Caught In The Tunnel Vision at Emo’s

I’ve been fortunate enough to cover Bad Bunny, Beach Fossils, and now it’s come full circle with covering Beach Bunny — quite poetic, to be honest.

The Chicago-based indie-rock band stopped by Emo’s on their “Tunnel Vision Tour”, promoting their album of the same name, released late April. The sold-out show brought a diverse mix of people; most of them, I would say, were in their 20s and 30s, but I saw a few who were older and quite a few younger ones there with their parents.

Bright, pastel colors dominated the show’s fashion, with many wearing boots and skirts to match the band’s aesthetic. The standout fashion item, though, had to be these pink and white bunny ears they were selling; I’ve never seen a more purchased and worn merch item at any show I’ve ever been to.

Shit, for 15 bucks, I almost considered buying a pair for myself. I know I could have pulled them off, too, but hey, had to keep things professional on the job.

After the opener, Scarlet Demore came through with great energy, Beach Bunny went on to play such a lively show that lasted just a little over an hour, playing everything from new tracks to fan favorites, even kicking things off with one of their more well-known tracks, “Cloud 9.”

Speaking of bright, pastel colors, the stage design had so many of those as well, perfectly matching the album’s cute and playful aesthetic.

Led by guitarist and vocalist Lili Trifilio, she was so happy to be there and had such a fun and warm vibe about her. Adorning a pink cowboy hat, she had sweet interactions with the Texas crowd, making sure they were having a good time.

She also commented on a few instances on something I even felt myself in the crowd, which was how insanely hot it was in there.

Now, I’ve been to Emo’s a few times now, and somehow, it always feels significantly worse than being in an outdoor venue in the middle of a blazing hot summer.

I don’t know what it is about the AC’s refusal to work in this place, but I eventually had to move to the back to avoid a devastating heatstroke.

In a way, it worked out better as I was able to get a better vantage point of the sold-out crowd. There were a few times when Lili called for pits to open up, which caught me by surprise as I never thought their music to be a mosh pit kind of indie-rock.

But from where I was standing, the number of people in there jumping and moshing around was much wilder than I expected, and it was awesome seeing so many in the crowd get caught up in the energy of their music.

Closer to the end of the show, the heat slowly crept back in, even though I socially distanced myself from everyone in the back. That’s when my great friend and photographer, Samantha, showed me the one spot in the venue to get the perfect breeze of fresh AC. 

Mind you, this was her first time here, so I have no idea how she pulled this off, but I owe her big time.

As much as the crowd was into the “Tunnel Vision” tracks such as “Vertigo” and “Clueless,” they damn near knew every single word from songs like “Sports” and “Prom Queen.” 

It was pretty amazing to hear how loud the sing-alongs were.

And thanks to Samantha’s life-saving moves, I was fully able to enjoy their encore, especially since they ended with “Painkiller,” my favorite song of theirs.

It’s got a higher sense of energy that gets everyone in the crowd moving, but it still feels like pure Beach Bunny.

I loved seeing them play in this packed-out venue and getting so much love from Austin. They’re just a band that’s impossible to dislike, especially when they’re putting on shows that are this much fun.