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Have you ever “discovered” a band that had actually been around a long time, but for some reason or the other, you avoided it like the plague? The Gorillaz were just that band. I have friends that really dig them, but I guess I just didn’t give them a chance until they started popping up in my Pandora stations in recent years. You’d think as much as I love me some new wave, that I’d be totally interested in any band lead by Blur front man, Damon Albarn. Well, now I am. In fact, he’s my latest crush, right up there with Lorin from Bassnectar, James Murphy and Jack White. The dude is a genius. But more on that in a moment…

When I saw that they were coming to Austin, I jumped on the chance to pay a lot of $ to see them with some friends, fearing that it could be my only chance. Without studying up on them and being happy with the amount of music by the cartoon-character lead band that I had heard, my roommate and I headed out on our bikes to the Frank Erwin Center. DANG! After N.E.R.D. got the crowd going, the stage lit up in blue with giant letters that spelled out the band name, the cartoon story and music began and soon we were all looking and listening to a GIANT Snoop Dogg welcoming us to the world of the Plastic Beach.

From this moment on, we were completely captivated and engrossed in this fictitious world full of 2-D, Murdock, Noodle, Russel, Bruce Willis and more. Have you ever been lucky enough to see Pink Floyd live? They work really hard to get you to focus your attention on the music and the show as opposed to what they are doing on stage. I got the feeling that Damon Albarn prefers to operate the same way. As the man behind the curtain, Damon is able to control every bit of what we, the audience see and hear coming from the stage. There were so many musicians revolving around that it became impossible to count everyone up there and Damon was the one responsible for orchestrating the whole show. It was mind blowing. While dancing and watching the show my thoughts kept drifting back to work and the wonderful world of marketing. Why is this happening when I’m surrounded by my friends, incredible music and a complete spectacle? Because the Gorillaz are a brand and the Maestro makes sure that you and everyone present know who’s world you are entering. The giant screen had some of the best animation I’ve ever seen and mixed throughout all of the cartoons was the name, “Gorillaz”. At one point, towards the end of the show a giant, “I <3” flashed on the screen directly over the branded marquis. Was this sneaky? Maybe, I looked around when the “I love Gorillaz” sign flashed to see if anyone else was excited as I was by this surprise and uber intelligent branding, but apparently I was the only one in section 62 that appeared even outwardly aware of this amazing marketing. And yes, I was clapping like a crazy person. Crazy-in-love with how ridiculously savvy Damon is where branding is concerned. If you were there did you notice the overt branding? If so, were you offended by it? I wasn’t offended at all and actually became even more in-love with the Gorillaz and feel like they helped take the folks in the audience from “fans” to “family friends” in one set. Can you name another band that has successfully pulled that off without making you gag? I honestly can’t.

As a person who admittedly went into to this pseduo-blind, not only was I blown away by the (easy) marketing efforts by Damon and The Crew, I was also completely moved by the two last songs that went together, “Don’t Get Lost in Heaven” coupled with “Demon Days”. Just writing about this song, all of the hair on my arms is standing on end and I honestly feel like it was a life changing song. (It’s going on my “Mid-Life Crisis” mixed “tape”. Yup, that’s how rad it was!)  How many times in your life do you come across a brand, a band, a song or a person that seems to show up just when you need them to? This is one of those times and I’m glad that I could be a part of the show/life-changing event.

Curious about the set list? Check out what my buddy @AustinBloggyLimits had to say and share. Also check out the photos that the rad folks from the Austinist posted.

Thursday the 12th I skipped the sacred Thursday Night Social Ride to hop on a plane instead. I was whisked away to Denver Colorado, home of GREAT summer weather, beautiful mountains, lots of great bike trails and Mile High Music Festival. The whole weekend I lived by my friend Jeff’s advice: if I get lost, look for the mountains; they are always west. Every time I was lucky enough to face them, I smiled.

I flew in Thursday night so I could spend Friday rolling about the greater Denver area on two-wheels, soaking in the town before hanging out and jammin’ to music Saturday and Sunday. My goal was to leave the cute little city of Wheat Ridge and head into downtown Denver, hop onto the Cherry Creek trail and then do the Cherry Creek Reservoir Loop, but once you get rolling through strange territory, anything can happen!

I met the nice folks over at Wheatridge Cyclery for some essentials and then headed on my merry way to cruise through town. The ride was deliciously flat and I couldn’t help but smile the whole way to downtown Denver. All of a sudden I was there and there were bike lanes, bike signs, riders and even the beginning of a trail system that went all over the place. I took some pictures and then headed along the trail. I realized that I had no idea how to get on the Cherry Creek Trail and threw caution to the wind and just headed on a trail hoping for the best. I wrapped around an amusement park that was like Six Flags and then Mile High Stadium and then I got a flat tire. No big deal, as I was prepared..but then a dude rolled up and like a pit boss, changed my back tire in seconds flat. He directed me to the correct trail and I was off again and, “POP!” it blew, again. Womp-womp! I started changing it myself and blew the C02 cartridge up in my hand and that was all the C02 that I had. A nice guy rolled up in a Parks and Rec truck and took me and Joel’s bike to Salvagetti to get a new tube. I got all fixed up, and rolled back out on my jaunt to the reservoir. I got about 8 miles from my destination and decided that I needed to cool off in the creek and then decided to forgo the reservoir ride (I was already over an hour off schedule to hang out with my buddy in Boulder) to hit up Snarf’s Sub Shop since I hadn’t had lunch yet and it came so highly recommended. Met more cool people on my way there, including the guy working at the counter named Cameron who is from Austin and can’t wait to come say hi during ACL and share a Mint & Honey Green Tea with me. Gotta love connecting with cool peeps!

