When The Fray first burst onto the scene in the early aughts, the Colorado-bred band introduced the world to a profoundly life-affirming form of alt-rock: timeless but inventive, arena-sized in scope but firmly rooted in raw emotion. Over the coming years, their soul-searching songwriting and high-powered sound led to earning four Grammy Award nominations, scoring a multitude of Billboard top 10 hits, and amassing a passionately devoted worldwide fanbase. Their single “How To Save A Life” spent a staggering 58 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the “unofficial theme song” for Grey’s Anatomy. Rolling Stone praised their "stick-in-your-head hooks and eloquent narratives," while the LA Times called their music “melodically rich.” The Fray’s debut album How To Save A Life (2005) is certified 4x platinum in the US and has been declared one of the best-selling digital debuts of all time.
Dashboard Confessional was originally conceived as a solo side project of musician Chris Carrabba. The singer’s debut output, 2000’s “The Swiss Army Romance” was released whilst Carrabba was still a member of Further Seems Forever, however after their debut “The Moon Is Down”, the singer left the group to focus on Dashboard Confessional. In 2001 the sophomore album “The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most” was issued by Vagrant Records, and marked the arrival of a band in support of Carrabba. Now a group, with Chris Carrabba at its introspective core, Dashboard Confessional gripped the emo genre by the scruff of its neck and shook it back to life.
After a several month tour in support of the album, Carrabba et al. began collaborating with Dan Hoerner, which resulted in the EPs “So Impossible” in 2001 and “Summers Kiss” in 2002. Also in 2002 the band recorded and released an instalment for the MTV Unplugged series, which represented the band’s biggest breakthrough, with the album “MTV Unplugged 2.0” going platinum. With a line-up now consisting of Carrabba, bassist Scott Schoenbeck, guitarist Johnny Lefler, and drummer Mike Marsh, the band released the full-length “A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar” in 2003. Charting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, the album earned strong reviews from critics, and spawned the singles “Hands Down” and “Rapid Hope Loss”. The band’s song “Vindicated” was later used on the “Spider-Man 2” soundtrack and subsequently at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The full-length “Dusk and Summer” followed in 2006 featuring production from Daniel Lanois and Don Gilmore. Once again the album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, and was supported by a North American tour alongside Say Anything and Ben Lee. The band’s fifth full-length “The Shade of Poison Trees” arrived in October 2007, followed by “Alter the Ending” in November 2009.
I saw The Fray live at the BottleRock music festival in Napa Valley earlier this year, and they were the best act the whole weekend.
With their new album Helios having been released this year, this is the perfect time to go see The Fray in person and see what all the fuss is about for yourself.
It was a hot, sunny, sweaty day, but, reinvigorated upon hearing The Fray, everybody still got into it and moved with the music. The crowd basically lost their collective minds the instant the opening notes to How to Save a Life were played, and the enthusiasm and energy carried over throughout the whole set.
The music was great, with all of the radio classics that everybody sang along with (How to Save a Life, Never Say Never, Over My Head) and their lesser-known songs all being played perfectly and with tons of passion. It was a nice change of pace from the rest of the music at the festival, since the piano helps give it all a really chill vibe even though everybody’s going crazy enjoying the show.
The lyrics to all of their songs have some real meaning too and keep you thinking long after the adrenaline from the show has come and gone.
Although emo may sound like an outdated term in modern society, Florida outfit Dashboard Confessional have always associated themselves as emo rock due to taking influence from a whole variety of artists including Jawbox, The Beatles, Refused, Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder. Throughout their whole career they have enjoyed a devoted, loyal following who have really emphasised with both the band's lyrics and music. The band has been on the road for over ten years and appear to be playing lately with more energy and direction than they have in the past.
Lead singer Chris Carrabba really recognises how dearly the fans hold the music and keeps them continuously involved in the show throughout the night. This is often credited to the reason that audience members attend the tours again and again. The singalongs to the likes of 'Remember to Breathe' and 'Where There's Gold' seem to be getting louder and louder with every show. An impassioned performance throughout culminates in an encore of 'Stolen' and 'Hands Down' with the band looking incredibly gratified to the huge reaction they are receiving from the crowds.
sean-ward
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