Review by Jaya Kohol<\/p>\n
Photo Credit: Alex Reside<\/p>\n
After begrudgingly sitting through my 4:40 p.m. sensory-neurobiology discussion section, I went to MGM Music Hall just as throngs of Red Sox fans descended on Fenway Park. Between the hordes of jerseys and hot dog-eating tourists, I spotted a handful of concertgoers clad in band t-shirts, including Dance Gavin Dance and Taking Back Sunday. My late afternoon exhaustion subsided and was replaced with eager anticipation as I entered the venue and found myself situated to the right of the stage, a couple of feet from the barricade.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>Formed in Boca Raton, Florida, in 1999, Dashboard Confessional (DC, as the band often likes to abbreviate) is a staple of the Myspace emo scene of the early 2000s. Lead singer Chris Carrabba started DC as a side project to his other band, Further Seems Forever, but promptly left to pursue DC full-time following massive success from the release of their debut album, \u201cThe Swiss Army Romance,\u201d and two EPs. Suppose one thing comes to mind when emo fans hear the name Dashboard Confessional. In that case, it\u2019s undoubtedly their 2002 MTV Unplugged performance in which a polo-wearing Chris faces a crowd of young, beaming, enthusiastic teens who sing every word back at him over the gentle tone of an acoustic guitar. MTV Unplugged put DC in the spotlight, and soon, hundreds of teenagers had \u201cScreaming Infidelities\u201d posted to their Myspace dashboards. From there, the band consistently released well-received studio albums until 2011, when DC took a brief hiatus and eventually returned in 2015.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>Chris\u2019s lyricism shines throughout all his work, and it couldn\u2019t have been more evident as he took the stage with an acoustic guitar under a single spotlight and began the concert with \u201cThe Best Deceptions.\u201d Almost immediately, the crowd awoke to sing along to a chorus of voices unlike anything I\u2019d ever heard at a concert. Having religiously watched the MTV Unplugged<\/span> performance on YouTube for years, I was astonished at how the 5,000-person capacity venue hall felt as small as that 2002 stage. Everyone around me sang the words without hesitation, taking the reins as Chris stepped away from the microphone to let the words \u201cyou\u2019re calling too late, too late to be gracious, you do not warrant long goodbyes\u201d ring out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>I was expecting DC to play a breadth of their work, pulling from their most recent releases that I was unfamiliar with, but I was surprised when nearly the entire set came from their oldest albums and EPs, the work DC fans cherish the most. I was ecstatic to hear the opening guitars and vocals to \u201cDon\u2019t Wait,\u201d one of my favorite songs. Gorgeous lights and a full band adorned the stage, the simplicity of which made the entire show feel all the more intimate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>During a brief pause, Chris took a few minutes to talk with the crowd, remarking how happy he was to be back in Boston. He looked out at the sea of faces and laughed into the microphone as he said, \u201cThere are a lot more kids here than I expected! Do you guys know what MTV even is? Or LimeWire? You used to have to download music off a computer!\u201d Between his chatting, he smiled as people in the crowd called out song requests, one of which Chris smirked and replied, \u201cOh, that\u2019s a good one, but not tonight!\u201d The frontman has such an air of authenticity and an ability to bring joy and energy to the performance, a charm a lot of singers and performers can only hope to achieve in their on-stage careers. Chris Carrabba\u2019s enthusiasm and passion for his music make DC timeless. Chris was even shocked as the entire venue egged him on to play \u201cSwiss Army Romance,\u201d one of the band’s most beloved songs, and did so gladly, telling the crowd that this was a very memorable moment for him.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>The show wouldn\u2019t have been complete without playing their two biggest hits, \u201cVindicated\u201d and \u201cHands Down.\u201d The stage lights turned a fluorescent blueish purple, and instantly, the crowd rejoiced at hearing the opening words. Everyone on the balcony was up on their feet as the guitars and drums echoed through the venue hall. The crowd couldn\u2019t stop cheering as Chris and the band left the stage, only for them to return 30 seconds later. Chris laughed into the microphone, saying, \u201cThey told us we forgot one,\u201d before concluding with \u201cHands Down.\u201d Leaving MGM that night, I felt lighter, hopeful, and ready to rewatch DC\u2019s MTV Unplugged<\/span> performance once I got home.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Review by Jaya Kohol Photo Credit: Alex Reside After begrudgingly sitting through my 4:40 p.m. sensory-neurobiology discussion section, I went to MGM Music Hall just as throngs of Red Sox fans descended on Fenway Park. Between the hordes of jerseys and hot dog-eating tourists, I spotted a handful of concertgoers clad in band t-shirts, including […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21826,"featured_media":42595,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1525,1523,15],"tags":[178,1913,1920],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42594"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21826"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42594"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42596,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42594\/revisions\/42596"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}