Rain fell hard last night so many tents were flooded and washed out. The rain slowed down a little bit, but it didn’t dampen spirits too much. By the end of the day, the infamous “mud children” i.e., kids who couldn’t resist sliding through the mud and walking around covered head to toe in it, were making their appearances on the grounds.

The big news of the afternoon was that the Main Stage acts of the day were moved to covered tents for the evening. War Of Ages and Living Sacrifice played at the Encore 1 stage while The Devil Wears Prada and Underoath played at the Gallery Stage. This had happened before about 14 years ago when the Main Stage was too wet to be safe and those shows are still talked about years later. I suspect that it will be the same case this year.

There was a lot of fun to be had early in the day, though. Seabird started out the day on the Indoor Stage. This piano-based band sounds great and they will be performing later in the day, so I made sure to plan to see them again. Afterwards, a large crowd was present for The Classic Crime as they delivered a high energy show. The last band we saw on the Indoor Stage was The Fold who actually delivered the first full Micheal Jackson cover of the day, playing Billie Jean, complete with a kid brought onto the stage to do MJ’s moondance. The band threw beach balls into the crowd, which after hitting the muddy floor, managed to spray every one with mud as they flew around. Good times.

After dinner, I dropped by the Label Showcase Stage one last time to see a little of the Everything Burns Showcase put on by the band Shirock. I stayed long enough to see The Fold play a couple of covers before heading back to see the last shows of the festival. The Gallery tent was overflowing with throngs of people at the The Devil Wears Prada and Underoath. I haven’t seen many shows that full and I’m sure inside it was chaos. Strobe lights blasted the night sky and the ground thudded from the bass. I caught a little bit of it, but there was some other music I’d rather see. I finished the night with Nitengale and Seabird at the P12/Grrrr tent, just a short slide through the mud from Gallery Stage. Nitengale comes all the way from Fairbanks, Alaska via Nashville. Seabird took the stage next and played everything they knew. It looks like the venue was willing to give them a little more time, but they were out of songs!

So, now I’m home from the long drive back from Cornerstone and just starting to sort through my photos and CD’s from the week. It’s been a great week and the organizers of the festival should be saluted for once again giving us a music and arts festival that just barely kisses the edge of chaos, but at the same time gives us the freedom to enjoy music in whatever manner we like. Whether it’s moshing in a pit of crazy kids, sitting in chairs in the back, taking photographs, journaling, or hanging out with our friends before they turn up the amps and crank it to 11 on a stage powered by a generator on the side of the road, I think everyone enjoyed Cornerstone in their own way. Yet, through all of it, things go mostly on schedule and everyone stays safe and has a great time. There really isn’t any other event like Cornerstone Festival, it’s a surreal week. Every year I don’t know if it will be my last, but I hope that it is not.