First up was Ben Lee, a singer from Sydney, Australia. “It is my responsibility to give you the best filling in music you’ve ever heard,” Lee told the audience towards the beginning of his set. His music, which was off of his album “Awake Is the New Sleep”, was very mellow yet enjoyable. He interacted a lot with the crowd, and many even followed him after his set into the lobby to meet and take pictures with Lee.
While Lee was signing autographs for his new found fans, the up and coming band Say Anything were next to take the stage. They put on a great show that was very different from what Ben Lee or even Dashboard Confessional had to offer. What Say Anything offers is a huge amounts of energy, especially the lead singer who jumped around on stage throughout their set. The band did an amazing job of pumping the somewhat lifeless crowd up. Everyone was sitting down very complacent until the lead singer encouraged them and one could even say made them feel guilty to stand up and get excited about the show since they “bought tickets for a rock show.”
At 8:40 p.m., almost two hours after the music began in the beautiful theater, the moment everyone was waiting for finally arrived. The curtain dropped, Dashboard took the stage and the room was now filled with not only music but with screams and tears. The crowd, which ranged pretty much from high-schoolers to people in their late 20’s, went crazy as they recognized the beginning of every song the band played.
Half way through the show, lead singer Chris Carrabba gave a gift to the audience: a performance by friend John Ralston. Ralston came out and played a song off his new record called “Gone Gone Gone”.
Although Carrabba and the other members of Dashboard Confessional sounded great, they didn’t have the same amount energy that Say Anything had and their show suffered because of this. Carrabba doesn’t put on much of a performance; he stays in one spot on the stage, smiles and sings. Then he walks to another spot on the stage and smile and sings there as well. That’s really the gist of his performance.
All in all it was a great night of music, although you really have to be a fan of Dashboard Confessional to enjoy them or quite frankly you might be bored. So come out if you are a fan or buy the records and discover them before you make the trip.
*Photos from the 2003 Bridge School Benefit
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