Dashboard Confessional Close Out Fall Tour in Irving, TX

After a month and a half on the road, Dashboard Confessional closed out their fall tour in Irving, TX, with support from pop-punk veterans Boys Like Girls. During the final tour night, the show was kicked off with an emotional acoustic set from Dashboard Confessional’s own Armon Jay, the band’s lead guitarist. While initially starting the set as a solo act, after the first couple songs Jay brought up Abigail Kelly Sevigny, the band's backup vocalist, to do several more tracks as a duet. This gave the audience a small taste of what they were about to witness in a few hours.

After a moving acoustic performance, the crowd waited patiently for Boys Like Girls to take the stage. The band wasted no time amping up the energy in the room, as the first song they played was the iconic “Love Drunk.” Fans of all ages started to sing along to the catchy chorus. Singer Martin Johnson continued to keep the crowd moving as the band played several more of their most loved tracks, such as “Five Minutes to Midnight” and “Heels Over Head.” As someone who grew up with the bands self-titled album on repeat back in middle school, finally seeing them live after 15 years was a truly incredible and nostalgic experience. The band performed with such passion and excitement, and that only made the crowd more rowdy as a result. Throughout the entire performance, dozens of cigarettes were smoked on stage, dozens of guitar picks were thrown out into the crowd for fans to catch, and hundreds of fans jumped along to the beat of some of their favorite songs from their childhoods.

When the set started to come to an end, Martin announced to the audience that if they wanted to take a video of the show, then they should start recording now. Soon after, the main riff from the band's most popular song, the 2006 hit (and my all-time favorite), “The Great Escape,” began to play. The band went through the first verse and first chorus only to stop right after and ask fans to put away their cameras and just enjoy being in the moment with everyone now. The song then started back up again as security brought fans onto the stage behind the band and the venue erupted into cheers and singing, ending the band's set on a euphoric high.

After the adrenalized performance by Boys Like Girls, it was time for Dashboard Confessionals to play. Starting the set with a solo acoustic performance of “The Best Deceptions,” lead singer Chris Carrabba serenaded the fans, eventually building up to the moment that the rest of the band joined him on stage for “Again I Go Unnoticed.” The band's setlist consisted of many of their older fan favorites as well as the newly released single “Watch the Fire” that they did with tourmates Boys Like Girls. When it was time for the track to be performed, Boys Like Girls frontman Martin Johnson stepped out onto stage to sing along and rock out with the band. After thanking the fans for their support over the years, the band exited the stage only to come back out for an encore and play one final song of the tour, the beloved “Hands Down.”

Both bands performed fantastic sets Sunday night, and ended the fall tour on a high note. While Dashboard Confessional does not currently have any scheduled tour dates for 2025, Boys Like Girls is scheduled to perform at the Emo's Not Dead Cruise in February 2025. So get your tickets now if you're down for some fun pop-punk at sea.