Earlier in this series I shared a video by The Crucified at their final show at Cornerstone 1995. A few of the members of that band reformed as the band Stavesacre and became a yearly fixture at Cornerstone Festival.
At 2002, Stavesacre made it to the Main Stage and absolutely killed it. The show was amazing and the crowd was into it. I remember watching the show from the top of the hill and at the end of the show I almost felt like my face was burning from radiation. I don’t generally go for music this hard anymore in my old age, but this was amazing.
Mike Roe tells a humorous story about trying to do an acoustic show next door to them one year at Cornerstone. The overwhelming noise rendered Roe’s show just about useless. “I almost lost my religion that night.”, Roe quipped. He later told Mark Solomon, “it sounded like you were lifting the lid of Hell up over there.” Strong praise from a man that knows a thing or two about playing the electric guitar.
I also watched this show from the top of the hill. (Imagine that.) I think this was the first full Stavesacre set that I saw, and the set could indeed be described as “blistering.” I’ve got most (maybe all) of their CDs, and I saw them again last year, but none of that comes close to capturing the live energy of this show.
Salomon is always entertaining to watch – he’s got great stage presence. The rest of the band indulges in some good synchronized rocking, as well. This is probably my favorite song from the band (or maybe “Gold and Silver” or “Minuteman” or their cover of “Fascination Street” – _Speakeasy_ was a killer album). Not sure what their current status is – I think “mostly defunct” probably covers it.