It was 2012, I was a spry 28 years old spending a weekend at Austin City Limits in Austin, TX with a group of great friends and music lovers. We walked into the concert at Zilker Park in the early afternoon on a sunny Friday to a band I had heard of but never heard, Delta Spirit.

The song we heard is indelibly marked in my brain as a reminder of that day, that weekend, and the joys that music can bring, bringing friends closer together:

“Tear It Up,” from Delta Spirit’s self-titled third album, was the opening to our weekend of fun and a hell of an anthem. What a memory.

Eight years have passed, and Delta Spirit just released their fifth album, What Is There. I’ve listened to it all the way through a few times, and it’s great. I want to say it’s their best, but I’m still debating whether their self-titled album was better.

Wherever I end up on that internal debate, nothing will take my ears off of “Making Sense,” the first track on today’s mixtape, and on e of the best songs Delta Spirit has made. There’s something to the spacey synth that punctuates this song. It ties together a typical yet great Delta Spirit song.

“The Pressure” is another banger by Delta Spirit on the mixtape. Their energy is infectious and the pace non-stop.

Another thing I’ll never forget from that awesome set at ACL in 2012 was their frontman/guitarist, Matthew Vasquez, in the midst of his band going to town on a hard rock interlude, started climbing the scaffolding on the side of the main stage. Easily twenty feet into the air, high off god knows what (I can’t imagine it was just life at 1pm in the afternoon, but who am I to judge?), he starts dangling with one arm and swinging on the scaffolding.

We’re all witnessing a potential death while also getting to see some crazy rock star shit a la Eddie Vedder.

I remember the look on his bandmates’ faces. They continued to play, but they all saw their future falling before their eyes in the name of rock. Most of them looked slightly bemused. No one was angry, no one was particularly scared. That was Matthew being Matthew, I suppose.

But I’ll remember the energy. The feel of the crowd’s shock, fear, and genuine appreciation of some dude’s craziness and commitment to being a showman.

Vasquez climbed down easily, grabbed the mic, and screamed on.