By Stephanie Staples
Music can be an outlet for many emotions- frustration, anger, love, and happiness. The music of Dashboard Confessional uses this means of expression as it lays raw emotion out for the audience.
The Honda Civic Tour continues this Saturday as Dashboard Confessional comes to the E Center in West Valley City.
At first lead singer and guitarist Chris Carrabba wrote songs having to do with his own personal life that were later performed on stages for thousands of hardcore fans.
Carrabba initially performed alone, then with some friends and finally as the current Dashboard quartet.
According to the Vagrant Record”s Web site Carrabba told Spin in March that he had started using this as an outlet to deal with bad things in his life but that it ended up transforming itself.
With their latest record “A Mark, A Mission, A Band, A Scar,” Carrabba continues his emotional storytelling. On Vagrant”s Web site Carrabba discussed the meaning behind the album.
“To me, the theme of this record is striving for whatever it is that”s important to you,” he said. “Whether it”s love or lifelong dreams, I finally realized how silly it is to pull your punches.”
BYU students can relate to the sincerity of Dashboard”s music.
Russell Woolley, a junior majoring in chemistry from Provo plays the guitar and loves trying to play Dashboard”s songs.
“His style of music is very unique. I like how he”s more acoustic,” he said. “Now [Carrabba] has a band, but before his last CD came out all of his stuff was acoustic and it was just him and his guitar.”
Woolley said he thinks Carrabba portrays emotion in his music. “He”s very, very sincere, and the thing I like about him is he doesn”t try to please the media but he”s sincere in what he writes and how he plays it,” he said.
The Civic Tour will continue through the end of June as Dashboard travels throughout the U.S. According to a Honda News Release the company continues to support emerging talent with the fourth year of the Civic Tour.
“We are pleased to be entering the fourth year of the Civic Tour with such an exciting lineup and with the addition of the exclusive Dashboard Confessional music download, we are helping to bring fans closer to the band,” said Tom Peyton, senior manager of national advertising at American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
Tickets for the performance can be purchased through Smith”s Tix, or through the E Center.
