Dashboard has fans “Screaming Infidelities”

Well, maybe not infidelities, more like every single lyric of every single Dashboard Confessional song played at last night’s concert at The Rave.

Dashboard has been epitome of emo -- if you aren’t familiar with the term it short for emotional and is related to the overly serious demeanor and the style of those described as emo; it's also a genre of music -- since it hit the music scene.

Chris Carrabba -- technically he is Dashboard Confessional although he now has a permanent backing band -- was in top form and had the audience in the palm of his hand. He also proved his musical prowess by jumping on both electric and acoustic guitar as well as tickling the ivories of a grand piano.

An air of theatrics started off the Dashboard portion of the show -- roughly beginning about 9:20 p.m. and going for over an hour and a half. A white sheet was dropped from the lights to cover the stage as roadies set up equipment and added a bit of decoration to the stage. What was unveiled was a backdrop to look like building with floating orb lights that changed colors.

The 18 song set, including the encore, had the band playing songs primarily off of the newest album “Dusk and Summer” along with favorite songs from “The Swiss Army Romance,” “The Places You Have Come to Fear Most” and “A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar.”

Carrabba played conductor to the audience of hundreds of adoring fans, as he left the microphone in its stand and let the audience sing for him. This happened in at least the first five songs. The occurrence culminated during the encore with Carrabba singing a lyric, having the audience repeat it and using hand motions to delegate how loud or soft it should be sung.

Dashboard’s first hit, “Screaming Infidelities,” was oddly enough not part of the encore. It was played half way through the set right after “Dusk and Summer.” But the last two songs of the night nearly brought down the house as it was comprised of the “Spiderman 2” soundtrack hit “Vindicated” and “Hands Down” off of “A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar.”

It was obvious The Rave's Eagles Ballroom fit in with Dashboard’s need for an intimate setting to play music; it was much better than when Carrabba played solo to open for U2 last year at the Bradley Center. Although the acoustics of the Eagles Ballroom makes it difficult to hear the lyrics and banter in between songs.

But, Dashboard fans didn’t have too much trouble. As soon as a chord was played, screams of adulation erupted from the audience and singing along ensued. It was like Beatlemania or the return of the teenybopper days ironically at a concert pegged as emo.

Noticeably M.I.A. from the concert were the droves of emo kids -- distinguishable by their skinny jeans and coifed dark hair with special attention paid to the way the bangs fall. There weren’t many in attendance that needed to hear the phrase “cheer up emo kid,” because everyone was so happy.

It was also a night for Milwaukee. Local bands Decibully and Maritime opened the show, both with strong, toe-tapping sets. And Dashboard bassist Scott Shoenbeck is also from the area, which Carrabba announced to the crowd in the middle of the set. (Shoenbeck was previously in The Promise Ring and worked at the Third Ward La Boulangerie, back in the day, too. -ed.)

I must say the most shocking thing about this concert involved the EMTs in attendance. Never at a concert have I seen the medics so busy. Prior Dashboard even going onstage, the EMTs had to pull out the rolling stretcher twice and as the night went on, more and more people were brought over suffering from dehydration and heat exhaustion.