AUDIENCE sing-alongs in concerts are very common. But in the case of Dashboard Confessional, these become a highlight.
Band leader Chris Carrabba apparently loves to desert the mic stand and let the crowd sing large chunks of DC?s songs. This much was clear at the Florida-based group?s first-ever RP gig Thursday night at the Mindanao Open Parking area of the TriNoma Mall.
Interestingly, it?s not out of laziness or indifference on Carrabba?s part. Rather, the 35-year-old singer-songwriter-guitarist wants DC?s audience to be integral to the show itself.
Yet whenever he let loose his emotional tenor, his mostly teenage Filipino fans ? guys and gals alike ? refused to stop, singing with him word for word.
Intensity
Viewed another way, audience participation is a good way of keeping the gig?s energy up, along with the pop-rock band?s intensity and a conscious avoidance of long breaks between songs.
Even on moments when bassist Scott Schoenbeck and drummer Mike Marsh would rest, leaving Carrabba and lead guitarist John Lefler to go acoustic in ?The Places That You?ve Come to Fear the Most,? the playing never softened.
Carrabba?s own driven strumming often teetered on the verge of destroying his six-string friend.
Of course, the thousands who watched the gig got to witness not just Carrabba?s familiar tattooed arms but, moreover, his angst-ridden singing, which have earned him such nicknames as ?Emo Godfather? and ?King of Emo Pain.?
Yet despite the morose, spurned-paramour lyricism of much of the band?s repertoire, DC emerged triumphant.
The band played around a bit, taking on Weezer?s ?El Scorcho?; Carrabba injecting the chorus of U2?s ?Pride (In the Name of Love)? into ?Rooftops and Invitations?; and inserting ?The Philippines? while singing an early hit, ?The Swiss Army Romance.?
While the gig lasted only for an hour, its brevity did not matter. It was clear that, to quote one of its hit songs, the band had ?stolen? the hearts of young Pinoys who were openly rabid in their wish for more dashed-hopes confessions to come.
