Dashboard Confessional (sort of) and Augustana (not)

 This concert at In the Venue was billed as “Dashboard Confessional (solo) with Augustana and John Ralston.”  We didn’t know what to make of that, but we like Augustana a lot, so we went.  

Unfortunately, Augustana didn’t show up.  There was no explanation.  The merch guy said they had some emergency and had to head home.  No refunds were offered.  I don’t mean to complain or anything, but that sucks.  My hatred of In the Venue is increasing by the hour.  I’m irritated with Augustana too. 

What is the deal guys?  Thought you’d go to Boston?  I hope you’re ok and everything and if there was an actual emergency then please accept my sympathy and I really hope everthing turns out all right.  If there was no emergency and you just bailed, well, don’t expect me to shell out money for tickets again without a signed commitment that you’ll actually be there.  Please be aware that you disappointed a lot of people. 

I have paid to see Augustana twice before (once in San Diego) and was glad to pay again, but not anymore.  Not until I get some info on what caused them to stand us up. 

As for the rest of the night: John Ralston (who is apparently a label-mate and fellow Floridian of Dashboard) opened the show and was quite entertaining, especially for someone I have never heard of before.  I like his songwriting and his band is made up of some talented musicians.  His new album, Sorry Vampire, is worth checking out.  It’s new and is available on Napster and iTunes.

After Ralston and his boys packed it in, There was a long delay while the stage was reset, with microphones, a few guitars, a large keyboard and…not much else.  Uh-oh.  Yep, you guessed it, “solo” meant that Chris Carrabbas, the singer/songwriter that is the heart, soul, brain and cover-boy face of Dashboard Confessional, would be playing this gig alone. 

Sure-nuff, Chris eventually wandered on stage (after the enormous crowd jamming the place had amused itself for some time by staging a sing-and-dance-along to the tracks being played over the PA system) by himself, picked up his acoustic guitar and proceeded to work his way through the Dashboard Confessional catalogue unplugged-style. 

I don’t normally have any automatic objections to this kind of show, but there are some things that you have just got to do to make this kind of thing work.  Let’s run through that list:

1. Tell people up-front what you are doing, so they know what they’re getting.

This would normally include informing us of the fact that Augustana wasn’t going to be part of the show, but I’ll let that slide for now on the unproven assumption that no one knew that before showtime.  What they did know, however, was that this was not going to be a normal Dashboard Confessional show (and no, in my mind, putting “solo” in parentheses after the name of the band doesn’t cut it).  Just tell us it’s going to be “Chris Carrabbas unplugged” or “Chris Carrabbas acoustic” or whatever.  Don’t masquerade it by using the name of the band.  There was no band.  It was just Chris.  His guitarist did help out on electric guitar and keyboard on a few numbers, and Chris himself played electric guitar a couple of times, but mostly, it was a “Just Chris!” acoustic gig, and it should have been billed that way. 

2.  Confine yourself to small, intimate clubs. 

Now, In the Venue is not exacly the Colliseum, but it’s main room is rather cavernous for an acoustic show, with a balcony and high ceilings and lots of extra odd spaces for the sound to get lost.  Which it did.  If you’re going to be in a bigger room, crank the volume at least, so everyone has a chance of hearing you.

3.  Switch it up a little.

Unless you want to run the risk of boring people silly, you can’t just stand there and play your guitar and sing.  You have to vary the presentation more than usual.  Chris did some of this, to his credit, but I would have liked to see more guest vocalists, more use of the keyboard, more instrumentalists joining Chris on various tracks.  That would have made it a show.  Speaking of which…

4.  Put on a show.

An acoustic show, more than other kinds of concerts, requires a little more showmanship.  Chris has charisma and stage presence, but he didn’t give himself a lot to work with.  He relied mostly on witty banter.  I don’t think we need to reiterate the fact that witty banter does not a show make.  I’m aware that Chris began his career, as many musicians did, with pretty much just a guitar and a stool, but that’s no excuse for going back to those days now that he has additional resources.  Nostalgia and purist ethos aside, there’s nothing particularly virtuous about doing a stripped-down show just to prove you can. 

The final objection I have to all of this is that Dashboard’s sound just doesn’t really lend itself to this kind of show.  A lot of their hits have big emotions driven by big crescendos of sound from the guitars and rhythm section.  You lose all that in an acoustic show, and there’s nothing you’re getting as a compensation.  If Chris were a great singer, you would be getting to hear his great voice in return for losing the other parts of the band, but anyone who knows anything about Dashboard knows that Chris’s genius is not in his voice.  He’s not a bad singer, especially, but his voice is not huge and tends to be a little quavery.  To add to this problem, his fans are hardcore fans and know every syllable by heart, so what you are really getting at a concert like this is a big group sing-along where you hear little except the crowd’s voices.  And that’s not worth the price of a ticket unless your idea of a great evening is singing with Chris and a couple thousand of his closest friends.  It’s not mine, but I will admit that there is something kinda charming about a roomful of people belting out:  “Your hair, it’s everywhere/ Screaming infidelities /And taking its wear.”