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Another Cornerstone Music Festival has come and gone. Once again, we came, we saw, we conquered. We ran the stage with yet another small budget cut, moved to a new location within the festival and had a new stage partner, Raging Storm Records. In the end, this may have been the most significant year we have had running the EDM stage at Cornerstone. The very first night out, we had over 1500 pass through the stage and for well over half of them, this was their first Afterhours. 

Over all there was an amazing cohesiveness among the administors of the Festival that I hadn’t seen before. Everyone we needed to deal with in order to get things done were absolutely amazing and on fire. This was especially true for Trevor Witilla. Trevor, if you are reading this… thanks again for everything. 

Regarding the venue change, we are no longer in the Barn. As sad as that makes me, it was for the best. We can now set up and break down in about half the time and with fewer people. We have fewer security issues in the realm of people climbing into the rafters, but we did have a few idiots who thought climbing the main support polls of a tent was a great idea. Also… someone did sneak in some alcohol. For once though, the festival security was there and took care of the problem. Grinding though… yeah… still there. Short of going after every one there and standing between them, there isn’t much you can do about that. Sadly, that’s the only way some of these kids know how to dance. 

Beyond that, our new stage partner, Raging Storm Records is amazing. Jason of Raging Storm enjoyed the benefit of shutting down his stage at 9 pm so he could get his family in bed. He was also very interested in what we as Tastyfresh.com are seeking to do in the world of EDM. He should be a great resource for us in the years to come. 

Enough about the venue change, what you really care about is the music right? We had eight acts this year: Ralph Lindstrum of Harmony Network, Sheltershed, Fitzpatrick, DJ Marcuis, Dave Richards, Greg “Stryke” Chin, Kid Kardia and Kevin Oneel of Aesias Finale. In case you didn’t notice, we had a couple of changes in the lineup. Cornerstone would not be Cornerstone without lineup changes. Unlike last year which seemed to be an almost endless sea of tech house, just about every set was in a different genre this year from Gospel house to breaks. If anything, diversity was the word for our stage. 

Each set was recorded and over the next few weeks, we’ll post them. There are two things you need to know about these sets. First, we recorded them via mic rather than line in. On the first night, this was by accicdent. After reviewing the first night’s recording however, we decided that this would give you a better idea as to how the night went. The mic allowed us to pick up the crowd’s reactions and gave the whole recording that “booming” live sound that just makes you feel like you were there. Beyond that, you’ll hear plenty of booth chatter. Because of that booth chatter, you might consider a few of these mixes to be a bit more PG-13 than I would like. Sorry. We’ll try to do better next year.  Cornerstone is one of those festivals where the subculture is much more liberal at times than other Festivals. 

The other cool thing this year were the visuals. Jeremy Kadinger spent almost eight months working on them this year. In the end, he had what I would call retro-punk mets sci-fi. He also consolidated his control rig down to one light controller, one laptop and an AKAI APC-40. With that, he controlled everything from LED lights, gobos, and spots to his two 10 x 5 foot video screens. Through out the week, Jeremy recorded various things he spotted throughout McComb and the Festival grounds. Combining that with an array ofphotos of old computers, synths, tapes and other audio equipment, he created some of the coolest visuals I had seen to date. 

It was with both a relief and sadness that we ended our last show on Friday and started our annual tear down. Throughout the week we handed out 900 CDs, the remaining 100 will be sent out to the donors and artists on the CD. In total, we had had over 5,500 pass through our stage in four nights. We also managed to irritate the Encore Stage next to us. That honestly wasn’t our fault and there wasn’t much we could do about it. The good news is that the bands that we talked to said we weren’t an issue for them and in reality only those who were back stage were effected. Our worst night was Thursday. Skillet and Flatfoot 56 simply kicked our rears a new one with their shows. Overall though, good times. Well have both photos and video up in the next couple of weeks. 

We’re already making plans for next year. The crew at Harmony is already thinking about how to better control the sound next year so we don’t annoy our new neighbors. Jeremy is again redesigning his visuals. Kevin and I are ever discussing the talent. All we need you to do is to contant the Festival and let them know how much you appreciate the Afterhours Dance Club and tell them you want us back. Your support is always welcome. Thanks again for all of your prayers.

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