special, but instead find it easier to bring newbies to the festival every year—and every time, every first-timer “gets it.” One thing that they note is that one’s first Cornerstone experience is always the best—upon repeated returns, it’s never better than the first time, when everything was new.

They come from all walks of life: they work at various jobs, go to school, one guy’s in the Army, another claims to be a vagabond. While some have been to other festivals—they mention Cave Fest and Warped Tour—but Cornerstone is always better, primarily because of the people and community: everyone is so friendly, it’s like having a 30,000-person family. They listen to a lot of punk, metal, and don’t limit themselves to Christian bands. In fact, they’re all irregular church-goers—one guy tells me that he’s all about DIY, has a problem with authority, and doesn’t enjoy being told what to do, and that while he does have his own moral code, it’s not dictated by any one church or religion; others’ life drama and laziness prohibit them from attending church regularly. That said, many of them grew up going to church, and appreciate and respect the bands that are passionate and honest about their faith. Like the previous group—and I can already tell that this is a common theme at Cornerstone—they can tell when bands are talking about faith just because it’s expected here. Many of them don’t really have an active local scene at home, and typically have to drive long distances for live music they are actually interested in. They appreciate the musical variety at Cornerstone, and how the community isn’t really insular—they talk a little bit about tearing down the walls between subcultures, and note that you can see preppies, jocks, goths, metalheads, punks, etc. all engaged in fellowship together.

4:00 pm: After chatting with Camp Busted Guitar for a while, I take a couple of pictures and thank them. They encourage me to stop by next year and ask more questions! I leave, walk down the road for a little bit and find a space to sit on the grass, eat some food, and complete my notes from the interview before I forget it all. I head down to Indoor/Encore 2 to see The Wedding, a band recommended by Relient K last night and by the first group I hung out with this afternoon. The tent is pretty crowded—a good sign—and I work my way around to the other side. This band is pretty awesome, super-tight metalcore with a great attitude. They’ve got a good performance going on, the music is really tight, melodic, muscular, and the audience is totally into it. I’m digging it a lot, and really want to check their recordings, but I don’t see a merch setup. I get some good pictures, they come out for an encore, and actually end with the signature riff from Black Sabbath’s “Ironman.” Seems pretty ballsy to me, since Sabbath is one of those bands that has been consistently pointed at by Christians who claim that aggressive rock is linked to Satanism.

[More posts on Cornerstone Festival 2009]