Tonight You've Got Me.. ♥♥♥

I think you never fully realize how good a band or an artist really is until you see them perform live. Without editors and fancy gizmos, you hear their voice in all its raw glory or croaky failure. Not to mention the energy you and the artist receives from the thousands of fans watching and the gigantic speakers blasting their music and a concert, even the less successful ones are a truly invigorating experience. Dashboard Confessional is obviously a band who has capitalized on Chris Carrabba's crystal clear voice and their very karaoke-- meaning easy to sing along to -- tunes.

It's my first time to watch in the Mindanao open parking area of Trinoma and I must sheepishly admit, I first thought thought it was going to be in the Mindanao parking building. I've only been to Trinoma twice! We got the last two Gold tickets available but we were there early enough to catch Franco. They're actually pretty good. Dashboard went on stage at around 8:30 pm and sang about 20 songs. I'm sorry but I'm not very good at details because I tend to lose myself in the music. All I know is they played a lot of their hit songs, very much to the pleasure of the crowd. The big crowd pleasers were Screaming Infidelities, Vindicated, Stolen among others. But I think for people like me who has been a fan of Dashboard since Swiss Army Romance, playing some of their older songs was an even bigger musical treat. It's the first time they performed here and even though I have their MTV Unplugged album, it really is just different hearing it live. I like Belle of the Boulevard because it shows how the band has changed but please, don't ever go full on commercial/pop. They also did an encore of Hands Down which really had the crowd wildly singing at the top of their lungs. I was a bit disappointed though that they didn't play So Impossible which is a personal favorite of mine.

The show started pretty casually with Chris consulting with his band about the songs they should be play since they're not sure which of their albums were released here. Seriously guys, we're not that far from the US. I love the concert for a number of reasons. First is Chris' pristine voice. The lilting of his voice from a low note to a high note and then maintaining the high pitch is so pleasant. Yes, I do realize I'm talking about one of the guys who probably started the Emo/Punk Rock genre but the beauty of his voice is undeniable. It doesn't matter if he's singing a weepy or angry or sweet song. He has this almost adolescent pitch but with the strength of a man. I'm not a lit major and not a music major so excuse my descriptions. Second, the concert is like Rockeoke night! Everybody was singing to all the songs! Although my brother did point out that the crowd could have sang louder but take in mind that the venue was open and small even though the place was packed. Plus, I totally fell in love with Chris during the concert!! Thank goodness the cameraman did not ruin the concert by focusing on the band audience, like what happened to Timbaland's concert, and kept the camera on Chris' face. The guitar solos were also incredible and the drums was constantly great. This is one of the most no frills concert I've been to, with Paramore coming a close second, but it's okay because we went there for the music and great music we got.

This is very selfish of me but I'm glad that Dashboard has not become a pop sensation here in Manila and those people who like them really do like them. They know the band and sing along to their songs which makes the concert more special. Chris played the guitar, the organ, lead vocals and turned me into a blushing high school teenager. It was also so noticeable how most of the audience, at least in our are, were girls! I wonder if that has anything to do with Chris or with the lyrics of his song.

RATING: ♥♥♥♥