Has anyone been to a show at the Montopolis Bridge, Austin, TX?

[MetalBryan]

I just heard about this and though Austin, TX is a little far to travel for me I am very curious about how shows happen on a bridge. Any links or info you have I'd be interested.

 

[Glass Roads]

I just heard about this and though Austin, TX is a little far to travel for me I am very curious about how shows happen on a bridge. Any links or info you have I'd be interested.

Is that the bridge where everyone gathers to watch the bats come out at dusk? If so there's a park under there and I would imagine that's where a show would be.

 

[Matt Derrick]

Is that the bridge where everyone gathers to watch the bats come out at dusk? If so there's a park under there and I would imagine that's where a show would be.

nah, that's congress street, near downtown. montopolis is kinda close to where i lived in austin for a bit. i think those shows started happening after i left though. I could see going under parts of that bridge for a show, probably wouldn't get fucked with too much.

 

[MetalBryan]

Here's the video I found. I thought it might be an anomaly that's why I asked. It was one of those internet rabbit hole finds.

 

[train in vain]

Never been to a show on that bridge but years ago when I lived there shows/parties on the pedestrian bridge by lamar were somewhat common. I never really understood how it didnt get shut down immediately we were fuckin raging haha.
What do you wanna know exactly? I can find out pretty quick.

 

[MetalBryan]

Never been to a show on that bridge but years ago when I lived there shows/parties on the pedestrian bridge by lamar were somewhat common. I never really understood how it didnt get shut down immediately we were fuckin raging haha.
What do you wanna know exactly? I can find out pretty quick.

I guess I'm thinking like you - how the heck does a live music show with a rowdy crowd & loud band not get immediately shut down on public land within city limits? I'm curious who would book this kind of show, but one google reviewer commented they saw live DJs so it must be a real DIY kind of event. Don't feel like you have to go out of your way to find out I just figured somebody on StP would be into this kind of thing.

 

[ali]

I don't know anything about this bridge in Austin, but i've been in the underground rave scene and there are ways to get it to happen.

The simplest way is just to do it in a place where the local police force is not equipped to deal with a couple hundred ravers. When the boys in blue inevitably do come to visit, you get them to talk to the most sober and clean-cut person on the crew, someone who can reassure them that the team has experience running this kind of event, that everyone there is a harmless peacenik, that they'll be gone in the morning, all the trash will be cleaned up and let's not waste our Saturday night filling out stacks of paperwork. Most local police will not want to call in a riot control unit to deal with a bunch of kids who don't appear to be bothering anyone and whose parents could turn out to be prominent figures in the community. This approach is even easier if you throw the party on private property whose ownership is unclear, or whose owner supports the event.

If the cops try writing up a ticket to save face, you can also show that there are toilets, licensed security and people with first aid training on-site, which any show bigger than about 50 people should sort out anyway. Maybe don't be selling alcohol over the counter if you invite them to take a look around, however.

More sinister solutions are to have connections on the force or with organized crime to set it up so that the party is left alone, which presumably is paid for by having a resident drug dealer. In those cases party security will kick out anyone who isn't an approved dealer.

On this YouTube in particular, this doesn't look like an all-night rave situation, and it's the social media era, so i imagine promoters can get away with even more. Make sure you have some people around the place filming it. Tell the cops it's a flash mob, you won't just be gone in the morning, you'll be gone in an hour or two. By the time they figure out if you had the permits, event is almost over anyway.

Stuff like this, especially if it's not overtly political, it's probably not worth the police's effort to shut down aggressively. The times we do see videos of riot squads beating ravers over the head with batons gets on the news exactly because it's outrageous police brutality that probably causes more PR problems for the police than it solves any criminal problem in the community.

Last possibility is that the promoters do, actually, have the permits. Lots of cities have room to book out public space for "a cultural event" or whatever, and if the promoters have connections with the city or just know how to navigate the ordinance, it's not impossible to have this kind of "counter-culture" event with all the legal paperwork in place.

 

[UltraDuff]

Yes, I live in the area, know a couple bands that play shows there. Here is what I know - Shows are organized by either the bands themselves or small promoters, and by promoters, I mean either band members or friends of band members. Electricity is usually supplied by a portable gas generator and a small PA system is used. DIY shows like those are pretty frequent in Austin and there are usually volunteers who sign up to clean up/ensure the space is clean and act as a security in case of bad actors. There are also similar type shows held at the Austin high "tunnels", behind the high school, and in a couple "out in the woods" locations outside city limits. Lots of punk/hardcore bands. Some metal, pretty healthy little scene has emerged in the city. Just a few years ago it seemed like the music scene was all psych rock and 60s/70s inspired stuff, so it's really exciting to witness the change. As far as it not getting shut down, it happens sometimes, that bridge however is not in use anymore and is a healthy distance away from residential areas. Everyone is usually ready to bounce at a moments notice if cops show up.

 

[MetalBryan]

Yes, I live in the area, know a couple bands that play shows there. Here is what I know - Shows are organized by either the bands themselves or small promoters, and by promoters, I mean either band members or friends of band members. Electricity is usually supplied by a portable gas generator and a small PA system is used. DIY shows like those are pretty frequent in Austin and there are usually volunteers who sign up to clean up/ensure the space is clean and act as a security in case of bad actors. There are also similar type shows held at the Austin high "tunnels", behind the high school, and in a couple "out in the woods" locations outside city limits. Lots of punk/hardcore bands. Some metal, pretty healthy little scene has emerged in the city. Just a few years ago it seemed like the music scene was all psych rock and 60s/70s inspired stuff, so it's really exciting to witness the change. As far as it not getting shut down, it happens sometimes, that bridge however is not in use anymore and is a healthy distance away from residential areas. Everyone is usually ready to bounce at a moments notice if cops show up.

Thank you that is everything I wanted to know.