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indie-snob>+!#
dashboard confessional @ congress theatre (10-8-03)
with mxpx, brand new, piebald |
 Line-up: I used to like a lot of bad music. Debatably, I still do. As a result of a severe concert draught about two years ago, I decided to go to a Dashboard Confessional show at the House of Blues. It's safe to say that I was amazed, not so much by the caliber of music but rather by the dedication of the fans. Everyone was so involved, and it was just fun to sing along to the band. I guess it was a feeling of "belonging" more than anything else. Since that time, my experience with Dashboard shows has gone steadily downhill. The next time it was worse... and then worse again... and worse and worse. This time, however, reached a new low, both with the opening bands and Dashboard themselves. Ugh. I can't even believe I went to this show. The one super emo kid at my school always asks me if I like Piebald. I just tell him no. I had never actually heard them before this night, but I assumed I wouldn't. And it was true! Imagine! Well, the band wasn't awful, to be honest. Just imagine Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie singing without any interesting lyrics, interesting songs, interesting instrumentation, or interest period. They were just so boring. It's emo, we understand, but does everyone have to sound the same? I like to think not. But, thanks to Piebald for perpetuating the undying stream of crying children. Grade: D+ (the plus just for good measure) Surprisingly, the band I enjoyed most during my evening was Brand New. Sure, it's more bad emo/pop punk, but at least they did it in STYLE with their lovely sportcoats and ties. So just know that if you see a new wave of emo kids dressed in business clothes, you can thank Brand New. But really, at least their take on emo was the most catchy and pop driven in a far less tacky way than MxPx (don't worry, you shall learn). The kids at least knew what they were doing and their playing sounded the least sloppy of any one else. I don't like Brand New, but after that evening, I was certainly considering it out of the extreme terribleness of everyone else. Grade: B- But things got worse. OH, did they get worse. In my youth, I liked REALLY bad music. Luckily, I tended to just download the song or two I liked in those early days of Napster. One of these bands was MxPx. They had that song about responsibility, remember? It was called... oh... what was the name?... oh yes! "Responsibility"! It's safe to say that that was the highlight of their set. Nonetheless, the ENTIRE set was filled with AMAZINGLY poor instrumentation. They were ALL off time and seemed to just not give a shit about what they were playing, but not in that nonchalant punk rock style, but in the "wow, I make a lot of money and the kids love me so let me look pretty AND punk!" style. MxPx songs reach a new low in warefare against creativity that is pop punk. I'm really sorry that I had to be there for MxPx. Grade: F The band came out, Chris Carrabba following shortly after, the prep vs. emo child tension residing for a moment (this after a couple of verbal fights began breaking out around me from the "preps" versus the surburban subculture, the difference between which I can still not distinguish). They played... some song... some bad song off of the terrible new album. It continued like that. Truth be told, I really do like the So Impossible EP. I think that it showcases some stellar songwriting, certainly the best of Chris Carrabba. However, that EP is only four songs long, and after we expand from that, Swiss Army Romance is pretty good and The Place You Have Come to Fear the Most ain't so bad. But old material was kept to a minimum. Dashboard relied more on pleasing the new fans over the old ones. I mean, sure, a week before they sold out the Aragon Ballroom, a 4500-person theatre that only some of the biggest acts play (I've seen Coldplay, the Strokes and the White Stripes there). I skipped that show to see Hot Hot Heat (for very good reason) and decided to come to this one, but I could not have been more disappointed. Chris' singing was by far the weakest I ever heard. Any passion that was left when he opened for Beck (and that was at a minimum) was completely dissolved. Nothing was left of any sort. He was just a man with lots of acoustic guitars (I think there were 4 or 5 different ones) set to stand there and strum some very simple chords. The crowd participation was also at a minimum, the teenage girls only singing along to "Screaming Infidelities" (which was one of the more exciting events of the evening, and I hate that song) and "Hands Down." Oh well. I just know that unless some EXCELLENT openers are scheduled for the next Dashboard show, I shall not be attending. (I mean, I have seen Ben Kweller, the Anniversary and Rhett Miller open for them in the past.) Steer clear, my friends, steer clear. Dashboard is there for the fans no more. Grade: C Related Reviews: Missed a review of a GOOD show? Try the Polyphonic Spree, back one [[click]] |