18 & Under

Stop two of the Queen MAB summer concert series took place last night at where else, but the Ryman Auditorium, to see Ben Lee and Dashboard Confessional with Mason. I've been very excited about this show for months, but was rather tired last night. When we walked in and realized that we were the only people over the age of 18, I knew it would be an interesting night.

Maybe the joke's on me, but since when did Dashboard gain such a teeny bopper following? I mean, they've been around since the late 90s, so the people buying tickets to their show should have been my generation, right? Either way, I couldn't be too judgemental. Annoyed as I was at the teeny bopper antics, I was myself, one day long ago, a punk rock princess at the blossoming age of sixteen.

Mason and I are waiting for the opening act to begin and are listening to the house music, when we begin to hear Beck's Loser. I make a comment to Mason about how we are the only two people in the room that a) can name the artist, and b) remember when the song was released. Mason decided to test out this theory and turns around to the gangle of girls behind us and asks, "hey do any of ya'll know who sings this?" We were met with a bunch of blank stares and some mumbles of "no." He then surveys the girls sitting beside him and was met with the same reaction. Finally, I turn to the kids beside me and ask them, and the guy actually knew it was Beck! One-in-six people, one-in-six. Geez, I feel old.

Soon enough, Ben Lee, that loveable and quirky Australian rocker boy walks onstage. I'm a bit confused because it's only 7:30 at this point, meaning that Ben Lee is the opening act for the opening act for the headliner. He's so much better than that. Anyway, Ben Lee is a pretty funny guy, and you can't help but smile at his pint-sized goodness. His best song of the evening was definitely Gamble Everything for Love.

Mason and I had pretty great seats, totally making up for my bad seat on Saturday night. I was happily clicking away on my camera, when I was told by an usher that the show was camera/audio/video free. Boo. We'll just turn the flash off then. I got some decent incognito shots throughout the evening, anyway.

Say Anything followed up Ben's performance and I think my ears are still bleeding. I was embarrassed about how bad they were. And angry because they disgraced the Ryman and were never worthy enough to perform onstage. It's like a bunch of lazy teenage boys got together one day and said, "dude, let's form a band. Can anyone play any instruments? Ok so that's five guitar players---COOL! I can't really sing, but I can shout a lot and we'll write songs about vulgar sex and drugs and death and stuff and say lots of four-letter words---we're so artistic and anti-establishment." Needless to say, I was a little bitter after their performance.

The night flew by rather quickly, and Dashboard Confessional finally made their way on stage, with the drop of a HUGE white drape and the revealing of a gorgeous backdrop that changed colors and patterns throughout the evening. Chris Carrabba is a scrawny little guy (seemed to be the theme of the evening) and his pasty white arms are tattooed from elbow to wrist. I guess he fits the angst-emo-rocker persona well.


Dashboard did a fine job of working the crowd, catering to the screaming and swooning girls. Their set list included both old and new material, and was balanced for the most part. Unfortunately, Chris seems to like it when the teeny boppers sing his songs for him, so much of the concert relied on audience participation. I was a little disappointed because I didn't pay 30 bucks to hear whiny sixteen year olds "screaming infidelities," but at least I can cross Dashboard off of my list of people-to-do and things-to-see.