Singer-Songwriter Fights Communal Good Fight

If American rock has recently resembled a failed anger management class at a pro wrestling match, something quite the opposite has been developing under the general radar, and it’s ready to emerge.

With a banner reading “Fight the Good Fight” behind him at the House of Blues on Monday, Dashboard Confessional--the stage name of young Florida singer-songwriter Christopher Ender Carrabba--presided over what was in effect a group sharing session.

In fact, the only thing that rivaled the deeply felt emoting of his high, boyish voice as it rose to a tear-soaked wail was the audience singing as one from the very first note. Often as not, Carrabba simply stood back and let the fans carry the vocals.

Call it wimpy, call it whiny, but don’t doubt the bond the slight, unimposing singer has forged with fans in need of this kind of communal purging. While the music, sometimes solo and sometimes backed by three band members, generally resembled an acoustic Blink-182 minus the sophomoric humor, the environment was closer to an Ani DiFranco show.

As for the “good fight,” he’s not exactly Bono. In most of his songs it seems to come down to girl trouble (this guy has some serious abandonment issues), but there was evidence of growing emotional range in a couple of new songs. And when he used electric guitars, he seemed prepared for moves to larger facilities. Carrabba headlined a bill (scheduled for two nights at the House of Blues) marked by earnest striving for emotional equilibrium.

Kansas quintet the Anniversary, Carrabba’s labelmates on L.A.’s Vagrant Records, spiritedly presented its brand of alt-prog, complete with shifting tempos, unconventional time signatures, shag haircuts and bell-bottom pants. They leaned more toward the Smashing Pumpkins than Yes, but without either’s pomposity.

Massachusetts singer-songwriter Ben Kweller, a caffeinated mop-top in front of a three-piece band, played a winning set of witty ditties shifting somewhere between Ben Folds and Weezer.