Happy’s Top 9 of 2009
By Happy on Dec 30 Filed In Activities, Events, Live Music, Social Media, Uncategorized, Vacation 2 Comments
Well here we are, folks.
The end of 2009 is finally upon us, even if it feels like just yesterday that we were celebrating it’s beginning. This year has truly been an amazing year packed with festivals, traveling, and all-around good times, and since everyone else is doing it, I thought I would reminisce my top nine things/events/moments/trips of 2009 for anyone that’s bored enough to read it.
Here we go (in no particular order):
- Girl Talk at Rothbury Music Festival: Hands down my favorite festival moment of 2009. Before this year, I had never ventured to the land of Michigan, much less a camping-style music festival, and for both of those reasons, Rothbury was an amazing experience. The highlight of the entire weekend was seeing Girl Talk at the Sherwood Court stage at 2 in the morning. Every one of the thousands of people in the crowd was dancing big, but there was enough room not to bump into each other. The music and energy really sucked us in. ‘Til 5AM. It was nuts. My brain a-splode.
Girl Talk making brains a-splode at Rothbury Music Fest
- Sonoma Wine Country: Another first for me. Before I visited and took a winery tour, I never truly appreciated wine. Learning the process up close and personal did that for me. And if you’ve never experienced the wine country, you need to. Its gorgeous.
The vineyards at Ravenswood in Sonoma, CA
- City Museum in St. Louis, MO: Yet another maiden voyage for me this year. Other than Chicago (for Lollapalooza), I haven’t spend a great deal of time in the midwest, but work brought me to St. Louis for Life is Good Festival. I had a few hours to kill before hopping back on my flight back to Austin, so I chose to venture to the City Museum. The best way to describe it is like a giant playground for all ages — tunnels, caves, slides, and other structures made from junk that are all seamlessly put together in the old 11-story International Shoe Company warehouse building. They have a freaking 10-story spiral slide made from the old package chute. Awesome.
City Museum in St. Louis, MO
- Monolith Festival / Denver Trip: Back in September, a fairly sizable group of my Austin friends ventured to Denver to catch the Monolith Festival at Red Rocks, and despite the less-than-perfect weather (constant rain and cold), we had an amazing time. It was almost a religious experience to see some of my favorite bands (and some new favorites) at such a beautiful venue with the world’s best natural acoustics.
Monolith Music Fest at Red Rocks Amphitheater
- Photography: I’ve always been a shutterbug, but this year is the first in which I’ve ever owned the proper equipment. Last winter, I got my hands on a Nikon D60 and haven’t been able to put the damn thing down. Since 1/1/09, I’ve taken over 16,000 photos, 5,500 of which were usable. Yeesh! It’s a time and resource suck, but its a hobby I’ve really come to enjoy.
- Music Music Music Music Music: 2009 was an awesome year for music. For me, it was more about new bands and sounds that I discovered either through events like SXSW or through recommendation of friends. Albums that were on repeat all year:
- Matt & Kim - Grand
- Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
- Passion Pit – Manners
- Rodrigo y Gabriela - 11:11
- Thao with The Get Down Stay Down – Know Better Learn Faster
- White Denim – Fits
- T-Bird and the Breaks – Learn About It
- Astronautalis – Pomegranate
- Twitter: The Twitterverse really took off this year. I never thought I would allow myself to admit it, but, to be honest, Twitter has changed my life. True, I can admit that I’ve become somewhat of a social media whore, but I really believe that it has revolutionized the way people interact and exchange information. The kicker for me has been experiencing this medium translate social media in the online realm into in-real-life relationships, business-related and otherwise. This phenomenon leads me to the next item on my list…
- My friends (the #HTM): Never before have I met such an interrelated group of people who love life just as much as the next person. With a common interest in live music, we’re also all immersed in the world of marketing/promotion in some form or fashion. Looking forward to the future with these cats, and to think we all came into each other’s lives through some extension of social networking. That’s just silly.
- My Tea’m: Majority of this list wouldn’t have been possible without having worked for Sweet Leaf Tea. I know I sound like I’m just preaching the cool-aid, but I’m being serious. The people I work with are incredible, and I’m thankful every day that I get to promote a brand that I believe in. We’ve been through a lot of changes and faced some intense challenges, but its incredible to think about where we’ve come from and, even more so, where we’re going. The adventure continues!
So there it is: My Top 9 of 2009. Looking forward to another great year in 2010, even if I’m doubtful that I can ever get used to saying ‘twenty-ten’.
Happy New Year!
Aw, Happy!! I LOVE this list! Those festivals you mentioned look amazing and you are right, Twitter and the HTM are both pretty freaking rad.
High-five, sir.
What a year! I’m downright jealous of all the great music and places you’ve been. Can you beat it in 2010?