This was my first time at the Belgrave Music Hall and the atmosphere was buzzing. Everyone dressed to the nines in suits and ties, topped off with some dark sunglasses. Adult DVD, a DJ, was the opener for the evening and played from when doors opened until The Dare took the stage. He really warmed up the crowd as everyone bobbed their heads along to the dance music and joined in a chorus for a few moments of Charli xcx’s ‘365’.
Harrison strolled on, obviously adorning his suit and tie, to the pulsing opening track ‘Open Up’ from his first album What’s Wrong with New York?. Immediately the energy surged and the crowd jumped forward with the beginning line of ‘Good Time’: “Lets have some fun tonight!”. The stage set up at the Belgrave Music Hall meant that the stage was about four feet off the ground, so The Dare towered nearly seven feet above us all, looking over the whole crowd. Despite this, he managed to get up close and personal with everyone by reaching into the crowd and kneeling down to sing directly to those at the front.
We then jumped into the hits like ‘Perfume’ and ‘I Destroyed the Disco’ but unfortunately these were interrupted a few times due to technical difficulties. After announcing “I will go backstage and drink eight to twelve beers” he ran off to allow the tech team to fix the issue. Although he did not restart ‘Perfume’, he came straight back into ‘I Destroyed the Disco’, one of my favourite moments of the evening. A mosh pit opened up, which according to Harrison, was the first time any crowd had thought to do so. It is my favourite song from What’s Wrong with New York? and perfectly encompasses The Dare’s sound.
One thing that surprised me was his cover of ‘I Can’t Escape Myself’ by The Sound, bringing the mood down considerably. The Sound are a post-punk band from the 1980s and the original track uses similar instrumentations and styles to The Dare’s current music. However, this seemed like such a niche but perfect choice due to the mellow about a very energetic set. This calm did not last as the cover was then followed with two unreleased songs. Both are unnamed but both are quintessentially in The Dare’s style with its raunchy undertones and glamour – I can not wait for both of them to be released.
Bringing it back to The Dare’s discography, the next track was ‘Bloodwork’ from his only other release: The Sex EP. He mixed this with snippets of Charli xcx’s ‘Guess’, which he produced, leading to the crowd yelling “send it to The Dare, yeah, I think he’s with it!”
He completed the main set with two slower songs: ‘Elevation’ and ‘You Can Never Go Home’. To complement these, he lit up a cigarette someone chucked at him from the audience. The electric pulses called for a moment of reflection about the rollercoaster of emotions that is party culture with lines such as “when the elevation’s done, there’s still no erasing us”.
Worry not, the encore ended the gig with a bang with the three tracks ‘Movement’, ‘All Night’ and the obvious ending of The Dare’s hit track ‘Girls’. Some highlights included a crowd surfer ending up on stage and dancing around the stage with Harrison, he was unfortunately quickly ushered off stage by security before he could stage dive. He finished off ‘Girls’ with 20 seconds of whacking a singular cymbal as hard as he could, the crowd seemed to be loving it but I could not help but laugh as he abruptly put the cymbal down and ran off stage, ending the set.
One thing I must comment on was the amount of songs the crowd knew for an artist who currently had one notable ‘TikTok’ hit. Compared to other artists like Faye Webster or Matt Maltese where the crowd has been pretty silent apart from the select viral hits, I was pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm from the crowd. However, the crowd did not help debunk The Dare’s unfortunate nickname ‘STD Soundsystem’. This came about after the accusations that Harrison was a knock-off LCD Soundsystem due to them both being from New York City and becoming staples in the indie-sleaze subgenre. People were holding up phones asking for all kinds of sexual favours throughout the set, even throwing bras, but Harrison managed to brush it off with a ”‘thank you, but not right now”’.
As we walked out of Belgrave Music Hall, the smell of sweat and stale cigarette smoke dissipated into Leeds city centre. Our bodies were practically steaming due to the cold air that hit us as we walked back to the car. You know the gig has been brilliant when the main sound from the crowd is asking for ‘water’ as they are trying to catch their breath. So, yes Charli xcx… I also think The Dare is with it.