Dashboard Confessional finally came to Manila to promote their latest album, Alter the Ending. The band had a meet-and-greet at the Glorietta Activity Center on May 26 with a concert at Trinoma’s Mindanao Open Parking on May 27.

By Denise V. Suarez

Tracks on Alter the Ending come in both electric and acoustic versions; however, the band saw this as a one-off, not planning to do it regularly. When asked why, lead singer Chris Carrabba said, “If we plan for it, it won’t come out as well.” Since the band doesn’t prefer either electric of acoustic music, fans can expect a mix of sounds.

The album’s first single, “Belle of the Boulevard” is inspired by a girl Carrabba knew who had fallen on hard luck. When tired from writing another song, he took a break, played around on the piano, thought of the girl and came up with “Belle of the Boulevard.” The other song never got finished. “Does she know the song is about her?” yelled out a fan during the meet-and-greet. Chris looked away, sheepishly grinned, rubbed his chin and said, “No.”

Dashboard Confessional began as Carrabba’s solo side project. The first album, Swiss Army Romance came out in 2000; and it was when he played his first concert for that album that he realized he wanted to do Dashboard full time. As Chris explains it, “The depth of feeling of the audience as they sang along is what made me feel like I wanted to do it.”

Although the other band members weren’t part of the original band, they are now very much part of Dashboard. At the meet-and-greet, they fell into their distinct roles. Chris is the center attention as founder, leader and heartthrob of the band. Drummer Mike Marsh is Chris’ loyal sidekick. While Chris dominates conversation, Mike chimes in to affirm what Chris has said.

Guitarist John Lefler is the resident comedian. When asked where they would be if they weren’t in Dashboard Confessional, John immediately replied, “Hanging out at the mall, at Glorietta 3.” Bass player Scott Shoenback, appeared to be a man of few words, saying only perhaps two words during the event. Chris even joked, “It took eight years for me to hear Scott’s voice.”

In the end, Dashboard Confessional is just a group of guys doing what they love – sometimes not even perfectly. When asked if he has played “Hands Down” on the popular game Rock Band, Chris jumps in his seat and enthusiastically says, “Yes!” But when asked if he gets a 100%, he looks down and says, “No…It’s different because I actually play guitar.”

Luckily, it’s not perfection that Dashboard Confessional aspires for. Instead, they aspire to connect with their audience – something their music has consistently done across albums.