Review: Dashboard Confessional and New Found Glory at the Middle East Downstairs
Dashboard Confessional performs "Don't Wait." See a gallery of Jerome Eno's live show photos here.
Chris Carrabba has a lot of feelings, and he doesn't care who knows it. The
Dashboard Confessional
frontman and emo's reigning poster child has been both worshiped and
vilified, in equal measure, for his penchant for raw odes about the
many ways a heart can break. But take one look at the packed crowd at
Dashboard's acoustic show at the Middle East this past Thursday, and
you've got to admit -- whether you love it, hate it, or secretly listen
to it in the privacy of your bedroom -- Carrabba is on to something.
The night's sole openers were fellow punk-poppers and long-time Dashboard friends New Found Glory.
For me, the burning question of the night was whether these boys -- whose shows
are markedly loud, raucous, and enjoyably messy -- could pull off an
acoustic set. The band seemed to echo my skepticism, admitting that
Carrabba had cajoled them into joining this tour. Turns out, we had
nothing to worry about. Dressed to impress (or perhaps to kill) in
matching tuxedo T-shirts, NFG took the room by storm, hitting all their
marks as the audience shouted along. Frontman Jordan Pundik then
introduced Dashboard Confessional, recalling that he "had his first
beer, at age 18" at Carrabba's apartment. For their last number, Pundik
and crew then gave a nod to the holiday season by performing a snappy
version of "The Christmas Song."
When Carrabba and Dashboard
guitarist John Lefler ambled onstage, teenage girls and grown men alike
screamed themselves hoarse. Dressed casually in a brimmed hat and
flannel shirt over a worn grey tee, Carrabba grinned sheepishly at the
crowd, looking a bit bemused by the reception. From there on out, it was
a freaking lovefest in there. The entire crowd swayed, sang, and
practically moaned along with every song. Next to me, a floppy-haired
young guy in a black pea coat (who I initially assumed had been dragged
to the show by a persuasive girlfriend) went apoplectic right from the
first note. I watched as he danced convulsively, eyes squeezed tightly
shut, and sang along to crowd favorite "Screaming Infidelities." Three
burly guys who looked like they had come straight from the office, or
maybe a fantasy football pool, were so overcome (and inebriated) that
by mid-show, they had their arms around each other, mouthing the words
aloud. What is this power that Carrabba wields?
Perhaps it's
got something to do with the set of lungs Carrabba's got on him. His
stripped-down sound invokes some pretty compelling emotions. By the end
of the show, I was succumbing to his thrall myself, singing along to
"Don't Wait" almost as effusively Pea Coat over there to my
right. Carrabba, who started Dashboard Confessional as an acoustic
project, just a boy and his guitar, is at his best without all the
bells and whistles of production. His voice -- strong, clear, and
distinctive -- was made for an acoustic show. Many of the songs on the
night's set actually sounded better in the depths of the Middle East's
low-ceilinged Downstairs than they do on the album. I heard "Get Me
Right," a track off Dashboard's most recent album, 2009's Alter the Ending, for the first time Thursday night; on a later listen, I concluded that it should really only be heard unplugged.
At
the end of his roughly 90-minute set, the crowd was sorry to let
Carrabba go -- and the feeling seemed mutual. He and Lefler took the
stage once more for a much-appreciated encore, playing "Hands Down," a
song the crowd had been howling for all night. Right before bringing the house down with his live rendition, Carrabba described "Hands Down" as a song about "the best day I ever
had in my whole life." It seems safe to say that Thursday's performance
delivered a few fans the best night of theirs.
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