Carrabba confesses to NorVa concertgoers

With Chris Carrabba’s career skyrocketing, thanks to his latest CD “A Mark A Mission A Brand A Scar,” many concertgoers expected pyrotechnics and spinning drum kits at the NorVa’s Dashboard Confessional show.

Carrabba delivered with enough flash to please lovers of the new single but also with a personalization that dedicated fans have always appreciated. He handled the pressure with an amazing amount of grace and charisma.

The main technical part of Dashboard’s set was the DC logo that flashed on the wall before the band came on. “Screaming Infidelities,” from “The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most,” and “Bend and Not Break” were crowd favorites. Carrabba and company created a fervor by saving the current single “Hands down” at the end of the encore.

Between songs Carrabba repeatedly thanked audience members for their support. He also mentioned his surprise that so many people sang along to new songs when the album was released only a few weeks ago.

“Am I Missing,” which is one of the best tracks off “Mission,” was performed particularly well. The dichotomy between Carrabba the performer and Carrabba the person was noticeable with this song. He sang and played with a unique vibrancy of his own, but after singing the last note his understated speaking voice sounded strange.

Although Chris Carrabba is known as a one-man band, his band mates added a great deal to the show. Carrabba seemed to feed off of drummer Mike Marsh’s energy. Guitarist John Lefler and bassist Scott Schoenbeck made their presence known without vying for front-man status. The band members worked together flawlessly.

The optimistic tone of the show was only altered by a few songs like “The best deceptions” and “If you can’t leave it be, might as well make it bleed.”

The audience responded well to these songs, particularly “If you can’t leave it be.” “As lovers go” and “Remember to breathe,” which both focus on fresh new love, contrasted nicely with the previous two songs.

The Remedy Session, an up-and-coming Florida band, opened the show. Being the only unknown band to play must have been difficult, but they played a great set despite the lukewarm feedback.

MXPX and Brand New finished off the bill. The separation between fans of MXPX and Brand New and Dashboard Confessional was glaring. A few groups of kids had the audacity to mock Carrabba while he sang “Screaming Infidelities.” They also attempted an MXPX chant during one of his final songs.

Brand New played mostly new songs, which sounded great. One of the better songs was a medley between one of their songs and a Taking Back Sunday song. I was slightly disappointed they didn’t play “Jude Law and a Semester Abroad” from “Your Favorite Weapon,” however the audience enjoyed every second of Brand New.

MXPX was terrible. Their redundant lyrics had been used on every pop-punk record since Green Day’s “Dookie” and have become watered down in the process. Mike Herrera’s voice wavered between tolerable and obnoxious and hit obnoxious less than halfway through their set. “My life story” was decent. It didn’t sound good and it wasn’t original, but it didn’t contain any blatant pop-punk clich