Dashboard Confessional is an American indie emo band from Boca Raton, Florida, led by singer-songwriter Chris Carrabba.
The band originated as Chris Carrabba's solo side-project while he was in his previous band Further Seems Forever. He recorded his first album Swiss Army Romance in 2000. The following year he recorded Further Seems Forever's debut album The Moon Is Down. However, he left the band soon after the album's release, instead recording and releasing his second album The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most, as well as a follow-up EP titled So Impossible, both under the Dashboard Confessional name.
By 2002, three other musicians had joined the band, including former Further Seems Forever band mate Jerry Castellanos and started the process of recording the band's next album. After the success of his second album, Carrabba was asked to perform on MTV Unplugged, and the subsequent live release marked the first time many of the songs were recorded with a full band.
Also in 2002, the music video for Screaming Infidelities (produced by James Paul Wisner) won the MTV2 award at the MTV Video Music Awards, beating out Norah Jones, The Strokes, The Hives, Nappy Roots and Musiq. This video starred Chris in both the performance and the storyline. The video was directed by Maureen Egan and Matthew Barry.
In 2003, the band released its third album A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar. Peaking at #2 on the United States Billboard charts, the album proved to be the band's most commercially-viable album yet. In the summer of 2004, Dashboard Confessional recorded the song "Vindicated" for the film Spider-Man 2. The song was featured on the soundtrack and played over the film's end credits. Because of this, the band gained a sizable audience for their next release the following summer.
In May 2005, Dashboard Confessional entered the studio to record their fourth album with acclaimed producer Daniel Lanois. The album was released on June 27, 2006; its first single was "Don't Wait". Following the release of Dusk and Summer, Dashboard Confessional went on a summer tour of the U.S. with special guests Say Anything and Ben Lee, followed by co-headlining an arena tour with alternative rock band Brand New.
In 2007, the band released its follow-up to Dusk and Summer, The Shade of Poison Trees. Unlike its predecessor, this album reflects back on the earlier influence of Carrabba's acoustic harmonies from The Swiss Army Romance & The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most.
The band began recording their sixth studio album, Alter the Ending, in 2008. Carrabba stated that the album could have turned into a concept album.
"...only with the last three has it become, like, 'All right, these have a continuity and there's something going on,' so I'm excited to see where that leads".
On February 14, 2009, as a special Valentine's Day gift to fans, Chris released a free download on his MySpace page entitled "Even Now (Acoustic)" from their forthcoming studio album.
In June, 2009, the band began "sequencing the album", suggesting that the upcoming album was close to completion.
In August 2009, Dashboard Confessional contributed a song to the motion picture soundtrack for dark comedy film Jennifer's Body, titled "Finishing School". It was not featured on Alter the Ending.
On September 10, 2009, Chris Carrabba confirmed on his Twitter page that the new 12-song album would be released on November 10, 2009. It was found out that the album would be released on 2 discs: a first disc consisting of the full-band version of the album, and a second disc consisting of the acoustic version. In addition, Carrabba stated that Dashboard Confessional would be touring with New Found Glory and Never Shout Never in the near future.
However, on October 30, 2009, Chris announced via Twitter and Facebook that, due to a last-minute family emergency, the band would be cancelling their Alter The Ending tour with New Found Glory and Never Shout Never with the exception of November 7 with the Louisville Orchestra.
Although the longer tour with New Found Glory and Never Shout Never was cancelled, Chris announced on his website on November 10, 2009 that he and John will begin a 13-date acoustic tour with New Found Glory (who will be playing an acoustic set as well) on November 30, 2009.
The music video for "Belle of the Boulevard" was released on the band's MySpace page on November 25, 2009.
Rolling stone gave the album 4 out of 5 stars. "Ending is a return to full-bore rock after the mellow Shade of Poison..."
The band has been performing as the opening act for the Bon Jovi Circle Tour in 2010.
On July 31 2010, Carrabba performed at the top of Pikes Peak in Colorado for the second annual Love Hope Strength Foundation and Health ONE Pikes Peak Rocks benefit, honoring cancer survivors and raising money and awareness for research and treatment.
On October 4, 2010, it was announced that Dashboard Confessional's first album, The Swiss Army Romance, will be re-released as a deluxe vinyl album on November 16. This limited edition box set (only 1,000 available) will include remastered versions of the album's track listing, extended artwork, handwritten lyrics, unreleased photos, guitar picks, a commemorative tour laminate, all encased in an intricate Swiss army knife case.
The day after the release, Chris will embark on a solo tour in which he will play The Swiss Army Romance in its entirety.
