good day yesterday.
got there at 12:30pm, missed MuteMath. that stunk. well, actually i heard the last 2 minutes of their last song. So i got to see 1% of MuteMath. Saw Sanctus Real at 1pm on the Main Stage they were decent. not overly impressed. It was hot. But the sweat and dust was all over you instantly, and everyone else, so you really didnt care. at 2pm caught some of Lincoln Brewster in the Worship Tent. He was pretty good. enjoyed that.
at 2:30pm, talked to Andy O over the fence in the artist area. Said Hi to Garett and Todd also. You needed security clearance from the President to get to the artist area/backstage. Cliff, Josh, Sarah (Danielle’s replacement for the show), Josh’s girlfriend Elise (their sound engineer), Jeff were all coming from Houston, and not there yet. without backstage passes, i wasnt sure how i was going to get back there.
3:30pm, set up a blanket in front of main stage, Toby Mac just finished soundcheck. Just missed a great Kodak moment of Cliff and Toby Mac embracing as CC took stage for Sound check. i mean, i took the shot with my camera, but i just missed it. arrrgggg.
also a funny note. when i was back by the artist gate, there were about 15 teenage girls waiting for someone’s autograph. finally Toby Mac and someone from his band i guess, come over. The band guy was jet back spiked hair, lots of tats, and big sunglasses on. (Actually, i think it might be his raight-hand man Tobin, after checking his site). Not sure though, becuase he was doing autogrpahs too. anyhoo…He comes over and says “Alright everyone, we only have a few seconds. We will be signing autographs at 9:45 at the store, so if we dont get to everyone now, please understand, we only have a few seconds. Only 1 item each please.” Did i mention there were only 15 people there? highly amusing.
4:00pm, watched CC sound check. Too many instruments and people on stage and creation staff was getting annoyed i think. they should have just let CC run their own sound check. ive seen it before and it is very efficient. when i talked to Cliff on wednesday, we were joking about erica and i making out in the audience to distract him since it’s where erica and i met. so when he saw me from on stage during soundcheck we acknowledged each other with a little wave. then i grabbed erica and planted a big one on her. he gave me the “ehhh, so-so” hand motion and we had a good chuckle. hardy har har.
5:00pm – after sound check i went behind the stage to get some water for erica, saw Jeff Miller on a picnic bench in artist area, he came over and was like “come on up man” and lifted the rope. the security people at that area were sleeping or something. so i am now backstage with no pass. i was chatting it up with everyone for a little bit, rubbed shoulders with Micheal Tait (formerly of DC Talk) when he walked by the narrow area we were standing in, just chilling. finally went out on the sidestage area and made eye contact with erica. borrowed Andy O’s badge and went and smuggled her back to where we were. We literally had to go through 3 separate security checkpoints and i made it through all 3. the spirit of my friend Nate was on me or something. (Nate loves going in off-limit areas like under roller coasters and on the roof of nightclubs and such) everytime i just pretended like i belonged there, flashed andy’s pass, and said “I’m with Caedmon’s Call, she’s my wife so it’s ok”. noone really wanted to let her in, but noone had the courage to stop me. then andy needed his pass back so we were back there, pass-less, which makes erica extremely nervous. she hated every minute of it, but was so nice to me and stayed back there with me.
6:00pm – Todd Agnew is finishing up his set, we are watching from the side stage. CC is having a last minute meeting to decide if they want to include “There’s Only One” in the set list. They’ve never done it live without a “click” in their ear. They decide to not do it, which makes Cliff very happy. We go back out to the crowd area. Cliff tells us to meet him on the side after the set to let him know how it sounded. Meantime Cliff is looking for a new shirt, Andy, and Rann all at the same time. It’s ADD at its finest.
the set was good. CC is not festival music, especially when the average age is 14.4 years old, so the crowd was so-so. the sound stunk for thes first few songs, then got better. Cliff told us later that Elise almost got in a fight with the sound person trying to take over the board. finally they let her do it. big improvement. They finished with God of Wonders (big fan fave as whole festival sang along), Hope to Carry On – which jammed and was cool, and finally Hands of the Potter. The last 3 were the best. Crowd was into them and they finished strong.
after the set we met Cliff. While we chatted, EMTs had to run in to the crowd. they pulled some girl out who looked like she was in shock or having seizures or something. it was scary, but not surprising. it was soo disgustingly hot all day, it must have been from heat exhaustion. then some lady recognized Cliff and came over and said “nice show”. actually a hole slew of people were staring at us while we were talking, which made me feel like a rock star. I asked if anyone wanted an autographed and got 3 laughs and someone spit on me. Cliff apologized for a half-crappy set, said his new boy and Danielle were doing well, and we bid adieu.
7:30pm, We then took a walk to the hallowed ground where we met and soaked in the moment. then laid a blanket out near the empty fringe stage and relaxed for 20 minutes. we decided not to stick around for TobyMac and Smitty and left. Got home at 11pm.
good day.
I am always ready to leave Creation when it’s time to leave. But always so excited to get there when we arrive. IT’s a special place to me, obviously, and at random moments during the day i’ll get overwhelmed with it, and get chills. it’s cool…
until next year.