Jesus was a rebel: he overturned the merchants' tables disobeyed the authorities, and if he appeared now, he would become the front man of a band that plays hardcore punk.
At least, visitors of the Audiofeed festival, a Christian festival dedicated to hardcore and evangelism, are sure of this. Photographer KC McGinnis traveled to Illinois, attended the event, imbued with its atmosphere and made a series of photos for The Guardian.
A fan makes selfie against the backdrop of the performance of the Christian metal-band Grave Robber
McGinnis is not just some visiting correspondent on a mission who is not in the subject and came to Audiofeed for the sake of exoticism. Since childhood, he himself has stolen about Christian metal and hard rock, on which his own evangelical parents planted him. In his youth, he did not notice any contradiction between the Bible and the spirit of rock and roll, as, however, does not see it now. According to him, Christian rock allowed him to feel unique and feel the spirit of adventure. So he came to Audiofeed with a baggage of nostalgia and a desire to look at a new generation.
Landon, a 17-year-old transgender who came to Jesus in moshpity in 2015, and in moshpite 2016, he recognized himself as a person combining both sexes. In 2017, he oversees the performance of Dave Bazan.
Chris Lane, Headrush frontman
The new generation did not like metal and hard rock, but hardcore and post-hardcore, but McGinnis seems to be a normal evolution of the movement - even more protest, even more fun.
Heather Vaught with her daughter, Maybelle. Identifies himself as a Baptist and punk.
Party with beer. It ended rather quickly, as alcohol on Audiofeed is prohibited, and the guards dispersed the violators.
Since 1984, for any band playing hard rock and inspired by Jesus, the ultimate dream was to be at the Cornerstone festival. It was a separate world and, in general, a separate subculture. In 2012, the Christian fest rested in the Bose, but Audiofeed immediately took its place, so you do not need to worry about the movement.
Label worker Blood & Ink, also pretty drunk and dumped in the pool
Audiofeed makes a strange impression. The phrase "Christian hardcore-fest" makes you think about crazy clergymen who have gone too far in working with young people, or about punks so beaten off, that they do not care where and how to make slam - at a mass or at a concert.
Lucas Wright from the band Manic Drive washes away make-up from the face after the concert
In fact, everything is even more strange. There was a place for charismatic preachers, elderly flabby rockers, transgender people and moms with crying children, and tattooed punks who consider Jesus to be a role model.
Rachel Wolgamuth attaches Stella's daughter to Christian hardcore.
Donnie and Nancy Loughney from Ohio. Both regularly attend Christian hardcore and metal festivals since the 1980s.
Jesus Piece - February 11, 2017
To make it clear that Christian hardcore can be quite tough - the performance of Jesus Piece in the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia.
It may seem incomprehensible how such festivals and Christian hardcore appear at all. However, there is one thing: real punks must be audstaydery and absolute nonconformists, while atheism, which is widespread even in the Bible belt of the United States, ironically is often a manifestation of conformism. So hard-core punk-savvy youth - these are real outsiders who did not give a damn about the opinions of other rockers, and, often, about the opinions of their religious community. "Jesus was a rebel, man, Jesus was a rebel!" - they repeat.
The illustrations are used in agreement with the Depositphotos photobank
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