Dashboard Confessional: Scala, London NW1

PARENTS WHO FEAR the effects of emo should spend some time with Chris Carrabba. Under the guise of Dashboard Confessional, the South Florida-raised singer, songwriter and guitarist was in the vanguard of the emo scene long before My Chemical Romance began grabbing headlines. That he spent time as a teacher, previously played with a Christian rock act, still has a sweet baby face at the age of 32 and told himself off for absent-mindedly using a swearword midway through the set should have put some minds at rest.