Dashboard Confessional in Concert: One of the Best Shows I've Ever Seen!

I've been a Dashboard Confessional fan for a few years now, but Id never gotten around to seeing them in concert. They're one of those bands that don't tour much, and when they do they don't come anywhere near where you live. I took a look at their site one day and saw they were stopping at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, which is a few hours away. I decided to make it a mini vacation and stay two days. Id never been to the House of Blues, but it is a smaller venue, which really made the concert.

Most popular bands you just won't see in a smaller place, they play in stadiums or in areas where you can get more people in then most buildings can accommodate, but although those concerts can be fun, something's lost. When you go to a concert like this, it's much more personal, and the music is just so much better. You can tell the bands are more relaxed and comfortable, looking at a crowd of a few hundred verses thousands and thousands, it makes sense why.

Not everyone likes Dashboard Confessional. It's an acquired taste, and even then not everyone will admit they like it. Nonetheless it did sell out, and there were all ages there. I can't say I was all that impressed with the opening bands, they were a little too 'hard-core" for a Dashboard concert. I wouldn't recommend kids because the first bands made it rowdy. If he had some less extreme opening bands, then it would be okay, so if you go to one of their concerts, check out who is opening.

I have to admit, as much as I like Dashboard, I didn't think it would be that great of a concert. I had listened to the opening bands online, and wasn't impressed, most of Dashboards best songs were acoustic, and most rock bands will play the electric versions at concerts, not to mention they had just released their CD "Dusk and Summer" which isn't bad, but isn't their best album, and I just knew they would only play songs from it. Much to my surprise they put on one of the best concerts I've been to.

As I expected they opened with one of their new songs, and like most songs, it sounded better live. In fact after going to this concert, I really started to like their new album! Much to my surprise, they started playing mostly their older songs, with a bit of their new album mixed in. I was also surprised when several times the rest of the band left the stage, and he grabbed an acoustic guitar and started playing. And it sounded great! Rarely do you see that at a concert, and he really got the audience to sing along. It was definitely one of the most involving concerts I've been to.

As hard as it may be to imagine, a small mosh pit started to form, and then one guy started to crowd surf. Yes, this was Myrtle Beach, and people were crowd surfing at a Dashboard Confessional concert. Obviously this was the first time Chris had seen it too, as he stopped singing in the middle of a song and told they guy "Hey, be careful!!!" Now that's surprising. Not many singers care about the well being of their audience, in fact sometimes they encourage it to get rowdy, but in this case he actually calmed it down!

So I definitely recommend seeing DC in concert, especially if it's a smaller venue. They sounded great, kept it cool, and got everyone to join in! If you like acoustic music, check them out, or just go have a listen. Get your tickets quick though, it will sell out.