Cornerstone, Illinois

[re7ard1337]

Has anyone ever been to this festival before? Me and a few friends are trying to decide whether or not we want to go (it's a Christian festival, none of us are really into that stuff, but there is a pretty nice line-up) and I wanted to know if it was worth it. We are from Florida, so it's almost 1,000 miles away, which is why I'm not sure if it would be worthwhile. Opinions?

[xJesusFreakx]

Never been there, but heard good things about it. Bradley Hathaway will be there. Enough said.

[Brand-new-123]

Yes I have. Yes you should.
/thread

[cory-182]

I have a friend from Bushnell. All he talked about was how his graduating class in high school was like 5.

Then I find out about this massive music festival there. Definitely caught me off guard.

[daphnebluestrat]

I've been going every year since '05; I tend to stay away from the main stage (which is the one that tends to host the more "contemporary Christian" sorts of bands) and I'm never disappointed by the variety to be found elsewhere in the festival.

[alexxxisonfire]

Has anyone ever been to this festival before? Me and a few friends are trying to decide whether or not we want to go (it's a Christian festival, none of us are really into that stuff, but there is a pretty nice line-up) and I wanted to know if it was worth it. We are from Florida, so it's almost 1,000 miles away, which is why I'm not sure if it would be worthwhile. Opinions?


I'm from Florida, too. I've gone the last 3 years. We drove from the north Tampa/west Orlando area (Hernando County, Brooksville if you're familiar).

It is worth every penny, no matter how you get there. It changed my life, and I'm not kidding about that, and if you're a Christian, you'll understand.

First year, my friend and I flew. We had a bunch of trouble getting there, flying into Chicago, then into Peoria, then driving the hour from Peoria to the festival. Flying sucks, don't do it. We both missed connections, it was a mess. And you don't want to deal with the Atlanta airport on the way back (which you have to, more often than not).

Second year, we drove my friend's truck, and that was when gas prices skyrocketed (2008). That sucked. We spent $700 on gas because his truck was an Avalanche.

Third year, 5 of us packed into a big old lady Lincoln town car thing and the gas was considerably less expensive, not to mention split 5 ways.

Driving: It took us a total of almost 24 hours (one-way) driving from my house and doing the speed limits, which isn't bad at all. The drive through Georgia sucks and it smells bad. Tennessee is so, so beautiful to drive through. The rest of the drive is kinda boring, but your friends will keep you entertained. We listened to/made fun of a lot of local/talk radio to keep us sane. It was good times.

Flying: don't do it. I can't emphasize this enough.

Staying there: I'm indifferent on camping versus not camping. The 3 years I've gone to Cornerstone, I have stayed at the Western Illinois dorms, about 15 miles from the actual festival. Last year, 2 of my friends camped and the other 3 of us stayed at the dorms. It's relatively cheap, $35 a night for a double room (and yes they check to see it's only 2 to a room). It's communal showers and the pressure isn't great/water isn't very hot. Bring your own towels, toiletries, etc. The dorms are mind-bogglingly freezing. 3 years, 3 different dorms, all blizzard temperatures. If you're a native Floridian like me, bring extra towels to put over the vents if you stay at the dorms because they're so dang cold.

You won't find a hotel room because it's impossible to get one. They get rented out months in advance for the bands. Plus they're significantly more expensive than the dorms, which are actually a good deal and I highly recommend them on that basis.

If you camp: if you're a light sleeper, bring ear muffs or plugs or something. You probably won't be able to sleep. Music starts early and is quite loud, cars are loud, the wildlife is loud, etc. Security isn't an issue, I've barely seen people smoke, never any drugs or alcohol (it's a dry festival, obviously). Get there early to pick a nice tent site because everybody who camps has more than likely been there more than once and has a spot that they like in the middle of the park.

Food: it's carnie food. Really good, but real expensive. There's the local stuff, which is nice, and then there's a Subway station, Pizza Hut, and an awesome pasta place that me and Josh Scogin from the Chariot ate at last year. There's also a small grocery store thing on site, with various toiletries and real fruits and veggies and ice and all that for camping.

Weather: Man, it is so hard to predict. The first year, dreadfully hot and I've lived in Florida for 22 years. A dry hot, not a humid hot like here. Second year, it was absolutely freezing every night. So freakin' cold. This past year was more mild, but the last day it rained from about 8 pm on Friday night all the way through to Sunday. It made the festival a total mud slide. That was a lot of fun. Bring sunscreen, a bathing suit, a pretty good jacket, and rain boots. You might need it all in one day.

Now, I don't want to burst your bubble or anything, but from what I'm hearing, this year is really scaled down in comparisons to years past. So I'm going based on the last couple of years that I've gone.

Stages: It's spread out fairly well. There's your 2 "encore" stages that the big bands that aren't big enough for main stage will be on every night. Go see The Chariot and Showbread. Even if you don't like their music, go see those 2, because every year they do something special for their Cornerstone shows. Last 2 years, Chariot has blown up stuff and had fire breathers on stage, and Showbread has put on a big theatrical production. It's great. Then there's the Gallery stage where they have old people bands and some worship, but occasionally a really good band like David Bazan last year. And when Main Stage got rained out, they moved Devil Wears Prada and Underoath to the Gallery, which was kinda neat. If you go, you'll understand why, seeing as how Gallery is small and Main Stage is enormous. It's such a far walk though to get to main. It's about a 1.5 mile walk from the front encore stages to main stage. I only went down to main once this past year, and that was to see mewithoutYou, who really belong on the encore stage, but that's just my opinion.

