Dashboard Confessional sells out SOMA San Diego

Emo icons Dashboard Confessional brought fellow rockstars BoysLikeGirls and the newly reformed Taylor Acorn to San Diego’s legendary venue SOMA on October 4th — the house was completely packed. The tour comes at the heels of Dashboard’s and BLG’s new single “Watch the Fire”, released just last month.

The crowd showed up and out, eager for the fantastic lineup that awaited.

As the lights dimmed and Taylor’s bandmates took the stage, the audience screamed with excitement, which turned into chaos when Taylor Acorn skipped her way into centerstage to greet San Diego. Acorn, alongside her band, exploded into their first track “Gray”. When I say ‘exploded’, I mean Acorn and her guitarist jumping simultaneously so high that the entire room was instantly hooked. The reborn pop punk star in-the-making has just debuted her full-length album, Survival in Motion, taking a turn from her country pop roots of 2011. The new vibe of her music has definitely made its mark on the scene, with the audience singing along to her most popular hits “I Think I’m in Love” and her set closer “Shapeshifting”. 

Boys Like Girls did not waste time getting down to business, taking the stage in a cloud of smoke adoring true 80s glam rock style. The guys accepted the crowd’s welcome before playing their smash hit “Love Drunk”. The energy exuding from each band member proved their true love of live music as the guys covered every inch of the stage… and even some speakers. I caught them at multiple points looking at one another with pride, as the massive crowd of 2,700 sang along the nostalgic anthems in front of them. It suddenly felt like a living room show, with the entire room moving in one way or another and the band just leaving their hearts on the stage.

It was truly captivating and one of the most exciting live sets I’ve seen in a long time.

The guys had the crowd get their phones out to record the first chorus of their breakout hit “The Great Escape”, in which they then stopped the song and told them it was time to just live in the moment, ditch the phone — and that they did. Honestly I really respected this method of letting the audience have the moment to remember if they wanted and then also to let loose. The room was left buzzing as house lights came on and the prep for Dashboard Confessional began. 

The stage was beautifully lit, with risers placed for members to be seen and spaced to allow for ample movement during the set. The crowd was beaming with excitement as each member took the stage one-by-one, followed by total uproar as Dashboard’s brainchild Chris Carrabba took the stage, humble and waving with a classic smile (and still looking the same as 20 years ago…? Chris, enlighten us on this fountain of youth?!)

The band opened with “The Best Deception”, bringing the audience to life from their extended interlude between bands. The band mainly stuck to their roots of their music with sprinkles of nice deep cuts from a newer era like “Southbound and Sinking”. We were even treated to a live rendition of the new release of Dashboard + BLG’s “Watch The Fire”. The building was roaring, the floor was moving… SOMA was truly put to its capacity in all ways for this show! Finally, the band was ready to deliver their fan-favorites. The crowd sung along every word as they were excellently delivered “Stolen”, “Screaming Infidelities”, and “Vindicated”.

Now the guys were ready to bring down the house with their closeout, “Hands Down.”

The audience was left completely satisfied with a continued chatter as fans exited, many happy to finally see the band after so long, while others voiced how they were celebrating their 10th or so time seeing the band. One thing is for sure, Dashboard has stolen our hearts forever. Their tour will continue through the west coast, even making a stop on the upcoming When We Were Young Festival on October 19th. 

Photography by Franny Kovacs

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