 Cornerstone - the end is near |
DwDunphy 
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Originally posted by Ritchie_az
Kansas has their annual "Wheathead" fest. It's typically in Kansas, but they've had it elsewhere (like Las Vegas) a couple times. Kansas is obviously the headline act, and Kansas-related artists (such as Steve Walsh solo, Proto~Kaw a couple times, Jake Livgren, tribute bands, etc) open up for them.
How about an annual Lost Dogs fest?
You could have an annual event that features DA, 77s, The Choir, Lost Dogs, Swirling Eddies, 7&7iS, Larry, DAS, and Kerosene Halo, as well as solo stuff from Terry, Jerry, Derri, Mike and Steve. Maybe there are other related artists. Fan bands. Bands that consider the main artists as a major influence (e.g. SF59). Bands that want to pay tribute to the main artists.
I don't know where the best place for something like this would be, but perhaps there are some areas that have a high concentration of fans. It could be in the same place each year, or in a different place each year.
I think it would take help from the fans (both financially and physically) to pull it off. But I'm pretty sure it could be pulled off.
It need be only one day, I would think. If there were a lot of interest (both by fans and artists), it could be two days, but one day seems more practical.
Something like this is something I would be willing to travel across a couple states to experience.
Anyone else with some thoughts? |
While I think a Lost Dogs Fest is a wonderful dream, we're still talking about a time in which DA needs a Kickstarter program just to raise funds to try and start an album. Plus, all of Terry's financial and health issues preclude this pie from ever falling from the sky.
No, Cornerstone for all its faults represented a nexus point in many ways. A young, faithful yet culturally rebellious demographic; record labels that were actually interested in seeing them do well (and no longer exist); and an audience that, by and large, were young enough and not so preoccupied by life's needs (immediate family, jobs, bills, bills, bills) to attend without hesitations. It's a different world. Even if Cornerstone had stayed true to its roots, it couldn't exist in today's world...and so it won't.
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05-26-2012 20:02 |
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MarkyMark77
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It's pretty crazy what these guys charge. We brought in a speaker (1 guy, minimal props) for a 1-hour session, and he charges $5500 for that, but he cut it down to $3500. I can pay a few hundred bucks and have Mike Roe play in my living room, and have several times. Worth every penny, and I'm actually seeing someone who has honed a talent and skill. I echo what has been said here: they charge what the market will bear, and seem to be leaving the concept of ministry by the wayside, even as they tout their music or speaking as ministry of some kind.
I won't make it this year, sadly, but with Over the Rhine and Bill Mallonee dropping out, there are two acts right there that might have pushed me over the edge to attending. C-Stone was a great experience when I've attended, and even though it has changed, it was still a great catch-all for bands you never see, and certainly never see in one place. That said, you'd think since they've been doing it this long, they could have pulled it together and gotten a clue about who their core audience were/are. The average C-Stone ticket buyer probably wasn't going for Toby Mac.
I like the older bands and the newer bands (really dug Flatfoot 56 the last time I was there), and really enjoyed that cross section.
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05-26-2012 20:20 |
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audiori
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The idea of a Lost Dogs Fest was on the table at one point believe it or not. I think it was when it was clear that Cornerstone was moving away from these guys to some degree. The idea was tossed around to just skip all of the other festivals and start a new one with all of the Dogs bands and their friends. I don't think locations were ever discussed but it would probably have been in Tennessee or someplace like that where some of them are already located. That was probably 2002 or 2003. Somewhere in there. The idea was to keep it small.. maybe one or two days and just have every combination of these bands playing over that time period... solo shows, each band doing a show, a Dogs show.. add in Undercover, Riki Michele and anyone else that was available at the time.
It was hard enough that it never happened back then, and unfortunately I think it would be a lot harder now. They may figure out something similar though.. something in the midwest that they can do every year and count on it being there the way Cornerstone used to be.
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05-26-2012 21:02 |
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Ritchie_az
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It doesn't have to be over-the-top or huge. One stage, one day is probably enough. Maybe two stages if there's a lot of interest.
It would be a great way for the fans to see the artists they love and also to be with people who have a similar taste in music.
If the kickstarter thing works ( 
I said if, shame on me!), maybe kickstarter could be used to raise funds for the fest.
