Dashboard Confessional / Taking Back Sunday / Saosin / the Early November @ South Side Ballroom, Dallas, TX

Words and photos by Whitney Hensley

Nostalgia was running high throughout the crowd when the Taste of Chaos tour made its stop in Dallas on Friday night. This was an exciting night for those of us that spent our formative years listening to all the bands on this years lineup. Adam Lazzara of Taking Back Sunday put it best when he said “Most of you are here for nostalgia reasons. That’s not bad a thing, that means I was there when you got your drivers license.” The crowd cheered every time Adam mentioned all the big milestones of our lives that he was a part of.

With four bands in this year's lineup, the Early November kicked the crowd into high gear despite their early set time of 6:30. Led by frontman Ace Enders, the Early November energetically opened up the show playing both new and old songs from their catalog. At one point, the band gave the audience the choice of hearing fan favorite “Ever So Sweet” or “Baby Blue.” Based on the noise level from the crowd, yhe Early November launched into the winner, “Ever So Sweet”.

Saosin was up next and frontman Anthony Green only built upon the energy in the room. Anthony Green is easily the most energetic performer I have had the chance to photograph. He stressed my camera's focusing abilities to the absolute limit with his lively stage presence.

Next up in the lineup was Taking Back Sunday. The crowd cheered with excitement as they took to the American flag-adorned stage. With Adam Lazzara at the helm, the band launched into fan favorite “Cute Without the ‘E’ (Cut From the Team)”. The band played two new songs “Tidal Wave” and “Holy Water” off of their upcoming seventh studio album, Tidal Wave. Taking Back Sunday ended the night with their most commercially successful single, “MakeDamnSure”.

Opening up their set with “Vindicated”, Dashboard Confessional had the crowd singing along to every song for the rest of the night. Towards the end of the set while playing “Screaming Infidelities”, the band transitioned into a cover of Coldplay’s “Fix You.” Playing almost all of their most popular songs, any Dashboard fan should have walked away really happy after their set. Sadly, this nostalgic night had to end as Dashboard Confessional ended the night with their song “Hands Down”. Photos of the show are below:

The Early November