This was the third night of a lengthy US tour that Taylor Acorn has embarked on with Dashboard Confessional and Boys Like Girls. Not only were expectations already high opening up for two very popular bands, but Taylor also had her latest album release lined up for the day before playing in Connecticut. A lot of pressure to say the least!

The trio of performers took the stage at the Toyota Oakdale Theatre, a spacious but mostly seated venue offering up fantastic acoustics to carry the music to the crowd. Having only recently discovered Taylor Acorn’s work, I was excited to hear the power of her live voice and see those emotional connections with the crowd.

Taylor Acorn is a name that has been making rounds on various pop-punk channels over the past few years as new listeners discover and fall in love with her raw emotional sound. Originally from Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, Taylor established herself in pop-country music with her 2017 EP Put It in a Song, which encapsulated her abilities in the genre perfectly – emotional storytelling delivered with a powerful voice. Later covering classic pop-punk hits such as “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”, “Jamie All Over”, and “First Date”, the genre’s fandom fell in love and Taylor’s covers would be found all over TikTok. It wasn’t until 2023 that Taylor finally released her first full album Certified Depressant, solidifying her move into the pop-punk and rock genres. Songs like “Good Enough” demonstrate the vulnerability and raw emotion one would expect from an artist inspired by emo and on the fan favorite “Psycho” you get the ‘screw you’ punk attitude. “Psycho” alone has raked in 16.5 million listens on Spotify for this album, an incredible success for a single song.

Returning to the present, Taylor recently embarked on a US tour with Dashboard Confessional and Boys Like Girls. While the pressure couldn’t be any higher for Taylor to impress new listeners alongside these highly successful bands, she also released her second album Survival in Motion the day before she played at Connecticut’s Toyota Oakdale Theatre. Taylor had already dropped a couple of singles leading up to the album, with “Greener” being one of the most successful so far with over 2 million listens on Spotify (to no surprise with how incredibly catchy the chorus is). Before the show started, fans at the front of the barrier couldn’t hold back on sharing with us photographers how excited they were to see Taylor after recently discovering her music. After raving about Taylor’s music, we were given a warning that she was like a jackrabbit on the stage and that we were going to need to stay on our toes to keep up with her.

The lights dimmed and Taylor hit the stage. High-gain guitar riffs and fast drumming filled the theatre as we photographers found ourselves scrambling to follow the jackrabbit from stage left to right. “Final Nail” was the opening song choice and a fantastic one to get the crowd pumped up for the rest of the night with its addictive chorus and heavy breakdowns. The setlist switched to a couple of tracks from Certified Depressant, before returning to another new song “Birds Still Sing” which Taylor started alone with an acoustic guitar. It was an emotionally captivating experience as she opened up to the crowd, singing her heart out and slowly building up tension before the rest of the band joined in for an explosive crescendo of rock. Each bandmate was having a blast performing too, with the drummer spinning his sticks as he played, the guitarist headbanging and throwing the instrument around his body, and of course, Taylor jumping around and twirling to the sound of the music.

Taylor apologized for the quality of her voice during the set as she had been straining it from touring for so long. Understandable when you have such a strong singing voice, but it was not noticeable in the slightest. With a voice like that, Taylor is bound to make it far in her career!

Next up was Boys Like Girls, formed in Andover, Massachusetts back in 2005. This alternative rock band made a name for themselves with their self-titled debut album from 2006 which continues to contain some of their most popular songs pulling in millions of listens. Boys Like Girls put on an energetic performance that had everyone out of their seats singing along to their upbeat hits.

Dashboard Confessional, an alternative band formed in 1999 by Chris Carrabba in Boca Raton, Florida, was the headliner for the night. Originally a solo project for Chris, Dashboard Confessional grew into something much bigger as they reached the top of the charts with their 2003 album A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar. Their set was jam-packed with their biggest hits, but the best surprise was when Martin from Boys Like Girls returned to the stage to assist Chris with singing a brand new song “Watch the Fire”, set to release on September 20th.