Dashboard Confessional @ ThePalais< Melbourne (08/09/06)

Sun 10th Sep, 2006 in Gig Reviews

Dashboard Confessional may have started out as a solo acoustic project for Chris Carabba, but it has since well and truly catapulted him into the limelight as the poster-boy for the mainstream emo movement. In stark contrast to the earlier “one-guy-with-a-guitar” persona, Dashboard Confessional has expanded to include keyboards and a violinist in an extensive 6-piece lineup.

Before the first notes are even stuck, couples hold each other in anticipation and a chap next me whips himself into an epileptic frenzy, proclaiming “How good is this sh*t?!”

The set opened with tracks ‘Heaven’s Here’ and ‘Rooftops and Invitations’ from the latest album, before drifting into older favourites ‘The Good Fight’ and ‘Swiss Army Romance’. It became distinctively obvious that there would be no respite from the crowd participation synonymous with Dashboard Confessional shows.

Carabba actively emotes his way through each song. Grappling with the microphone, furrowing his Milhouse-eyebrows with tightly closed eyes, he engages in parlance and bravado reserved only for the upper echelon of rock stardom – and the crowd lapped it up. I’ve never been privy to such devoted (or rabid) fandom before. Young girls were reduced to tears and grown men audibly and unabashedly professed their undying love for the frontman.

But I just don’t believe it anymore.

‘Screaming infidelities’ is the flagship Dashboard Confessional song; a distressed ode to an unfaithful lover. There is a desperate anguish to this song as Carabba bares his soul in this emo-anthem. I cannot help but feel that the nuances and fragility of the song is lost when backed by a wall of sound.

Alternating between new and old songs, Dashboard Confessional show fleeting glimpses of brilliance during more tender songs such as ‘Ghost of a Good Thing’ and ‘So Long So Long’ which was delicately stripped down to keyboards and violin.

Surprisingly, the non-album track ‘Vindicated’ was the highlight of the evening, performed with the intensity and acuity the rest of the set lacked.

Closing with crowd favourite ‘Hands Down’ prompted a sing-a-long of Rhapsody proportions. Evidently the majority of the audience emphatically enjoyed the show, as Dashboard Confessional performances now seem to be less about catharsis, and more about entertainment.

There is no doubt that Dashboard Confessional know how to put on a glossy stage show, perfected almost to a fault. This inevitably happens when you substitute an intimate show with an arena extravaganza. However, without the fortitude of heart they once had, I can no longer make a connection to Dashboard Confessional in a live setting.