Venue: Shine Auditorium, Shaw Tower, Singapore
Date: 4th December 2013
Promoter: Sprout Entertainment
Review by: Hanis A.
Special Thanks: HM and the Sprout Entertainment team
Watching Chris Carrabba sing his tales of heartbreak transported the crowd ten years back to a time of irresponsible teenage romance. Yes, it was a very nostalgic and emotional experience for us twenty-somethings that made up the majority of the audience.
It has been awhile since we heard new material from Dashboard Confessional, but Carrabba makes up for it with this intimate solo acoustic performance, playing songs from earlier albums, just for the fans who have been there since the beginning.
Playing familiar songs like “Again I Go Unnoticed”, “The Best Deceptions”, “Swiss Army Romance” kept the fans satisfied whilst singing along to his accompaniment. Carrabba also included covers of Taylor Swift’s “Mean”, and a moving cover of Cory Brannan’s “Tall Green Grass”. Of course he saved crowd favourites, the inevitable “Vindicated” and “Stolen” to close the show. Except, he came back out to get the audience onstage with him to sing one last song together, ending the sentimental night with “Hands Down”.
Though it is the second time Carrabba has played in Singapore, this performance felt much more intimate, mostly because more than half the crowd ran to the front of the stage, but also because he wanted so much to share songs from his other project, Twin Forks. Playing “Cross My Mind” and “Back To You”, you can tell the difference in direction he is going, from the emo, angsty lovelorn sounds of Dashboard Confessional to a more chirpy, indie, Americana folk sound, that is Twin Forks.
It seemed like the crowd was really enjoying Carrabba’s new sound, too. But maybe that’s because the fans had all grown up to old Dashboard Confessional songs, and it was unavoidable that we would develop along with Chris Carrabba’s musical style.