Review gallery: Secondhand Serenade

Secondhand Serenade in Reno

Vesely calls his songs serenades that are written to his wife. What? Emo in the context of a long-term committed relationship? Yup.

When he grabs an acoustic guitar and stands alone on stage, it's much like Dashboard Confessional's first outings, with a man shouting at you in a heartfelt rather than angry way. And when the band joins him, as they enjoyably did for at least half the show, it sounds like ... later Dashboard Confessional (especially "Vindicated") when Chris Carrabba had the money to hire people to keep him company.