Live: Bridge & Tunnel @ ABC No Rio 4.21.12

While it was sad to see The Measure (SA) go the way of the buffalo, NYCers can take solace in the fact that we still have Bridge And Tunnel as our local No Idea franchise. This ABC show was the last local show before the foursome dashed off to Europe for a couple weeks and as it was a stone(r)'s throw from JS-NYC HQ, I figured I'd make the scene. In charming punk fashion, no one could offer any insights into when Bridge & Tunnel was going on, not had any band appeared to have played when I showed up an hour and a half past the start time listed on the flier to the left and in bouncing back and forth, I managed to miss all of the bands before I came back in the room a third time to finally see B&T setting up.

Microphones were not kind to our heroes from the get-go, as Jeff caught a million or so volts in the mouth right before things jumped off. Vocals continued to be an issue for the duration, continuing the time-honored tradition of compression-free underpowered vocals at America's oldest DIY musical venue, but the band was pretty damn tight in the absence of vocals and monitors, blazing through forty or so minutes of recent-era Bridge & Tunnel to a small, but enthusiastic crowd.  New music is rumored to be in the pipeline, but in the interim check out East/West and keep track of all of all other things Bridge and Tunnel here.

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Bridge and Tunnel review up at The Tripwire

Hey Kids:

Review of the new Bridge and Tunnel called East/West is up at The Tripwire, questionable formatting and all. Thanks to Derek Evers!

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Bridge And Tunnel - East/West

I love No Idea Records. They sign solid bands and seem to be straight up good people, plus The Fest is regularly becoming the Fall punk rock mixer for the in-crowd. I wish I was going this year. Speaking totally out of my ass, Bridge and Tunnel mark the first No Idea signing North of the Mason-Dixon line. They are from Long Island, co-ed, and feature an ex-Latterman dude, although it seems a pretty egaltarian franchise. Musically, there's a mid 90s Midwestern vibe, with clean guitars and slow builds to roaring crescendos. Think Crank-era Cursive (without the shouting), or maybe Vitreous Humor, with maybe some Braid for good measure. If you shy away from such things, be forewarned that there are some populist, or at least humanist, politics here. Whether it be the Fugazi meets The Alarm message of Wartime Souvenirs or the somewhat heavy-handed Down For My People Like Joe Carroll, Bridge And Tunnel seem to have their hearts and minds in the right place. Even if you eschew such overtly political fare, when Bridge And Tunnel get all off-time and do the dual vocal thing, you will throw all caution to the wind and be shouting along just like everyone else.

They also seem to have females (and perhaps males) in the band who are bike people. This makes it hard for a band not to be awesome, although I have seen it done. It would appear that Rachel is a wrench and Tia has her own messenger bag company called Vaya Bags. Check out the appropriate links for their side gigs and pick up a copy of East/West here. They are also on tour currently , so look out for them. They play a homecoming date November 8th at ABC. Go see them.