A slight breeze kept the moisture-soaked air flowing enough that if one wasn’t moving around much it was rather pleasant on this August night in St. Louis. Unfortunately, that swirling air doesn’t reach the middle part of Saint Louis Music Park. But that did not deter the couple of thousand fans from enjoying the spectacular performances by Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, Dashboard Confessional, and opener Armor for Sleep on Tuesday.
After a quick stage change, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness launched into the second show of his Hello Gone Days tour with a dynamic hour-plus set a little after 9:30 p.m. Bringing his all, McMahon sang his heart out, waxed poetic, and simply enjoyed being on stage (or atop his well-loved piano) and performing, once again, in front of a live audience.
McMahon prefaced the thought-provoking “The Resolution” with, “one day we’ll come out of this [pandemic/last couple of years] on the other side together. Let’s do that tonight.” 
Aside from McMahon’s catchy, fun indie/alt tunes, he engages the audience in various ways including crowd surfing with a now-expected giant pool float.
An added surprise was Dashboard Confessional’s Chris Carrabba joining McMahon for part of a cover of The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven.”
Other fan favorites included, “Hurricane,” “Punk Rock Princess,” and “Konstantine.”
Nashville-based Dashboard Confessional took the middle slot on this tour with an impressive seventy-five-minute setlist spanning their career and not strictly performing from their new album, All The Truth That I Can Tell, although lead singer 
Chris Carrabba chided they’d to do just that. The 20-plus-year-old emo rock band, who span pop-punk and rock genres had every member of the crowd singing along loudly to every song — new and old.
Carrabba gushed within the first few minutes on stage, “You all look beautiful. So excited to be here.” He also declared he’d been looking forward to [performing]. And, “the sun setting behind you all is so good right now.”
His excitement to be on stage enveloped the fans boosting the already positive mood even higher. “We’re all friends here,” he graciously said.
From the singsongy “Saints and Sailors” to wailing on “The Best Deceptions” and “Vindicated,” Dashboard Confessional worked the crowd into a lather.
New Jersey-based Armor for Sleep opened the night promptly at 7 p.m. with a short set supporting their upcoming album
The Rain Museum out September 9. Their on-again-off-again presence is on again with their angst-ridden, sometimes noisy, melodies bordering on hard rock that included “Car Underwater.”
These steamy St. Louis summer days do not go unnoticed by performers coming through town. At one point during his set McMahon exclaimed, “All I ever wanted to do was headline shows outside. It’s hot as fuck out here.” While Carrabba shared that this was the, “Hottest, funnest, uh most fun, show on record although it’s been catastrophic for my hair.”
We’re so happy that each band stuck it out and performed to their utmost despite the sticky dog days of summer St. Louis is known for. Now, to get Saint Louis Music Park to add an overhead Big Ass Fans or two.
Find many, many more photos here: https://bit.ly/AMITW22cz
Find Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness’ setlist here: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/andrew-mcmahon-in-the-wilderness/2022/saint-louis-music-park-maryland-heights-mo-3bb26404.html
Find Armor for Sleep’s setlist here: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/armor-for-sleep/2022/saint-louis-music-park-maryland-heights-mo-33b264f1.html
In my work life, I help nonprofits and small businesses with media and public relations. In my what I love to do life, you can typically find me photographing either wild horses or concerts.
