Show Review: Dashboard Confessional and Counting Crows at Boston’s Leader Bank Pavillion.
written + photographed by hunter astrid
more photos + the rest of the gallery can be seen here
Although roots rock and indie rock is not the type of music that I actively seek out, seeing Dashboard Confessional and Counting Crows being experienced by such an eclectic group of people gave me a new found appreciation and respect for those genres of music.
Dashboard Confessional -
Dashboard Confessional is an alternative rock band that formed back in 1999 in Boca Raton, Florida. The band currently consists of members Chris Carrabba (vocals and guitar), Chris Kamrada (drums), Armon Jay (guitar), Kenny Bridges (bass), Scott Schoenbeck (bass), and Abigail Kelly (vocals).
Initially a side solo project of Chris Carrabba, Dashboard Confessional recorded and released their first album in 2000 titled The Swiss Army Romance. In the following year Carrabba’s other band, Further Seems Forever, recorded its debut album The Moon Is Down before he left to focus on Dashboard Confessional. Their second album, The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most, was released in the spring of 2001. Since then, Dashboard Confessional has released six more albums, making their studio album total eight.
Front man Chris Carrabba was once labeled as the "poster boy for the emo resurgence of the early 2000s" while their music as a whole helped define on entire movement. Two decades after their conception, the group is still loved by many and thought of fondly as well as inspirational and influential their most recognizable songs are “Vindicated” and “Stolen” off of Dusk And Summer (2007), “Hands Down” off of A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar (2003), and “Screaming Infidelities” off of The Places You Have come to Fear the Most (2001).
To me there seems to be on air of magic around Dashboard Confessional. Maybe it's influence and legacy, but I have never once mentioned Dashboard Confessional to a group of 20-40 year olds where at least one person knows them and absolutely loves them. Seeing them perform I realized that every single person there, on stage or in the audience, was genuinely so happy to be there. Everyone was captivated by the music. That's rare - usually you can find a few people at a show that don’t seem like they want to be there. That wasn't the case with Dashboard Confessional. Their music is genuinely so good, the front man is so charismatic, and they're so iconic in the scene they came up in that they most definitely deserve every bit of success the experience.
MY FAVORITE SONG: “KindaYeahSorta” (2018)
Counting Crows -
Counting Crows is an alternative rock and roots rock band from San Francisco, California that formed back in 1991. The name is derived from a British nursery rhyme titled "One for Sorrow” about the superstitious counting of magpies, which are members the crow family. The band is comprised of vocalist Adam Duritz, multi-instrumentalist David Immerglück, bassist Milliard Powers, guitarist Dan Vickrey, guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios and keyboardist Charlie Gillingham.
The band released their first album in 1993 titled August and Everything After. Their breakthrough hit single "Mr. Jones" was what really put their name on the map. Their other well known singles include “Rain King" off of their debut album, "Hanginaround" off of This Desert Life (1999), "A Long December" off of Recovering the Satellites (1996). And of course, their song "Accidentally In Love" was featured in the film Shrek 2 in 2004. In their time as a band they have released seven studio albums, their most recent being released in 2014 titled Somewhere Under Wonderland.
Their set this night was genuinely very whole some and it was really enjoyable to see music from 30 years ago being celebrated the way that it was. Whether people know them from the Shrek 2 soundtrack or from their large discography, it was really nice to see many different generations of people experiencing this music together. To add to that, you could really see the deep admiration and respect the members had for each other and the talents they all have.
MY FAVORITE SONG: “Accidentally In Love” (2004)
