Photos by Michael Naclerio and Chase Olivieri
The Dashboard Confessional an angst-ridden 14-year-old version of me loved so much was the one of The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most and The Swiss Army Romance. Chris Carrabba was just a guy with a guitar and a broken heart. "Hands Down" was just an acoustic track off the So Impossible EP, and Carrabba's outlet was unabashedly emo and indie--two words that were only on the verge of having negative connotations. I never saw Dashboard at that point in my life, and I ultimately grew out of it. But seeing Carrabba live has always been an unchecked item on my bucket list.
So when the opportunity to not only see the band but meet Mr. Dashboard Confessional himself, how could I pass it up? In hindsight, everything is 20/20. I could have.
I didn't go inside for opener Cobalt & the Hired Guns. It sounded like quite the mess from outside the building. And my sources inside confirmed as much.
After a good 30 minutes between sets, Dashboard emerged. The 5-piece outfit established from the beginning that this is not the Dashboard of 2001. The band emerged one at time, building anticipation, with Carrabba coming out last. They kicked the off with "Don't Wait" from 2006's Dusk and Summer. Carrabba, in a fedora and standard tight jeans, moved into "Rooftops & Invitations" from the same album, but then took it back to the band's earlier days with "The Good Fight." The band only featured five songs from the 2006 or later. What plagued all of these, however, was the muddy musical quality. The band just ended a three-month touring break and their out-of-practice status showed, though the quality did improve toward the end. Moreover, it was clear for the whole 15-song set that Carrabba's strength is neither his songwriting nor his vocal abilities. It his earnesty.
But on-stage, the earnesty that characterized classics like "Swiss Army Romance" was not present in his persona. During one song (I'm tempted to say "Remember to Breathe" but I'm not sure) he told a story about a party he was at under the Williamsburg Bridge (BK Cool Points!) where he was making out with some girl. This girl, who was coincidentally from North Carolina, told Carrabba that he reminded her of Rod Stewart because he was passionate and thought he was sexy. Real cool. Too cool. And completely different from the personable, nice guy I met back stage. (Read the interview here.)
All that said, Carrabba did not how to entertain the crowd. All his touring has shown in his mastery of the live act. He had all the gimmicky lines and moves that audiences go crazy for. He played two unexpected but enjoyable covers (Weezer's "El Scorcho" and the ha-ha ironic one, Pink's "So What"), as well as playing all of Dashboard's hits. He struck the right poses, walked into the crowd, got the audience into it and made sure they sang along at all the right moments. Page Auditorium ate it up, but for me, it just didn't feel right. I don't expect Carrabba to stay in 2002 forever, but there's something about that incarnation of Dashboard that will always be right to me.
All in all, Dashboard didn't sound great. Carrabba's stage presence was entertaining to the almost packed Page crowd. Acoustic Dashboard was a hallmark of 8th and 9th grade for me. A regretable but nostalgic period of my life. I'm glad I've finally seen this band, I just wish it could have been in their heyday when it would have been really cool and not ironically cool. Dashboard, keep on rockin'. Just do it unplugged sometimes.
Set List
- "Don't Wait"
- "Rooftops & Invitations"
- "The Good Fight"
- "These Bones"
- "Thick as Thieves"
- "Swiss Army Romances"
- "El Scorcho" [Weezer cover]
- "Screaming Infidelities"
- "Saints and Sailors"
- "Remember to Breathe"
- "The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most"
- "So What" [Pink cover]
- "Vindicated"
- ENCORE: "Stolen"
- ENCORE: "Hands Down"
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