Dashboard Confessional singer Chris Carrabba.

Dashboard Confessional singer and main songwriter Chris Carrabba had penciled in some studio work and headlining some of his own shows when a certain Irish foursome contacted him about a supporting slot. Needless to say, he altered his plans.

"Do you think anybody says no?" Carrabba says Tuesday afternoon after opening for U2's first of four sold-out shows this week at the Air Canada Centre. "I was still supposed to be in the studio finishing some mixing for the record, but they were kind enough to let me re-schedule."

Carrabba says that although the band had played with the likes of Pearl Jam, Neil Young and Willie Nelson, there were definite butterflies prior to Monday night's show.

"I was nervous going into it and I don't get such bad stage fright any longer," he says. "But I was having a good old fashioned stage fright last night because of the circumstances. I had a little pep talk from Bono. It was good advice, but it absolutely did not make me less nervous. Instead, I was like, 'Oh my god, I'm getting advice from Bono.'

"Last night was the first night I really witnessed what a real rock star is. There's some elusive element that not every famous musician has."

Dashboard Confessional, who released their last album A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar in 2003, are close to wrapping work on the new, as yet untitled, album. Carrabba says the band spent a month in Toronto working on the record produced by Daniel Lanois. The pair hooked up after Lanois phoned Carrabba and invited him down to Jamaica.

"He loved the way I had done my demos, which was basically in my apartment by myself, playing all the instruments," Carrabba says. "He said, 'Why don't we use that as the model for this record?' That's how I made my first two records and the first bunch of EPs. It helped me tap into that thing I thought was missing for a while from my music and my records."

Aside from the current shows supporting U2, Carrabba is doing his part for the victims of Hurricane Katrina by staging a few benefit concerts, including one Sunday evening at the Phoenix Concert Theatre. All proceeds, including merchandise sales, are going to the relief effort.

"It's got nothing to do with being a star, but if you're lucky enough that you got to do what you want with your life -- a doctor, banker, whatever -- you should be able to do some good work," Carrabba says. "Almost every single promoter has donated the room out of the kindness of their hearts. So it's far-reaching although it's my face that gets the accolade."

Carrabba, who lives in Florida, says all of his family and friends in the area ravaged by Katrina are safe and accounted for. He says he's done several hurricane benefit shows over the years, most recently the Sept. 10 MTV benefit special ReAct Now.

"It's a cause that I've held true to my heart because of my experiences with it. It's terrifying what's going on down there."

The benefit shows are expected to raise approximately $500,000, but Carrabba says that he's planning on doing more, perhaps over an extended period of time.

"I was thinking about it and it's going to take years to rebuild this community," he says.

"Forget physically rebuilding the city -- that's going to take years and years. Just to see to it that every member of that community's standard of life is as good as, if not better than, it was is going to take many years. We'll do (fundraising) periodically when we can."

But for now Carrabba is enjoying this week in Toronto supporting U2, watching U2 and taking in the Toronto International Film Festival.

"The parties are fabulous," he says with a laugh. "I'm getting run ragged, my friend."

CANCELLED: The Ear To The Ground festival scheduled for this weekend changed venues and was scaled back, but has now been cancelled outright.