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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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MxPx
Cornerstone Festival Encore 1 July 7, 2000 By Steve White It was like a scene from Being John Malkovich. At least that's how MxPx front man Mike Herrera described the band's set at Cornerstone. Due to some cosmic disturbance, or simply caused by too many overzealous fans, a portal opened up allowing dozens of people to mysteriously pop up on stage during MxPx's midnight show at Cornerstone 2000. The constant barrage of fans who kept landing on the stage was reminiscent of the torrential rains that pounded the festival earlier in the week. But just as festival goers shook the rain off their tents, MxPx played on. Despite the fact security guards were constantly dragging people from the stage, the band put on a tremendous show at Cornerstone. The pop-punk trio from Washington churned out dozens of songs, new and old for an appreciative audience. Often punk bands have a tendency to get a little too carried away--tempos are boosted, vocals are distorted. But that was not this case here. Herrera's every word came through loud and clear. Guitarist Tom Wisniewski and drummer Yuri Ruley filled out the sound nicely, making you forget this is just a three-piece band. Developing
a set list for a show at Cornerstone can be dangerous. If a band focuses
on their recent material, they do so at the risk of alienating long time
fans. Similarly, if they pull out too many oldies, they do so at the expense
of newfound fans. When you consider that Cornerstone is the only chance
many fans will have to see the band this year, MxPx's song selection was
perfect. The trio took advantage of the situation by playing several tracks
from their new album The Ever Passing Moment. From the stage, guitar
player Tom Wisniewski commented that the band shouldn't play some of their
old songs like "Teenage Politics" because their new songs were better.
No argument here, but Cornerstone is a great time to break out some of
the "classics." As a casual MxPx listener, I found that I recognized nearly
every song the band played because they played many of the songs that brought
them to their current level of success. Had they just focused on the new
songs, some in the audience would have lost interest quickly. Among the
crowd favorites were "Move to Bremerton," "Party My House, Be There," "I'm
Ok, You're Ok," and the Bryan Adams song "Summer of '69."
An MxPx show would not be complete without their smash, "Chick Magnet." The swinging bass line sent the crowd into a flurry. After the first chorus, Herrera asked if there were any bass players in the house. A young fan named Kevin answered the call, and took Herrera's bass and delighted the crowd as he finished the song. Despite repeated warnings from security, fans continued to crowd surf onto the stage throughout the show. Most were simply trying to find a way to get on stage. Thankfully, the beefed-up security staff was up to the task, as they successfully snagged most of the crowd surfers. Festival staff members had to stop the show when one crowd surfer collapsed on stage, but apparently it was only a minor problem. It was unfortunate that a handful of rabid fans almost threatened the show for everyone else. Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt, and the show went on and on. In all, the set lasted nearly an hour and forty-five minutes. And when you consider most of the band's songs were less than 3 minutes long, well, you do the math. The band closed out their set with "Punk Rawk Show"--an appropriate choice with the lyrics: we ain't got no place to go
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