Long after the vast crowds of Creation disperse and Cornerstone's dusty campers pack up their belongings and head home, there comes to rural Pennsylvania a smaller festival called Purple Door. Though only two days long, Purple Door makes up for its diminutive length by offering attendees access to nearly forty bands spread out over four stages, as well as an art gallery and a well-stocked bookstore. It comes in late August; therefore, it seems to serve as a final farewell to summer before the kids start heading back to school and everyone else prepares for the autumn weather around the corner.

I arrived at Purple Door 2004 just before the festival gates opened. Already I could hear the reserved excitement as concertgoers wandered about discussing what bands they wanted to see and what merchandise they wanted to buy. No one seemed to pay any mind to the foreboding rain clouds; they were prepared to have a good time rain or shine.

The first band to take the stage was the Evan Anthem. From their lofty perch on the Gallery Stage they welcomed the incoming crowds with a blend of emo and rock. I wasn't overly impressed with their set, mostly because all of their songs have a similar sound, which the astute music fan will realize makes for a rather bland show. Nevertheless, they did do a decent job of opening up the festival.

Copeland kicked off the Friday night line-up on the Main Stage. They played a nice mix of older songs as well as a few off of their newly released cover EP. The band played very well, and they (and the audience) were lucky enough to avoid any rain-related interruptions. After Copeland, Cool Hand Luke was on. Surprisingly, they played mostly songs off of Wake Up O Sleeper, with the exception of two or three tracks from their new album, The Fires Of Life. Cool Hand Luke closed out their set with "Cinematic", which faded very nicely into the first speaking slot of the festival.

Craig & Jake were the speakers for Friday evening. They are a two-man comedy team that incorporates biblical principals into their routines. They challenged those in attendance to live their lives as though Jesus were physically standing there next to you throughout the course of the day. After their set, Cool Hand Luke came back on and led the crowd in a time of worship. Pillar and Blindside were scheduled to play after that, however, due to bad weather conditions, the Main Stage was soon closed for the night.

Saturday morning was slightly chaotic for both the festival and myself. The Stage line-ups were all thrown off because of morning downpours; the festival grounds were covered in a thick coat of mud; and (to top it all off) I got lost on my way back to the festival. As a result: I missed the Brandtson and Anathallo sets, which I had been looking forward to seeing. However, I was able to catch the end of Saxon Shore's show, which proved to be one of the better sets I saw on Saturday.

I made my way over to the HM Stage to catch Squad Five-O. I have noticed that Squad is one of the few bands that seem to put on a pretty decent show regardless of weather conditions, and this was no exception. From the safety of a nearby hill, I watch as mud-caked teens moshed, jumped, and (for a short time) ran-in-circles. Squad played all new songs with the exception of a Dead Boys cover, and though the conditions were less than admirable, they seemed to make the best of the bad weather and tried to get the kids into better spirits.

Denison Witmer played an intimate acoustic set on the Gallery Stage. I use the word intimate because the crowd was just right: not too big and not too small. Denison played a mix of older and newer songs including a few from his newest album released under the moniker The River Bends, all of which sounded very nice.

After Denison Witmer, I was able to catch a part of the Madison Greene set. If you take Creed and mix it with a dancy techno vibe and then add in a backdrop of Gregorian chanting, the result would sound nothing like Madison Greene. They describe themselves as "aggressive acoustic with Celtic tribal undertones", which is pretty accurate. Their primary instruments are percussion and then they have guitar, vocals, mandolin, and just about anything else you can think of playing in the background. All of the instruments synced up very well, and the sound was a breath of fresh air from the typical emo bands that I'm used to seeing at these festivals.

Midway through the Madison Greene set, I made my way over to the Main Stage to catch Lovedrug. If Coldplay had a little bit more rock in their sound, and the vocals were a little bit higher (without going into falsetto) they would sound sort of like Lovedrug. I have seen them play two times this summer, and both times I have been fairly impressed. They are a very tight live act: the piano and guitars mix very nicely together, and the soaring vocals keep the mix interesting from song to song. Lovedrug was definitely one of the better shows I saw on Saturday.

Back at the Gallery Stage, I ate dinner while watching Ronnie Martin rock the synthesizers. If you have never heard of Joy Electric, then you (A) don't like techno, (B) have not paid attention to the Tooth & Nail roster for the past ten years, or (C) all of the above. His set was pretty similar to most Joy Electric sets: if you like his music, you will like his shows; if you don't like his music, you will most likely want to die by the end of his set. For the most part, I like his music, so I was pretty content.

The next show I caught was Further Seems Forever. This was the first time I was able to see them with their new singer, John Bunch (of Sensefield fame). I thought they played pretty well. Bunch's voice has caused a lot of controversy among FSF fans, but I thought he did a decent job. However, the newer songs written specifically for Bunch's voice sound much better than him struggling to hit Chris Carraba's notes. I suppose the new album will really tell if Bunch fits well with the band, but judging solely from this show, I'd say they work well together.

The last band of the evening was Relient K. Just a few years ago, these guys were one of the opening bands Friday night; now they are headliners. How the times have changed. As with all of the Relient K shows that I have seen, their set was characterized by the elated screams of junior high girls all but swooning over the band members. They played old songs, new songs, and even some material off of their new album due out in a few months. Most of it was pretty typical pop-punk, with the exception of a few songs that had some piano riffs here and there. One thing I must admit: they put on a good show for their fan base. Most of their fans are tweens, teens, and parents and the songs that they played were mixed up enough to please every demographic. For sake of clarity: that was meant as a compliment.

Overall, Purple Door 2004 was a nice experience. There were not a whole lot of bands that I was dying to see this year, but there was enough to hold my interest and keep me entertained throughout both days. And though I definitely could have done without the rain and mud, it was not bad enough to ruin the experience. As always, Purple Door served as a wonderful way to close out the summer. And now, as the school year starts for some of us, and others prepare for the approaching autumn, we all have a nice weekend of friends, music, and memories to look back on as we anticipate what Purple Door 2005 will hold. Until next year, so long sweet summer.