The Punch Line...

People can surprise you in the most unexpected ways. I was nicely reminded of this several days ago...

Who would you consider to be a typical Dashboard Confessional fan? If that fan was accurately represented by the majority of the crowd at the concert I just went to, that fan would be a female between the ages of 15 and 20, probably heartbroken in some way or another, and probably from a suburban town where music is spread more by word of mouth than by any other mechanism. At least, this was the face of 85% of the crowd at said concert. What fascinated me, however, was the crowd of guys I was sitting next to: forgive any stereotypes in the following description, but they looked more like they belonged at a 50 cent concert instead of a Dashboard one. Baggy sweatpants, sideways baseball hats that look like they would serve no practical purpose on a baseball diamond, alchohol smuggled in - you get the picture. But they were there, and caught my attention from the moment I sat down when the one nearest me made a point of asking me several times who the opening bands were, if I had heard of them, and damn don't they suck?

The situation only piqued my interest in the unneccessariy long 45 minutes of set-up before Dashboard made its entrance (or should I say before Chris Carrabba made his entrance, since he IS the band). I think that of all the people in the concert hall, these guys were the most upset by the delay (well, the alcohol consumption probably didn't help). Likewise, when Dashboard finally DID come on, no one was more excited than these four guys, who fully participated in the "I LOVE YOU CHRIS!!!" chants. They didn't hesitate to marvel out lout at his talent - my favorite quote of the night had to be "God, He's a SCIENTIST!"

But seriously. Isn't Dashboard supposed to be for teenagers who are searching for ways to express and understand their own desolate love lives? Apparently not - these guys made the concert that much better for me, since it wasn't just the usual crowd enjoying this music. Music, just like anything else, has its stereotypes: Rock is for the people who are too cool for Pop, Hip Hop is for the people who understand rhythym too well to be able to tolerate Pop, Alternative is for the people who are deathly afraid of the title "Pop," and Pop itself is just for people who aren't cool and who are too oblivious to realize it. But here we have the barriers being broken - the people I would least expect to give Dashboard Confessional any time of day have appeared to be some of his most dedicated fans :-).

Just another example of God's sense of humor, I suppose. He never fails to amuse us, if only we take the time to get the punch line...