Saturday morning I went to meet up with a friend that I hadn’t seen since the 11th grade and we headed to Mile High Fest. Whole Food Market’s Rocky Mountain Region Marketing Goddess, Lauren Craig hooked SLT up by having our products in the artist lounge back-stage in a little make-shift grocery store. You could get free EO Hand Sanitizer, fresh fruit, mini Lara Bars, Sweet Leaf Tea and more! It was awesome! There is nothing like being at a festival and getting to eat fresh peaches, apples and oranges instead of craptacular concert food. Since Granny was not the Belle of the Ball, (cus other brands were the actual sponsors) I had to dump a little bit out and order shots of vodka (sadly, not Tito’s) to pour into my bottle. Come on, it’s a festival, and my vacation, so don’t judge!

Band-wise, I was stoked to see The Constellations (lead singer has a little bit of Jim Morrison in him and I suspect we’ll be hearing more good things about this band in the future), Cypress Hill (these guys have not mellowed with age and I must say that I enjoyed myself immensely from my perch on the side stage), Steve Miller (who was sort of disappointing and I’ve seen him like 3 other times), Phoenix (who played the one song by them that I really dig, “Funky Squaredance”) and I attended the after-party much later that night at the Larimer Lounge to see Boombox spin a DJ set. It was a one awesome dance party in that little joint. I had a great time but it was time to get to bed for another day of music fun that was set to include my buddies Ozomatli and my super-secret boy friend, Lorin from Bassnectar.

PHOENIX : FUNKY SQUARE DANCE LIVE FRANCOFOLIES LA ROCHELLE
Uploaded by artemis181. – Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

Sunday’s musical offerings included fun sets by Drive by Truckers, Ozomatli (I am not sure if anyone in the music biz can out run these guys. They might even beat the Energizer Bunny!), Boombox, the legendary Jimmy Cliff, My Morning Jacket (listened to these guys from the media tent while the bright-Colorado sun was starting to droop and the breeze started to kick up. It was pretty blissful.), Bassnectar (Lorin never disappoints and this set was no different. The crowd went nuts for them! The bass in your face and in your ear holes is always a beautiful thing.) and the one band I was planning to avoid who I enjoyed a little of was Dave Matthews Band. DMB’s jammy stuff was pretty cool, and since Denver was being hit by a wind and lightening storm at that time, sitting on a hill, alone behind the stage listening was absolutely amazing.

After the show, Jeff and I hit Steuben’s for a late meal thanks to Joel and his buddy John for suggesting it to us (seeing their food truck at the festival helped too.) because their menu of upscale comfort food and fancy cocktails was exactly what I needed after 2 days of music, and a wonderful vacation.

What a great way to end the festival and one incredible weekend. Did you go to Mile High Fest? If so, what were YOUR highlights?

During ACL 2009, I fell head over heels in love with Bassnectar, so when I heard they were stopping by Stubb’s here in Austin 5/29, I knew that it was a show not to be missed!

I have been working hard to start a conversation with Lorin on Twitter to see if I could bring some tea to share, and after asking the awesome folks that help run the Bassnectar Facebook page whether or not Lorin runs his own Twitter profile or not.  (he does!) Not long after my FB question, I was followed by the AWESOME Miss, Lia Holland! Lia is Lorin’s hard-working, bass-lovin’ assistant who sent this tweet to me:

Does a bottle of Sweet Leaf Tea have a picture of Granny on it?!! Heck yes, I want to bring tea to the sound guy, Trevor! I already had tickets, so swinging by before the show to drop off a case of Original for Trevor and a mix case of Citrus Green and Mint & Honey for Lorin (he’s a green tea fan, but turns out he’s like me and digs unsweetened tea much more) would be no problem. Not only did I make the tea drop, I was invited to stick around for the sound check and was gifted a VIP pass for the show!! Have you ever attended a sound check before? I hadn’t either and it was literally like sitting in on my own private concert. It was absolute bass-bliss!

