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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?

This past weekend I spent cycling and gearing up mentally for the week that began today and won’t end until next Monday. What is happening in Austin this week, you ask? Austin City Limits Festival!!

This will be my first time to truly experience ACL. I was lucky enough to get to see The Raconteurs and Galactic last year on Sunday because I had some friends that went back to NYC and left their wrist bands loose, but it wasn’t the same as experiencing the whole three day extravaganza. The last actual festival I attended as a paying customer was  Lollapalooza in Dallas, 1994. The festival world has changed dramatically since the early 90’s. I was lucky enough to see Pearl Jam at Lolla in 1992 and it was a scene! They encouraged the fans to rush the stage and WE DID. I jumped and ran over so many rows of seats and ended up on the front row thrashing about with the best of them. I made the mistake of drinking a “smart drink” and between the drink, endorphins and the heat, I ended up throwing up on this girl’s combat boots that I went to high school with. It was a bit embarrassing but that was how crazy the scene was at the front of the stage. PJ busted out their version of Baba O’Riley and it blew me away. I fell in love with them at that moment. I look forward to at least hearing them while working my closing shift Sunday night.

This year I have some bands that I am really looking forward to seeing, as well as letting my future husband, Jack White, know who I am. I can’t begin to tell you how he rocks my world! The Dead Weather are  high on my list to see, but ironically enough, I’ll be slinging tea in the middle of their showcase and will begging, pleading, and bribing ALL of our volunteers to help a sister out!

Bands I will NOT miss:

Sound Tribe Sector 9 (STS9): If you have not seen these guys or even listened to them, back-up the bus, check yourself (yes, before you wreck yourself) because these guys will rock your face right off the bone. STS9 has a full band present on stage along with their computers, and they are literally up there playing their music and mixing/creating all at the same time. Watching the bass player play a riff and then hit a button on his computer and waiting to hear what he just created is mind-bending. Not going to ACL this year? Cool, hit them up at Stubb’s for a fantastic after-show. You won’t be able to stand by idling, you’ll be dancing!

Medeski Martin & Wood: I am not lying, (though music is subjective and opinion based) when I say that these three musicians are some of the most talented guys on the planet and I love that they found each other! John Medeski is a world-class pianist/organist and he can make those keys do things that most people didn’t even know was possible. Billy Martin can take a tiny, toy drum set and make it sound like 4 drum kits in 1! Chris Wood (also playing w/his brother as The Wood Brothers) is one bad-ass bass player-yes, as good as Les Claypool and that is a very high bar to reach! I have seen some of their shows where there were only the 3 of them onstage and I had to keep looking up, as I was sure they had like 10 people up there with them. Even if you’re not into free-jazz, I’d take sometime out and give them a listen. They are also playing at 9am Friday morn at Threadgills and yes, I will be there. I am not missing my chance to see them in such a small place. If anyone reading this knows of them playing any after-shows, please OH PLEASE, let me know!

Bassnectar/Thievery Corporation/Ghostland Observatory: I’ve never seen ANY of these bands play and I am stoked to see what they’ll bring to the table. Will it make me want to move my ass? I am sure of it. Will I walk away wanting more? Oh yeah!

Who are YOU the most excited to see this year?