Truth be told I am not a huge fan of Dashboard Confessional aka Chris Carrabba but I totally understand his appeal to fans who were teenagers when the band was popular. A decade ago I recall reviewing its third album – A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar – and songs like “Hands Down” and “Rapid Hope Loss” represented the critical and commercial apex of Dashboard Confessional.
Even though this performance at the Shine Auditorium was Carrabba’s second solo acoustic show in Singapore – the venue was teeming with twentysomethings who were at the right age (teenage) to appreciate the angst-ridden emo songs that Carrabbas specialized in .
Of course, in the ten years since, Carrabbas has moved on musically but just for tonight, he indulged his audience with renditions of his earliest classic material – “The Sharp Hint of New Tears”, “The Brilliant Dance”, “Again I Go Unnoticed”, “Saints and Sailors”, “Screaming Infidelities” and more. Carrabbas included two new songs from his new band – Twin Forks – “Back to You” and “Cross My Mind” which reminded me of the country-folk-pop of Mumford & Sons, which is presumably Carrabbas’ latest direction.
Throughout the set, the audience lapped it up – singing along and Carrabbas indulged this activity by simply providing accompaniment – which is fine for a song or two but repeated multiple times seems ridiculous when you consider that this is a ticketed concert and not a karaoke!
Carrabbas saved the best for last – an encore that invited the audience to join him on stage for the inevitable “Hands Down”. For the diehard fan, the proceedings were like a taste of heaven.
Thanks to Sprout Entertainment for making this review possible.