After watching Lorin and the crew work on the sound and visuals (Michael-your lights and video RULED!), I met up with some friends to have a bite to eat over at Parkside before coming back to the show and missed the opening acts (DJ Manny and DJ Haj & band). I got settled into my little spot up above the insanely-dense crowd and got ready to dance. Ohmyheavens, the bass was easier to deal with than at ACL (my eyes were not rattling around in my head this time) and the view over the crowd was awesome! I was able to see, take some video (might get posted at a later date) and absolutely GET DOWN! Have you listened to Bassnectar before? For me it conjures up images and feelings that I associate with Halloween. It’s heavy yet fun, and has some really dark, scary stuff weaved in under the surface, sometimes it’s absolutely beautiful, and other times it’s sick and twisted. Almost spooky-sounding.  If you’re really paying attention to all of the musical nuances, you will be blown away by just how much work and production must go into the music he creates. He has his own jams as well as remixes of some really great songs. Two of my favorites that he just recently put out AND played live in Austin is the Pixies “Where is My Mind” and Metallica’s “Seek and Destroy“. (Please LISTEN/DANCE/THROW STUFF AROUND YOUR ROOM!!) WOW-ZERS! Lorin got down and entertained the huge crowd for OVER 2 hours without a break. Did you just read what I typed?!!? Over 2 straight hours of bass-bending music without a break!!! I watched him crouch down behind his decks to drink 2 bottles of water at a time. It made him even more endearing.

Sometimes there are events in our lives that are so gut-wrenching and ugly that they over-power the smaller, AWESOME things that have happened in a year. This theory basically sums 2009 up for me.

As opposed to reliving the not-so-cool-parts of 2009, I’d love to share some of my favorite things about the last year with all of you.

1. My 1st ACL Fest-Complete w/crew passes to better see Lorin from Bassnectar throw down the sickest beats and tracks this side of the Mississippi! Did I mention that he seriously rocks my world? I even got a response from him on Twitter. (Pitter-patter goes my music-loving heart!)

2. MS 150-This was THE event that helped clue me in that I belong @ SLT. A free entry for a bike ride that exceeded my expectations in every way possible. Is there anything better than doing something you love (riding bikes) while helping others?

3. HiMA Interactive Strategies Conference-True validation that Sweet Leaf Tea is on the right track in the social media realm. I was proud and excited to have been asked to represent and enjoyed every moment at this event!

4. Shiner Gasp-I had a calf injury that still didn’t stop me from riding my first century ride! It only took 12 (painful) hours to ride 103 miles and I hope to be ready for it again this year!

5. Fun Fun Fun Fest-I loved winning PIP status for this festival, but even if I hadn’t been given the golden ticket, it would have still rocked. So many great bands played, both old and new. Secret highlight? Seeing Danzig perform “Twist of Cain” and my husband saying, “I had NO idea you liked Danzig that much!” I let him know that there were several things he didn’t know about the 15 year old April. There’s more to me than The Cure, that’s for sure…

6. SXSW-Roller skating, legendary bands (Echo & The Bunnymen, Peter Murphy, Primal Scream to name a few..) partying till 4am, free booze, good friends, new music, and plenty of Sweet Leaf Tea to round things out.

7. Improved Blogging Skillz-Have you re-read my first blog post for SLT? Oh my! I have come a long way and I think I can speak for our whole Marketing Tea’m here that all of us have really grown our writing skills!

The highlights here are only a “taste” of the coolness that came with the rest of the 2009 shenanigans. The good and the bad all equal one thing: I’m looking forward to a new start and all that 2010 A Tea Odyssey may bring!!

**I’d like to dedicate this post to Happy who forced me to remember the bad-ass things that 2009 offered me this year. You’re totally right Happy, thank you!

I also wanna thank Home Slice Pizza for the lunch-time blogging inspiration today. I needed it!

What are YOU looking most forward to in 2010?

Ahh yes, It’s Wednesday and our whole office is fighting some kind of infection and are still trying to recuperate after our long, fun, hard-working weekend. Was it worth it? You better believe it!

Here’s a list of the shows I saw & loved:

Medeski Martin & Wood, The Wood Brothers, Bassnectar, Thievery Corporation, The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, STS9, Ghostland Observatory, the B-52′s and last but not least, part of the Dead Weather show.

I was very lucky that my “Credentials” blog won me a crew pass for Friday. What did this mean for me? I was able to see MMW, and Bassnectar from the front of the stage as well as getting to dance my ass off at the back of the stage. I also got to see Thievery Corp from up above them on the stage. It was a great view as they had many folks performing at one time and without the video screens, it would have been hard to see all that was going on.

Out of all of the bands I saw this past weekend,  there were 2 that absolutely blew me away: Bassnectar (Lorin doesn’t know it yet, but he’s my new boy friend) and Ghostland Observatory. I have seen Pink Floyd (Division Bell Tour) many Cure concerts (1990-2007), several raves, Phish a few times back in the 90′s, and Ghostland has now moved to my top 3 favorite shows EVER! Not only did their light show just about short circuit my brain, the showmanship that Aaron and Thomas bring to the stage is absolutely incredible. It’s really hard to fake that level of enthusiasm, so I have to assume that those two were enjoying their show as much as the crowd was. Because this was my first time to see them live, I had no idea, that my ABSOLUTE favorite song was a fave for lots of folks, “Silver City”. I kept thinking to myself, “oh, I guess it’s not popular enough for them to play live.” Can you imagine my surprise when they announced it and played the first note!??!?! I am getting chills sitting here just thinking about it. A space cleared where Wendy and I were standing and we were able to dance like maniacs, and it felt great!

Here’s a great review I found of their show.

What live shows have changed YOUR life?

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