Dashboard Confessional Allstate Arena Review
Saturday, October 28, 2006
By Aaron Keker
ALLSTATE ARENA, Rosemont – Dashboard Confessional played at the Allstate Arena last night in front of a crowd of approximately 5,000. The night started with a white curtain covering the front of the stage. All of a sudden the lights went dim and you saw the shadow of Chris Carrabba.
Chris started his melody Oooh ah oooh! Oooh ah oooh! You could start to hear the intensity and anticipation of the crowd as the curtain quickly descended. Chris and the rest of the band started into one of their most popular songs “Don’t Wait.” What a beginning to an awesome performance by Dashboard Confessional!
That evening, Dashboard Confessional with special guest, violinist Susan Sherouse, played a mixture of electric and acoustic versions of their songs. They played electrically hits like “Stolen,” from their new album, Dusk and Summer to “Bend and Not Break” from A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar. They played acoustically hits like “Dusk and Summer,” from Dusk and Summer, and one of their most popular songs “Screaming Infidelities” from Swiss Army Romance. Finally, after the roaring encore, they played “Vindicated” from the soundtrack Spider-Man 2 Music From and Inspired By and closed their performance with “Hands Down” from A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar.
However, there was one unfortunate incident during the show that had nothing to do with the band. Some erratic fan threw something on the stage. Chris played it cool and remarked, “You don’t have to be a jerk about it, but if you do not like our music, you are entitled to your own opinion, however everyone else here seems to be enjoying themselves.” Chris was correct in his assessment because everyone else in the audience was enjoying themselves.
In fact, the fans in the general admission seats were not the only ones standing up. The entire performance not one person was sitting down in their seat. Everyone stood up and were singing along to ever verse of every song. I have to confess, I found myself playing air guitar while singing the songs.
If you have not purchased their new album, I would recommend either downloading it from iTunes or whatever online subscription you may have. Also, if you use iTunes, you can download Dashboard Confessional’s live performance from AOL Sessions. If you still prefer cd’s, like I do, but I still download from iTunes, then go buy their cd at www.dashboardconfessional.com or any music or department store.
If you missed their concert in Chicago, I would recommend seeing them next time they are here. I am definitely looking forward to seeing their show again.
Hopefully, next time, Dashboard Confessional will play other classics like “Currents,” “Living in Your Letters” and “For You To Notice.” Who knows, maybe next time, I will get to meet Chris and the band backstage?