It would take someone grabbing and running with this (any volunteers?). I could certainly see it coming together, but probably no sooner than summer 2014.
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05-26-2012 23:07 |
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wayneb
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I guess that we have the same sort of thing here in NZ with the Parachute festival. It attracts up to 25,000 people over a 3 day weekend.
It's been going over 20 years and has followed a similar pattern to Cornerstone in some ways. As the years have progressed they have booked more "big name" bands and allowed for fewer smaller acts. (this year we had Casting Crowns as the big act). Smaller merchandising people have been squeezed out as fees went up.
A lot of the festival is run by volunteers and I know of one case personally where one of the volunteers was bankrupted when some gear went missing and the organisers left him to foot the bill.
The organisers have watched the trends a bit more carefully, however, and when it became obvious that prices were too high and there would be fewer coming in 2012 they dropped prices for families to "whatever they can afford". This meant that we were able to go this year.
So, the festival will go on here and hopefully offer something for everyone. I haven't been to many but have great memories of watching Delerious perform late one evening and casting Crowns were pretty good this year. Meeting Uncle Rand was my highlight this year though!
There's stiil a place for festivals...
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05-31-2012 05:39 |
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sprinklerhead
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05-31-2012 20:33 |
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wakachiwaka
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Yup - I was there at the inaugural fest in '84 too. Thankfully, I do not appear in any of the above footage. 
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06-01-2012 00:34 |
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Ritchie_az
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Are you the clown? 
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06-01-2012 12:29 |
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Ritchie_az
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Was there a trombonist with DA?
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06-01-2012 12:34 |
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Audiori J
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That is Leo Sorentino who played the part of Johnny Jacobs for "New Car."
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06-01-2012 13:12 |
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Ritchie_az
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06-01-2012 13:35 |
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audiori
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Everybody in the band appreciated Leo...
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"A strange fanaticism fills our time: the fanatical hatred of morality, especially of Christian morality." - GK Chesterton
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06-01-2012 13:41 |
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sprinklerhead
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| quote: |
Originally posted by Ritchie_az
Are you the clown?
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Nope. Not the clown and not sure I really want to admit where we come in at haha
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I had another dream about lions at the door
They weren't half as frightening as they were before
But I'm thinking about eternity
And I'm wondering where the lions are...
I'm wondering where the lions are...
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06-01-2012 13:54 |
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sprinklerhead
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Was 84 the year that Steve Taylor broke his ankle?
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I had another dream about lions at the door
They weren't half as frightening as they were before
But I'm thinking about eternity
And I'm wondering where the lions are...
I'm wondering where the lions are...
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06-01-2012 15:29 |
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Audiori J
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Aye Agnus, 'twas the year.
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06-01-2012 16:05 |
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vapspwi
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| quote: |
Originally posted by wayneb
It's been going over 20 years and has followed a similar pattern to Cornerstone in some ways. As the years have progressed they have booked more "big name" bands and allowed for fewer smaller acts. |
While it may be accurate to say that Cornerstone booked a few more "big acts" for Main Stage as the years went by (although they still put bands like Underoath and The Devil Wears Prada on Main Stage, too), it's not accurate to say that they allowed for fewer smaller acts. For as long as I've been going, there have been bands ranging from upstarts all the way up to the Main Stage acts. In recent years, as the fest "formalized" the generator stages to make them a little less random and intrusive, there's been even MORE of an opportunity for pretty much anybody to play the fest.
JRjr
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06-05-2012 15:24 |
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Audiori J
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Well.... fewer that count would probably be more accurate. I mean face it if your budget is $1000... you can either book 50 moderate sized bands at $20 a piece... or 5 big bands at $150 a piece, 10 moderate bands at $20 and 100 lousy bands at $2 a piece. I think it would be fair to say they seemed to go from the first option to the second. Quantity doesn't mean quality.
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06-05-2012 18:13 |
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vapspwi
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| quote: |
Originally posted by Audiori J
Well.... fewer that count would probably be more accurate. I mean face it if your budget is $1000... you can either book 50 moderate sized bands at $20 a piece... or 5 big bands at $150 a piece, 10 moderate bands at $20 and 100 lousy bands at $2 a piece. I think it would be fair to say they seemed to go from the first option to the second. Quantity doesn't mean quality. |
I suspect (and I haven't seen any evidence to make me doubt my suspicion) that you've got a bit of DA-focused tunnel vision when it comes to "quality."
