The Showdown (2010)
Returning to the archives for another look at The Showdown. This time from my final year photographing (and attending) Cornerstone Music Festival (RIP) in 2010.
Every summer between 2005-2010, I would make my pilgrimage to a farm in rural Illinois, surrounded by cornfields, to spend 5 or 6 days living out of a tent in more heat and humidity than my British upbringing prepared me for. And this wasn't a small trip, this was the focal point of my year. A chance to see so many of the bands I loved, and to be in community, in-person, with many likeminded friends, both new and old. Seeing bands from all different genres, from metal, to punk, to blues, pop, and occasionally a little hip-hop.
This required saving up, securing a visa waiver, booking flights, arranging for friends to pick me up from the airport, flying our, them letting me crash on their couches for a few nights to get over jet-lag before driving down the final 3.5 hours from Chicago. I had pretty great friends back then. But that was a part of it all, the community around this festival was welcoming, had a DIY and get it done ethos, and always ready to help.
You see, Cornerstone was founded by hippies as a fundraiser for their ministry to the homeless of Chicago. And these ideals of coming together, despite the discomfort, to have fun and help those who needed a leg up, were all throughout the spirit of the event.
And the special thing was that it wasn’t just the fans mucking in together. The bands knew this thing was special and loved it just as much as we did. I couldn't tell you the names of all the artists I ended up connecting with, just having a conversation at the merch tent or running into them at the food court, then being invited up on stage to take photos, or backstage to hang out.
And when I started coming in 2005, I was still fairly newly upon my photographic journey. I was taking photos for fun rather than thinking it would really take me anywhere. But people began to dig what I did, and as I spent time on stage with these bands, people began to recognise me, and eventual by 2010 I was shooting with the media team for Cornerstone.
This was one of the most transformational seasons of my life, and to this day, the community still holds a special place in my heart. I’m pretty certain I saw The Showdown play a set every time I attended Cornerstone from 2005-2010. Looking back at the energy in these photos (and those red and white stripped tents), brings me back, sometimes with a tear in my eye.
