Finding emo
ALL HAIL THE reigning king of emo rock: former teacher Chris Carrabba returns to Honolulu this weekend for a pair of shows at Pipeline Cafe with his band, Dashboard Confessional.
Dashboard Confessional
Where: Pipeline Cafe, 805 Pohukaina St.
When: 6 p.m. today and tomorrow
Tickets: $20 (tonight's show is sold out)
Call: 589-1999
Sometime between the release of 2001's "The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most" and last year's "A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar," Carrabba went from being an up-and-coming solo singer-songwriter to the leader of a band that MTV recently invited to do a cover off the R.E.M. classic, "Automatic for the People."
Joined by guitarist John Lefler, bass player Scott Shoenbeck and drummer Mike Marsh, the 28-year-old seems to have fully embraced his mainstream success, performing in front of MTV's cameras at New York venue Arlene's Grocery with R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe in the audience (and eventually joining them onstage). Five songs, including a live version of Dashboard's latest single, "Hands Down," and a cover of "Everybody Hurts," are currently available on Apple Computer's iTunes Internet music service, in what the group's Web site calls "an exclusive offering."
Then there's the 2004 Civic Tour, which Dashboard Confessional will headline when it starts in mid-May. Following in the crossover footsteps of acts like blink-182, Good Charlotte and New Found Glory, the band is scheduled to be joined by Thrice on a 34-date national tour that will also give 10 lucky fans the chance to drive away in customized Honda Civic coupes that Carrabba and crew helped to design.
"We're excited to be involved with this tour because it allows us to branch out to a larger audience, while still keeping it intimate and affordable for our fans," the singer said in a statement released earlier this month.
And if a newspaper review of an Australian show held earlier this month is any indication, Carraba will first do several songs solo before his adoring fans, eager to passionately sing along with their emo hero.
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