On Our Way To Crazy

At 7:30 Tuesday night, I thought this entry would be about how we missed Ben Lee (!).

At 8:15, I thought it was going to be about how excruciatingly painful it was to have to both watch and listen to opening band Say Anything, who were so profoundly awful that I literally cannot find the words to describe it.

At 9:15, I thought I would be expounding on the various means of torture I was plotting for the people who sat next to (and in front of, and behind) us who had gotten free tickets because their company is a Ryman sponsor, and who showed up in COMPANY POLOS and spent the first half of the show looking at each other and making “who-is-this-guy-how-do-they-all-know-the-words-i-do-not-get-this-darn-kids-these-days” faces and talking really loudly about the people they work with before mercifully leaving.

But at 9:30, I knew I would be posting about the amazing awesomeness that is a Dashboard Confessional concert.

I went in with really low expectations. I only know a couple lines from a couple of songs, and I certainly wouldn’t say I’m an emo fan. But Chris Carraba knows what he’s doing. He knows who his audience is and what they want from him, and he gives it to them. And they eat it up.

They love this music. LOVE IT. It’s not about him. It’s about his songs. They know every single word, and the sing them at the top of their lungs. Their eyes are closed, their hands are in the air, their hearts are on their sleeves. These songs are the soundtracks of their lives. It’s passionate. It’s emotional. It’s honest. I’ve never seen anything like it.

It makes for quite an experience for a newcomer. I enjoyed every minute of it, and I’ve been listening to A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar for the past two days. I need to learn the words so I’ll be prepared next time he comes to town.