"Let's all pretend like it's still 2002!" Ace Enders of The Early November shouted jubilantly to the crowd at MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheater this past Saturday night, his New Jersey band kicking off the Taste of Chaos Tour lineup. I say let's not, I thought. That was 14 years ago. Lives have changed, tastes have changed, the world itself has changed. It isn't 2002 and that's a good thing. But The Early November did convince me that not much has changed in the three LPs they've released since their seminal '03 debut, The Rooms Too Cold, and delivered a fine set with a highlight in "Baby Blue," a song off Cold that still manages to be catchy, punchy and sweeping more than 13 years after its release.
Saosin took the stage in their usual fashion, frontman Anthony Green oozing bombast and insane glee. The post-hardcore band's recent outing, 2016's Along the Shadow, came off as rather tepid and directionless, but Saosin's live capabilities still prove captivating, impressive for a band that's outgrown their own sound. Saosin's most spirited performances came while delivering tracks off their first recording, the 2003 Translating the Name EP, fitting into the whole early '00s nostalgia theme that seemed to be emerging. Those songs, as amazing as they were, felt dated, and Green's hyper-emoting and powerful crowd interactions still couldn't shake the cobwebs that have formed on those old favorites. Their newer material proved fantastic in a live setting, however, infused with the energy that's missing from studio versions.
Oh, Taking Back Sunday, ever since you played Grad Bash for my class and I nearly got a concussion to "Cute Without the E" (how embarrassing), you've had a place in my heart. "Most of us are here for nostalgic purposes," TBS leader Adam Lazzara proclaimed, and he was perhaps a bit too accurate in his assessment. Nostalgia is a funny thing, a powerful if not near-intoxicating longing for the past over the present that cuts out any ugliness and leaves behind a perfect vision of yesterday. And make no mistake, this was a performance fueled by it.
The setlist was exactly what you'd expect, and that's fine — plenty of established musicians play the hits parade. Unfortunately, there was very little enthusiasm involved. John Nolan's return to the lineup did add a particular gravity to the set and his back-up vocals a welcome harmonic balance to a few classic tracks. But Lazzara insisted on addressing the crowd in a sotto voice with an over emphasized Deep South accent that wore out very quickly, and made me want to throw my hands up to the heavens and scream "Save me, emo Jesus!!" They closed with an abruptly-ended "Make Damn Sure" and finished what was, overall, a rather disappointing showing.
Dashboard Confessional is an enigma of sorts. On one hand, the Florida-bred band is among the undisputed leaders of the third wave emo movement, earning massive national exposure from tracks like "Vindicated," which initially released on the Spider Man 2 soundtrack, and debut Alt Rock charter, "Screaming Infidelities." Dashboard started off as Chris Carrabba's solo, acoustic affair, fueled by his golden and sensitive voice, but he's since brought on a full ensemble for recording and touring purposes.
Their lyrics can poignant or insufferably saccharine, and it's this contrast that Dashboard draws upon to elevate their live performances. Scott Schoenbeck (formerly of The Promise Ring) continues to provide his duties on bass here, and his careful articulation of every note added a lot more depth and poise to Dashboard's usually bass-light sound. A surprising number of older tracks were touched on throughout their performance, each encompassing some rather spectacular new arrangements, the strongest re-imagining, "Don't Wait," incorporating fresh jangly guitar work with weighty extended echoes and effects and immensely delayed choruses that shifted the song's sonic direction and made me long for an updated studio version.
At a certain point, Chris Carrabba's eyes were drawn to a LGBTQ flag that was being waved in the pit, which he asked to have passed up to the front: "This is lovely and beautiful and fuck all that noise that says it ain't," he exclaimed, holding the flag across his chest. It was a tasteful, sincere, bravado-free moment that reflected the quality of Dashboard's set that night and the pervasive vibe of doing what you loved for people who love it. Overall, Dashboard's live show has remained relevant where so many others lack because they've allowed the songs to mature and grow, to change from electric to acoustic, to add new effects and extended bridges, to make songs that are more engaging. That's what we should want, as fans, not a perfect emulation of a studio work, but a flawed, dynamic entity of living, breathing sound.
Did Taste of Chaos leave a bad taste? No. Not really. It was strangely reminiscent of Pepsi Blue, though…
This article appears in Jun 23-30, 2016.