Go ahead, all you music snobs out there. Judge me — I can take it. I will say it loud and clear. Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional is still insanely talented and his show was amazing. Deal with it.
Thursday night, former Dashboard Confessional frontman Chris Carrabba played an astonishing 24-song acoustic set at the Bottom Lounge. The majority of the crowd may have been older than 25, but that did not diminish Carrabba’s talent. It also did not affect his sex appeal, that’s for sure. Various demands to strip were met with humble shakes of the head the entire night. Cue collective concert swoon.
Carrabba’s set followed five songs performed by Jarrod Gorbel, another former frontman, of the band The Honorary Title and an old friend of Carrabba. Skinny jeans and swoopy hair aside, it was clear Gorbel is trying to branch out from his emo kid past and extend into a more country feel. Despite not playing well-known songs, his strong voice and sense of humor were enough to hold the audience’s attention. Gorbel joked that “Impressions” was written about his battle with the automatic toilets backstage before the show. Poking fun at his own lyrics, Gorbel asked the crowd, “Aren’t they all overdramatic assflushing love songs?”
Since forming in 2000 in Florida, Dashboard Confessional has released six albums and one EP, leaving Carrabba plenty of material to choose from. His set list was made up on the spot and fans had a huge influence on what was played. After fans badgered him for “Hands Down” about five songs into his set, he responded, ”The show’s not over yet!” Though I was impressed by high variance in album choice, much to my disappointment, not a single song was played off of The Shade of Poison Trees. Considering the album's acoustic vibe, it was a surprising that not even “Where There’s Gold” made the cut.
“The Sharp Hint of New Tears” did a better job of warming up the crowd than the show’s opener before it, “Living in Your Letters”. It was a definite crowd-pleaser and the pent of teenage angst was practically tangible inside the crowd.
However, the real energy boost came with “Again I go Unnoticed” off of The Swiss Army Romance. The quick guitar chords got the drunken hecklers behind me to start dancing and I swear every single person was screaming every word of the chorus.
Carrabba broke up his massive set with four covers, all pretty random but still enjoyable. Plucked from relative obscurity, The Replacements’ “Skyway” and “Web Up Front” by Archer of Loaf were interesting choices for Carrabba’s high-pitched voice. Carrabba even managed to sneak some of Say Anything’s “Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too” into “Swiss Army Romance” as a build up to the final chorus. An album of the cover songs was available for purchase and is not being sold anywhere else but on this tour.
Two new songs were debuted, though there are no plans as of yet for an original solo or Dashboard Confessional album. “Cold Comfort” was sad and sweet with a building guitar that raised his voice to the point of cracking. It was obviously still a little rough around the edges with an awkward transition into an extended guitar solo, but the sincerity of his delivery was heartbreaking. “What’s Done Is Done” featured a very similar guitar style to “Cold Comfort”, but the lyrics were slightly more bitter and seemed to recall a young love made fresh again. Carrabba sang it with a sneer as he got the audience to latch onto the new chorus and sing along.
“Remember to Breathe,” though not a song I particularly enjoy due to its downright cheesy lyrics, silenced the crowd into awe. His crew watched dreamy-eyed as Carrabba whispered “Be okay” into the mic. I will even admit I may have gotten teary-eyed. For someone who has probably played this song hundreds of times, his emotion in it was so sincere it was almost uncomfortably intimate.
As to be expected, Carrabba finished the night with “Hands Down” much to the happiness of his loyal fans. There was no need for a microphone, as the audience had the lyrics taken care of. Whether they even wanted to hear Chris sing the lyrics or sing them to him in allegiance was unsure, but they enjoyed it either way. From the smile plastered on Carrabba’s face, it was clear that he was enjoying it too.