Arguably, two of the faces in the Mt. Rushmore of emo music, Dashboard Confessional and Boys Like Girls, joined forces together with Taylor Acorn and rocked the Phoenix fans at the Arizona Financial Theatre for their Fall Tour 2024 last Tuesday night.
It was an emo night to remember indeed as we sang along to the songs that got us wearing black outfits and skinny jeans in our teenage years by two of the best emo bands out there with Taylor Acorn. The latter opened the night with an energetic set despite being reportedly sick. She sang some of her hits like “Shapeshifting” and “Psycho” to ignite the crowd’s energy in preparation for the main act. With her infectious energy and a knack for catchy melodies, Taylor showed the Arizona crowd why she’s the right artist to open this tour.
Lights went dim, it’s time for the boys in tough-looking boots and skinny leather pants. Boys Like Girls proved why they’re still on top of their game and why they’re still one of the most sought after bands in today’s era. With their signature looks and how good they always sound live, BLG never cease to amaze their fans as they opened their set with a mashup of “Sunday At Foxwood” and “Lovedrunk.” Their setlist was an overwhelming mixture of their hits from their 2006 self-titled album like “Five Minutes to Midnight,” “Thunder,” and “Hero/Heroine” and their most recent album.
One of the highlights of their set, a stunt that have been their signature act when performing in every city, was when they asked the crowd to record them playing the first part of “The Great Escape” so everyone has a video of the song and that they can play it again for the second time without phones recording this time. They would call themselves “time-travelers” as they set the atmosphere like it was the 2010s without a lot of devices in the air and just people vibing to their songs.
At 9:00, Dashboard Confessional was set to make an entrance to the stage. Fans couldn’t contain their excitement and anticipation to the one and only Chris Carrabba, despite the show schedule being on a Tuesday, they never really cared. All I know is that they care about singing the songs they love from Chris and his band. The cheers were deafening and it got louder when they started playing “The Best Deceptions.”
Carrabba’s powerful voice and screams will always be iconic as he performs most of the songs that really got stuck in our heads back when we were angsty and emotional teens. Songs like “Stolen”, “Screaming Infidelities” and “The Swiss Army Romance” were some of the crowd favorites, obviously. Some songs became more meaningful as he explained the backstories and anecdotes behind the songs that we like to listen to.
Although all throughout the set, the lights were already amusing, it even got grander when they brought back Boys Like Girls to perform “Watch The Fire”, a collaborative project of both bands that was released a month ago. You can tell that this tour has been destined to happen because of the chemistry that they have when sharing the stage and how they genuinely interact with each other. After the song, BLG left and Chris started playing “Vindicated” before the encore. They came back to close off the show with the ultimate song that made us sing our hearts out using a burned CD or from a file downloaded on Limewire, “Hands Down”. It was only pure nostalgia and flashbacks of memories associated with the song that rushed our heads when this song came in.
Dashboard Confessional’s Phoenix leg of their tour was an epitome of a great show that got us reminiscing the good old days. This one made us remember the songs that we blasted in high school and the stupid fits we wore that were mostly black ones, just to show our angst to the world. It was nothing more than a trip to memory lane as these bands played their heart out while feeding off of the energy from their emo audience in different ages. Without a doubt, they were just as good as they were 10 to 15 years ago.
GALLERY: Dashboard Confessional, Boys Like Girls and Taylor Acorn at Arizona Financial Theater in Phoenix (October 22, 2024)