Upthread, somebody posited 2005 as the year things took a turn for the worse. I think I've already listed a bunch of bands from 2005, so I'll pick 2007 totally at random and see who was on the schedule:
The Becoming - surprisingly good goth/glam, My Chemical Romance kind of band
Ruth - new band to me at the time, and I haven't heard anything from them lately, but they were a pleasant find that year
Jonezetta - really dug the _Popularity_ album from these guys; 80s throwback rock, a la the Killers
The Wayside - JJT's roots-rock outfit
Run Kid Run - nice, melodic pop-rock T&N band
Spoken - At about the upper end of heaviness that I prefer, but they're really good live, and surprisingly outspoken about matters of faith for a modern T&N band
Flatfoot 56 - wildly entertaining Celtic punk
Maron Gaffron - great voice, a pleasure to listen to
The Lee Boys - kind of in the same realm as Robert Randolph
David Crowder Band - I'm not a worship music fan, but Crowder's thing is pretty good
tobyMac - yeah, I guess he's part of the problem (big name, mainstream stuff), but I like his shows are a lot of fun
House of Heroes - just a good straightforward rock band
The Violet Burning / Michael Pritzl - separate sets; TVB is one of my all-time favorite bands
Paper Route - one of my favorite new bands of the last few years; I saw them in Atlanta last Friday, and it was awesome
Deas Vail - another really good new band, and I think they were just getting started in 2007
Monk - Ric Hordinski (formerly of Over the Rhine) doing his jazzy guitar thing
Rosie Thomas - not really my thing, but she's charming
Anberlin - another of my current favorite bands
Starflyer 59 - they've quietly been putting out solid album after solid album for years
Leigh Nash - her set was nice, although it was mostly solo stuf with an acoustic guitarist and not Sixpence-intensive
Relient K - tons of fun; I really like them, and they've got some great songs
Copeland - kind of at the wussy end of music I prefer, but they have some nice songs
Over the Rhine - another all-time favorite
All the Day Holiday - I enjoy their stuff - modern rock
Future of Forestry - similar to All the Day Holiday
Mike Roe - Nuff Said
Roe vs. Pritzl - nice collaboration between a couple of old timers
Whitecross - throwback metal
Bride - throwback metal
X-Sinner - throwback metal
Switchfoot - I don't like them as much as the next person, but _Hello Hurricane_ was a solid album
Bloodgood - still more throwback metal
The Lost Dogs - you know these guys
Jeff Elbel + Ping - in the spirt of the old days, I think
Family Force 5 - dumb fun
Leeland - a bit teenybopper, but pretty good
Sleeping at Last - a la Copeland, a little mellower than I prefer, but good
That's almost 40 bands that I, an old guy that grew up on Petra and the Choir, like, and I didn't even get into the stuff that "the kids" really enjoy, like Showbread, mewithoutYou, The Devil Wears Prada, Underoath, etc.
Sorry, but the argument that it's just quantity and not quality doesn't hold water. They've got both - almost 40 bands that I wanted to see or saw and enjoyed, a bunch more that aren't my thing but have their fans, and a ton more stuff besides.
JRjr
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06-06-2012 20:04 |
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audiori
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Its all opinion. One does not outweigh the other. You liking a bunch of bands from the fest doesn't mean that other people have "tunnel vision" or that their view doesn't "hold water." I'm sure Jason can also name a bunch of other (non-DA) bands that he's liked at Cstone over the years. He'd probably name Fleming and John and a number of others. That doesn't change anything.
The fact is a lot of people... not just DA fans... believe that Cornerstone started turning away from its original vision. This is something that I have heard from people chatting around the merch tent.. or at the main stage in between shows. Its enough people that it can't just be "Tunnel vision" or imagined. No one is suggesting that the Powers-that-be at Cornerstone had some kind of ill-intent or were trying to destroy the festival or anything silly like that. Its just that there was a feeling amongst a lot of people that things were moving away from what made the Festival great. On the other side of the token, I'm sure there are people that felt like it was getting better every year. Everyone is entitled to their own perspective and opinion and none of them can be "proven."
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06-06-2012 21:18 |
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