Saturday July 8th
The Choir vs. Over the Rhine

The biggest topic of Saturday was "are you going to the Choir, or Over the Rhine?"  Becky chose the former; Steve chose the latter.  We both chose correctly.

Before that, however, there was still much to do on the last day of the fest.  The biggest draw for me (Becky) was the Silent Planet Records Day at the Acoustic Stage.  Steve found things to keep him busy also.
 

The indoor stage crowd in silhouette against the bright sun outside.
The first band Saturday at the Label Stage was Earthsuit.  I think these are the pictures.

 
Tidbits - Cornerstone Games:

The Cornerstone Games are another thing that make this much more than just a music festival.  Contests and events are offered in a variety of activities, including 3-on-3 basketball, 5K race, Adventure Challenge Course, Canoe Races, Golf Tournament (new this year), Tug-of-war, Volleyball, Soccer, etc.

New this year was the Skatepark - which was a popular attraction.

Cornerstone Games also offers kids events, like the Goody Gallop, for kids 5 and under.
Below: Chris Parks hugging Godzilla.
The yearly group picture - almost all of us:

Chris Parks, Matt Laswell, Brad (lastname?), Glenn Harper, Trish Patterson, Jerry Ray, Lisa Reid, Steve White, Becky White, LInda LaFianza, Tony LaFianza, Jeff Holland (kneeling)
A few people who missed the group picture - Mattias H (spelling...), Brian Behm, Jeff Elbel ("guitar tech to the stars") above: Lisa Reid rubbing Bruce Brown's head.  We hope Robert's not jealous. :-)
We were late arriving, an thus missed John Fischer's show.  Many people know him only from his column on the back page of CCM - they don't realize he was one of the first musicians in the Jesus Movement.  I remember singing one of his songs in sunday school: "Love Him In the Morning."  Anyhow - he's been making music ever since.  John was the MC for the Silent Planet Records day. The first show I saw at the Acoustic Stage was Matt Auten.  He was quite good - entertaining and fun.
Next came Jan Krist.  Jan's been around for a while.  Before her show, I knew nothing of her.  Afterwards, I was hooked.  Jan's music is touching, intelligent, melodic, and generally enjoyable.  Go find a copy of Curious.  Buy it, and just play it over and over until you realize just how amazing it is.  Jan treats her music as art - and it is very good art.
 Links:
If you're interested in history, or intersted in how christian music and christian music festivals came to be - you might find part of my senior history thesis interesting.  You can find it at JesusPeople.

If you're interested in exploring the topics of treating music as art, or in hearing comments about the state of christian music today - check out Charlie Peacock's book At the Crossroads.  For further discussion of the place of Christian music in the world today, and more importantly, the place of Christians in the world today, I have enjoyed Mark Noll's The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, and John Fischer's What On Earth Are We Doing? 
Links:

The Acoustic Stage on Saturday was sponsored by Silent Planet Records.  Go to their website.  Buy their new compilation album.  Do it today.
Here's Jan.  Many thanks to Chris Parks for telling me about Jan's show, and suggesting that I buy her album.

Phil Maderia and Friends played the Acoustic Stage too.  Shown here is Phil with Steve Hindalong on percussion and Jeff Elbel (Farewell to Juliet).
 Tidbits:

The acoustic stage also featured:

Skatman Meredith
Rick Unruh
Steve Black

 
Saturday evening was the Crossing.  They always play the last night of the fest, and they always draw a huge crowd.  I took an incredibly cool picture of them - but I can't find it...  When I do, it'll go here. The final act at the Acoustic Stage was Terry Taylor.  Terry was joined with a few people you may have heard of - including Tim Chandler, Phil Maderia and Steve Hidalong - shown below. Hints - Shopping:

The last day of the fest, the main music store in the big merch tent often has a sale.  I'm not promising they will next year - but it's worth noticing.

 
Five Iron Frenzy played Main Stage on Saturday night.  The other acts for the evening were All Together Separate, Switchfoot and the O.C. Supertones.

 
 
Saturday night, the schedule conflict came to the focus.  I went to the Choir.  Steve went to Over the Rhine.  Here are my pictures of the Choir.  We didn't get any of Over the RHine.
Steve Hindalong and Derri Daugherty
Links:

Somebody must have taken pictures of OtR - I'll see what I can find.
Links:

Jeff Holland maintains an Over the Rhine website - on it, he included this review of their show.

 
Derri Daugherty and Tim Chandler
Derri Daugherty
Links:

The Choir's new official site.  Their new album is available there.

 The Choir played pretty much everything I wanted them to - lots of old favorites.  The Choir just doesn't tour much anymore - with family and other commitments, that's understandable.  Anyhow, I've been a fan since summer 1999, and this has been my first and only opportunity to see them so far.  Perhaps there will be another chance at a future Cstone! They also played a few new songs - including "Hey Gene" written as a memorial for Gene Eugene.
Hints:

Buy the Choir's new album!  It's great!

 Tidbits:

The Choir was joined by Marc of Common Children.  They have an independent album coming out soon  Watch for it.
Here's "Buckeye" Dan Michaels on the Lyricon.
Dan also maintains the choir's website, and produced their latest album.