Dashboard Confessional: An Evening of Confessions
Live at Gibson Amphitheatre, Universal City, California
July 13th, 2006
I was trying to endure another summer night where the humidity hung heavy on the head. Everyone in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley made a deal with the devil and almost all of the bets were off. One bet that was on was the earth-shattering lineup at the Gibson Universal Amphitheater where Dashboard Confessional would occupy the stage for an intimate 2-hour spooling of positive musical energy and lyrical drama. I grabbed a cold beverage with a lovely lady and went into the performance hall to find my perch for the evening. The curtains sprawled open for the first two acts, Ben Lee and Say Anything, as they ravaged the stage with their genius. The crowd’s smiles and screams rose like a tidal wave and crashed throughout the space. In support of the latest installment, Dusk And Summer, Dashboard Confessional, the band was ready to make confessions.
A large white curtain screened the front of the stage and a great white light shined through it. A low oscillation caused a tug-o-war between the music-connected bodies. Dashboard Confessional frontman, Chris Carrabba, takes a confident stride to center stage and lets out a stir of heartfelt words whilst the band enveloped the room with a flourish of textures. Susan Sherouse, the visually addictive lady in red standing behind Chris, hypnotized me as her hands breezed over her violin creating richer undertones in the music. The instrumentation thick with tasteful bouts in catchy grooves, I found myself singing along with everyone else. The chemistry between Dashboard and the crowd was solid and they acted as a chorus with every song. The band would randomly stop playing and the voices in the audience rang out in lyrical unison. By far, Dashboard fans have been the most down-to-earth, unpretentious, positive group of people I have ever encountered in my whole concert-going history. For two hours, the band rocked their way through older classic Confessional songs “Screaming Infidelities” and “The Things That You Have Come To Fear The Most.” A fair portion of the performance was packed off of the new record, Dusk And Summer. The new music is tightly assembled and powerful. To listen to the new repertoire, brings a smile to my face because it is fresh and feel-good.
It is so easy to get lost in the constant cycling of music in many popular genres today. If you genuinely search for the message and meaning beneath the music of Dashboard Confessional, you will find that it does indeed stand out from other bands of equal face value. In order to delve deeper into the confessional mind, you must see them in the live situation on their current tour and bag up a copy of the debut release, Dusk And Summer. Dashboard Confessional will take to the Today Show’s stage in New York City’s very own Rockefeller Plaza. If you can’t make to the Big Apple, you can simply see them live on NBC at 8:30am on July 27th. There is a lot of music out there, but this is a group of musicians that should not be lost under the radar.
Mother 
