Dashboard Confessional draws crowd to baseball stadium

Dark clouds threatened rain Saturday night as hundreds of eager Dashboard Confessional and OK Go fans waited for the gates to open at the Edinburg Baseball Stadium.

Dashboard announced a small spring college tour earlier in the year, which included a stop at the University of Texas-Pan American.

Students raced down the stairs and onto the field to the stage at second base. Those who had to pay full price for their tickets were relegated to the stands. In the hour before OK Go took the stage, the numbers grew and a couple thousand concertgoers were in place for the show.

After little fanfare, OK Go started off their set with a bang, tearing into their first song "Get Over It". Then the indie band who won a Grammy two years ago for the video for their song "Here It Goes Again" tested a few new songs on the crowd.

Lead singer Damian Kulash wasn't satisfied from his high vantage point and decided to get a little closer to those in the front row, jumping down into the crowd to perform a love song.

Fans Felipe and Arizala Olivarez started out in the pit, but after Arizala hurt her ankle they found seats in the stands to finish off the concert.

"We really enjoyed their new songs," said Felipe, 31.

The couple were impressed by OK Go's set and were excited to see Dashboard. But they were going to have to wait longer than expected to see the emo superstars.

Soon after the opening band's equipment was whisked away, an announcement came over the speakers, asking the crowd up front to "take one step back" because those up against the short, metal barriers were being "crushed". The disembodied voice continued to plead with the audience to cooperate, telling them that if they didn't, "Dashboard Confessionals" would not perform because of the "situation".

Eight announcements and nearly an hour later, Dashboard picked up their instruments and greeted UTPA and friends. The band launched into a newer song, but it was clear the audience wanted classic Dashboard.

Chris Carrabba complied, playing favorites such as "Again I Go Unnoticed" and "Vindicated".

Each old song seemed cut off, but Carrabba was just allowing the crowd to finish off the songs for him.

The audience was musically transported to the early millenium with more of Dashboard's older hits (and even a cover of Weezer's "El Scorcho").

When Carrabba dove into his favorite song of the year, "So What" by Pink, the crowd cell-phone meter dropped. But when the undeniably recognizable first chords of "Screaming Infidelities" were strummed, the tiny screens blanketed the field again.

Dashboard's encore of "Stolen" and "Hands Down" was met with energetic approval - so much so that it's likely many of those voices will be hard to hear in the morning.

OK Go

1. Get Over It

2. A Million Ways to Be Cruel

3. White Knuckles

4. Untitled

5. Don't Ask Me

6. Invincible

7. Last Leaf

8. Skyscrapers

9. It's a Disaster

10. This Too Shall Pass

11. A Good Idea at the Time

12. Here It Goes Again

13. Do What You Want

Dashboard Confessional

1. Don't Wait

2. Untitled

3. The Good Fight

4. These Bones

5. Thick as Thieves

6. The Sharp Hint of New Tears

7. The Swiss Army Romance

8. El Scorcho

9. Screaming Infidelities

10. Again I Go Unnoticed

11. Remember to Breathe

12. The Best Deceptions

13. So What

14. Vindicated

15. Stolen

16. Hands Down

Amy Nichol Smith covers features and entertainment for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4420.