They do have golf carts to rent, but they're kinda expensive. Fun to drive though, and makes the main stage trek significantly easier.

But I would definitely recommend going, even if you only go once. I've met so many people at the fest that I still keep in contact with, and it's been the highlight of my summer the last 3 years. Tons of memories made even from the drive up there and back and small things like going out to eat. It's neat too, because the bands are all hanging out, some of them all week. I ate dinner with a few bands, they're always hanging out at the 2 merch tents, etc.

If you have any other questions, definitely feel free to ask. I wish I had this kind of cheat sheet before I went a couple years ago.

[SomedayTheFire]

^ woah

[atarirockstar]

I feel pretty compelled to check this out. Oregon's not that far away..

[OnSale182]

I live in Illinois, but I've stayed away from it so far. The idea of camping at a Christian festival kinda scares me. But maybe one year if the lineup is good enough, I'll check it out.

[Regards]

I live in Illinois, but I've stayed away from it so far. The idea of camping at a Christian festival kinda scares me. But maybe one year if the lineup is good enough, I'll check it out.

Haha, why?

[Brand-new-123]

Haha, why?
Because of people like you and me.

[inthemidst]

Yes I have. Yes you should.
/thread

Seconded.

[inthemidst]

I live in Illinois, but I've stayed away from it so far. The idea of camping at a Christian festival kinda scares me. But maybe one year if the lineup is good enough, I'll check it out.

Yeah, us Christians are pretty scary. We might talk to you about Jesus or try cast out a demon or something lol.

[inthemidst]

why didn't you florida guys just go here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornerstone_Florida

They stopped having Cornerstone FL since 2008. I went in 2007 (I live in Jacksonville), and it was sweet. Absolutely nothing compared to Illinois though. The size of the festival is insanely larger.

[Brand-new-123]

They stopped having Cornerstone FL since 2008. I went in 2007 (I live in Jacksonville), and it was sweet. Absolutely nothing compared to Illinois though. The size of the festival is insanely larger.
Are you going this year?

[inthemidst]

Are you going this year?

I wouldn't count it completely out, but I really want to, though. It's still a few months off, so I have a little time to save for gas/food money during the trip. You?

[Brand-new-123]

I wouldn't count it completely out, but I really want to, though. It's still a few months off, so I have a little time to save for gas/food money during the trip. You?
Yeah man! I'm planning on it. I have to figure out who's coming with me, other than my little brother, because my parents aren't coming for the first time. There was some talk in the Christian Music thread about some sweet hang outs that could go down. I think Regards might be going if he can. Definitely let me know, when you know for sure.

[nickonthecoast]

I'm not a Christian but I went the past two years and had an amazing time. Most of the bands I saw were at the generator stages which are on the ground ran by generators obviously. Plus some of the bigger bands play the really small stages which is cool...so in my opinion, so worth it.

[alexxxisonfire]

I'm not a Christian but I went the past two years and had an amazing time. Most of the bands I saw were at the generator stages which are on the ground ran by generators obviously. Plus some of the bigger bands play the really small stages which is cool...so in my opinion, so worth it.

Last few years, Showdown, Haste the Day, mewithoutYou, Devil Wears Prada and some other well-known bands have all done secret generator shows. Shows like those end up shutting down the main walkway because of how many people show up. Really neat to see bands like those on such a small stage, which sometimes is just the ground.

[awakeohsleeper]

I probably can't get there this year because I'm looking to go to Mozambique to do some work out there. However, I've always wanted to go. But being in the UK, it's quite complicated. Looking at going next year though!

[OnSale182]

Yeah, us Christians are pretty scary. We might talk to you about Jesus or try cast out a demon or something lol.

HAHA. This year, I would literally only be going to see mewithoutyou.

[bard]

my friend saw mewithoutYou a couple years ago play a generator show. it was just [A->B] Life all the way through. said it was amazing.

[LV03]

whats the lineup?

[Brand-new-123]

whats the lineup?
http://www.cornerstonefestival.com/bands.php
It hasn't all been released yet, but those are the confirmed bands so far.

[alexxxisonfire]

my friend saw mewithoutYou a couple years ago play a generator show. it was just [A->B] Life all the way through. said it was amazing.

biggest generator crowd i've ever seen.

[LV03]

would want to see flatfoot & mewithoutyou. I've always heard of it, but never realized it was such a big fest.

[daphnebluestrat]

As of the most recent lineup announcement, I'm definitely going. mewithoutYou, Bradley Hathaway, Flatfoot 56, Headnoise (!!) and Eisley are enough to make it worthwhile for me.

And camping may be the best part...just saying.

[alexxxisonfire]

would want to see flatfoot & mewithoutyou. I've always heard of it, but never realized it was such a big fest.

2007, about 16-18k.

2008, about 14-16k.

2009, about 10-12k, not sure why it's gone down so much.

[inthemidst]

2007, about 16-18k.

2008, about 14-16k.

2009, about 10-12k, not sure why it's gone down so much.

My friend Phee from Fireflight said that it's due to the rising ticket costs, and a lot of the better bands out there aren't truly getting a great deal as far as a payout. It's still worth it though, in my opinion.