Dashboard Confessional is no stranger to the San Diego music scene. In fact, he sold out his show tonight at ‘Canes Bar & Grill.

Last year on the very night of the SunGod festival, they — or should I say he (Chris Carraba is the sole member of the original act) — played Che Cafe. One might think it difficult to draw a crowd on such a night. After all, halfway across campus was a drunken orgy of free entertainment with acts such as Face to Face.

Paying $5 to get into Che Cafe didn’t seem like a reasonable alternative. Yet a crowd was there, with a line stretching deep into the forest an hour before the show started. Long-haired individuals with small pins of their favorite bands sat, talked and smoked in anticipation of the evening’s events, fully aware that they were missing what is often cited as the one party UCSD has going for it, and they were all seemingly unbothered by that fact.

Inside, the crowd was packed together while Carraba complained onstage about the feedback and not having any water, playing a song or two in the meantime. He seemed to be the only one pissed off that he was missing SunGod.

Since then, Carraba has come a long way. He is the personification of the Emo genre. The somber subjects of his songs are offset by poppy guitar rhythms. But he distinguishes himself from other solo acts with his cleverly touching lyrics and vocal range. His stage name is derived from a song in which he sings about long drives home when he talks to his car about his life.

With a new release on Vagrant Records (“”So Impossible EP””), a lot of radio play and an MTV debut, he has a little bit of backing for his big-stage dreams. His sold-out gig at ‘Canes tonight is probably a good halfway indicator between relative anonymity and stardom. A lucky few will get to see what Carraba has to say about where he is now.

The Dashboard Confessional show with The Anniversary, Ben Kweller and Legends of Rodeo is sold out. Look to the hiatus calendar for details.