On Sunday, October 1st, the Hollywood Palladium came alive in pure emo glory for The Dashboard Confessional’s highly anticipated headline tour. Featuring special guests Boys Like Girls and Taylor Acorn, The jam-packed, 28-city tour kicked off in September in New Jersey and has slowly made its way across the coast, one show at a time.

Taylor Acorn

Pop-punk songstress Taylor Acorn took the stage first and warmed everyone up with the heart-pumping tracks, “Final Nail, “I Think I’m in Love,” and “Sticking Around.” During her 30-minute set, Acorn and her bandmates owned the stage, pouring their hearts out as she showcased her powerful vocals that amplified the heartfelt and heart-wrenching lyrics. It was hard to believe that Acorn almost called it quits. 

In between songs, the singer shared that she almost quit music four years ago until she began posting emo song covers on TikTok and fell back into her love for the genre that defined her childhood. Acorn, who professionally started making country music, went viral on the platform and received praise from both fellow emo fans and the very bands she admired. She switched gears, jumped head-first into the pop-punk space, and hasn’t looked back since. To be on tour and sharing the stage with Boys Like Girls and Dashboard Confessional was a true full-circle moment for her. Through her personally penned songs that tap into her experiences and struggles, she hopes that her music will bring solace to listeners, in the same way her favorite musicians’ songs did for her.

Acorn’s standout performances include “Coma,” a rock ballad about the struggles of a toxic relationship; “Birds Still Sing,” an acoustic song about resilience in the face of adversity that tapped into her country roots; and “Shapeshifting,” a pop-rock banger about mental health and how hard it is to “fake happy.” While “Coma” and “Shapeshifting” showcased Acorn’s belting vocals and the band’s energy, the solo spotlight performance of “Birds Still Sing” moved the audience with its vivid lyrics and metaphors that drove the song’s message home: “Birds still sing on bad days / Flowers grow around graves / Not everyone stays but the real ones do / Our moon moves in phases / So give yourself a little grace / And if you look close where the cracks meet / We’re still blooming in concrete.” Acorn’s opening set impressed the audience, with many pulling out their phones to look up her songs on Spotify, and perfectly set the tone for the rest of the night’s festivities.

Boys Like Girls

Backlit by spotlights, Boys Like Girls’ drummer John Keefe took his place behind the drum set to a chorus of screams from the eager crowd. He lit a cigarette, letting it dangle from his mouth as embers and smoke swirled around him, creating a striking visual that only fueled the audience’s excitement. With a flick of the cigarette, Keefe launched into the thunderous drum intro for “SUNDAY AT FOXWOODS,” setting the stage for Gregory James (bassist), Jamel Hawke (guitarist), and Martin Johnson (vocalist/guitarist) to make their grand entrance. The band, who had headlined the Palladium just last year on their Speaking Our Language tour, performed like seasoned pros on their home turf.

The band’s hour-long set featured a well-curated mix of their most iconic pop-punk hits and their newer pop material executed through back-to-back electrifying performances. Decked out in their signature black leather jackets, skinny jeans, and bold printed boots, they dove headfirst into “Love Drunk,” “Five Minutes to Midnight,” and “BLOOD AND SUGAR.” As Johnson serenaded the audience (and flicked an occasional guitar pick here and there into the crowd), Hawke and James made full use of the stage, constantly on the move as they jumped on risers, and leaned into the front rows, encouraging louder chirps and keeping the energy at a constant high.

As their set continued, the crowd only seemed to intensify as they sang their hearts out to throwback favorites such as “Heels Over Head” and “Hero/Heroine” and clapped and danced to recent releases like “MIRACLE” and “LANGUAGE.” Between riffs, Boys Like Girls hyped each other up, feeding off one another’s energy, creating an atmosphere that felt like a celebration as much as a performance.  For “Two Is Better Than One,” an acoustic love song originally featuring Taylor Swift, Boys Like Girls welcomed Taylor Acorn back on stage as she sang her own rendition of Swift’s verses, beautifully harmonizing with Johnson’s vocals as the onstage collaboration brought its own new flair to the song.

The highlight of their set came during the grand finale with the most highly anticipated song from their set — “The Great Escape.” The song was an anthem of youthful rebellion and freedom that became an iconic track in the peak 2000s pop-punk era. The audience was hyped and ready, but just as the song hit its first chorus, the band abruptly stopped. The members stepped back, soaking in the rising whines and pleas from the crowd, who were just getting into the moment. After a suspenseful pause, Johnson casually approached the mic and called for the audience’s full attention. “Did you get the video?” he teased, before urging everyone to put their phones away. In classic Boys Like Girls fashion, he invited the audience to rewind it back to 2006 — a time without smartphones and Tiktok, where the only focus was jumping, shouting, and living fully in the music. As “The Great Escape” restarted, the crowd went phone-free, singing their hearts out, dancing, and partying like they had in the early days, fully absorbed in the moment. It was a refreshing moment in an era that’s so social media-focused and allowed everyone to truly be fully present.

Dashboard Confessional

By the time headliner Dashboard Confessional, the audience was primed and ready. Opening with “The Best Deceptions,” “Again I Go Unnoticed,” and “The Sharp Hint of New Tears,” the band set a nostalgic tone, drawing the audience into a set filled with raw, heartfelt storytelling. Frontman Chris Carrabba, as animated and down-to-earth as ever, was quick to joke mid-set about how many attendees must have arranged for babysitters to attend the show. His humor hit a chord, as fans laughed, swapped birth years and their children’s ages, and the “curfew” they told their babysitters.

Carrabba’s playful conversations continued between songs, making the night feel more like an intimate conversation than a performance. He reflected on the fascinating ways fans have discovered Dashboard Confessional’s music over the years, often through soundtracks in movies and shows like Spider-Man 2 and One Tree Hill. For some in the crowd, these soundtracks were their first taste of Dashboard’s music, and Carrabba seemed genuinely moved by how each person had found their own way to connect with the band. This sentiment resonated on a personal level as he shared a story about his daughter, who recently went to see the film adaptation of her favorite book, It Ends With Us, in theatres. His daughter called after the movie, excited to tell him that her favorite scene from the book had her dad’s song, “Carry This Picture,” playing in the background. Carrabba, touched and filled with pride, was more excited to hear that his own daughter recognized their songs. Following the laughter from the crowd, the band segued into the aforementioned track.

With a setlist packed with both timeless hits and deeper cuts, the band kept the crowd on an emotional rollercoaster. Before launching into “Saints and Sailors,” Carrabba humorously shared a story from when guitarist Armon Jay (“AJ”) first joined the band years ago. AJ had accepted the offer to join, but only under one condition: he would get to choose one song each night for the setlist—and Carrabba would have to play it, no questions asked. Carrabba agreed, but he soon realized AJ would choose “Saints and Sailors” every single night for their next 542 shows together, much to the crowd’s amusement.

Highlights included “Screaming Infidelities” and “Vindicated,” which both drew deafening sing-alongs from the crowd, “Watch The Fire,” which brought out Boys Like Girls back onstage for their respective parts, and “Stolen,” a tender reprieve with the entire venue swaying in unison to the classic love song. From start to finish, Dashboard Confessional’s set was filled with fans chanting along to every song, momentarily transporting them back in time to the highs and lows of their teen years.

Overall, the night was a heartfelt reunion for emo fans to relive the highs and lows of their teen years through their shared memories and love for music. As the final chords faded, the house lights turned on, and the audience made their way out, it was clear that Dashboard Confessional, along with Boys Like Girls and Taylor Acorn, had provided an unforgettable soundtrack to memories both old and newly made.