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The Rock Band Live Tour made its way to Miami Friday night, with an enjoyable night of music from The Cab, Plain White T’s, Dashboard Confessional and Panic at the Disco.
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Although it only filled about half of the BankUnited Center, the concert had high energy and the bands got a good response from the crowd. Each band kept their set moving, with no long-winded speeches or ramblings from the lead singers.
Between sets was another story. Groups were invited onstage to play Rock Band as it was displayed on giant screens. What seemed like a good idea quickly lost the audience’s attention, as four people were playing while everyone else was simply watching. One redeeming moment was a group’s choice of Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer,” which had the entire arena singing along.
The Cab, first discovered by Panic at the Disco, played a nice punk set. They showed lots of energy, involved the crowd and got a fairly good response for a group the majority of people had never heard of.
Plain White T’s upped the stakes with a blend of vocal harmonies and instrumentation. The band switched between fast-paced rock numbers and slower acoustic songs. The crowd gladly followed the band’s instruction, singing along to their 2007 hit “Hey There Delilah.” Plain White T’s set was not as spur-of-the-moment or unscripted as the other bands, but rather was very theatrically staged.
Dashboard Confessional was very down-to-earth and entertaining, both in their music and in lead singer Chris Carrabba’s words in between songs. Carrabba and the other members seemed genuinely happy to be playing to a home crowd; most of the band members are from South Florida.
Carrabba joked, “I know half of the people here, and I’m related to the other half.”
Dashboard’s set was upbeat, and moved quickly from one song to the next with little downtime. For their last song they invited The Cab and Plain White T’s to join them onstage for their rendition of Pink’s “So What.”
Panic at the Disco held true to form, delivering an astounding performance. Fans rocked out to classics such as “Nine in the Afternoon” and “I Write Sins Not Tragedies.” The band ended their set with a hyped-up version of “Shout,” which had the whole crowd dancing and singing their way out the doors.
Overall the concert was a good way to spend a Friday night on campus, but it was a shame the BankUnited Center had so many empty seats. Tickets were a bit pricey for the average college student ($48 total for a lower level seat), but it was well worth it based on the talent.