FM/Dare - Reading Review

After teaming up for a short run of UK shows last year, the UK-based melodic rock bands FM and Dare clearly enjoyed themselves so much that they decided to do it all over again! I saw the bands' tour last year, at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire in London, and it was an excellent evening of music. The two bands are very well-matched, with a crossover in fanbase, so doing co-headline shows certainly makes sense. I am a big fan of well-matched co-headline tours, as it allows bands to branch out a little, play larger venues, and share touring costs with other acts. These sort of tours also provide good value for money for the gig-goer, and that is probably why many of the co-headline tours that I have been to have been well-attended. This time around, the FM/Dare tour took in a few UK venues as well as a few venues in Spain - but I opted for the fairly un-exotic location of Reading. Despite having visited the town a few times previously, this was the first time that I had been to a gig there. The city's main small venue seems to be Sub89, an upstairs venue that looks as if it might be a dive but actually is pretty good. It was a decent-sized room with a long bar, good toilets, and a stage suitable for the venue of it's size. It also had a lovely big PA, which helped the two bands sound great throughout the evening. The sound was actually really good, with both FM and Dare having crisp, clear sound all night that had a great balance between all the instruments and the vocals. As I walked towards the venue I saw that there was already a large queue assembled, so I joined it. I had wondered what the turnout would be like in a place like Reading, but it turned out there were plenty of locals who fancied an evening of AOR. With no London shows for either bands on the horizon, I am sure there were a few who made the short trip out of the Capital too! Reading does not seem to get too lucky on the gigging front, which is shame as the town seems well-equipped to handled the smaller acts. It is certainly somewhere that I will keep more in mind going forward when it comes to planning trips away!

On the last FM/Dare tour there was an opening act, but there was not this time around. This meant that 20 minutes after the doors opened, Dare took to the stage and played through 70 minutes of their subtle melodic rock right off the bat. Luckily most people had turned up early and, despite taking a few numbers to really draw people in, Dare received a strong reception from the good-sized crowd. The setlist that frontman Darren Wharton and co. played was very similar to that which was played last year, with the first half containing the band's more recent, Celtic-tinged material and the second showcasing the band's hard rocking earlier albums. Five songs from 2016's excellent Sacred Ground got the night off to a great start, with Home getting things underway and the soaring Days of Summer impressing early on. Days of Summer is one of my favourite Dare tracks, so getting to hear it live again was a real treat. It is probably the song on Sacred Ground that is closest to the band's early work, and saw plenty of soloing from Vinny Burns (guitar/vocals). Wharton was suffering from quite a nasty cold, so was visibly struggling with some of the vocals, but he soldiered on through like the professional that he is and still put on an emotionally-charged vocal display. Songs like I'll Hear You Pray really showcase his voice the best, and the big washes of keyboards from Marc Roberts (keyboards/vocals) helped to create the band's big, dense sound. Where Darkness Ends was the only song played that was not featured in last year's set, and it was great to hear the creeping song live. It also marked the end of the first half of the set, with the hard rock of Wings of Fire taking over soon after with a big Burns riff and plenty of pulsing hard rock bass from Nigel Clutterbuck (bass guitar/vocals). As great as the first half of the show was, it was the latter portion that really seemed to excite the crowd. We Don't Need a Reason saw a big sing-a-long with the crowd, and Into the Fire allowed Roberts to launch into a brilliantly retro synth riff. One of the highlights of last year's London show, King of Spades, was also a highlight hear. The ballad is a beautiful one, and once again it was dedicated to the late Phil Lynott. A portion of Róisín Dubh (Black Rose): A Rock Legend was again included by Burns during his extended solo section during the song, and many in the crowd really appreciated the gesture. It was left to, as always, Return the Heart to close things up and by this point nearly everyone in the venue was fully on board with what Dare were doing. They received a big cheer as they left the stage, and left FM with a hard act to follow (once again!). The setlist was:

Home
Until
Days of Summer
I'll Hear You Pray
Every Time We Say Goodbye
Sea of Roses
Where Darkness Ends
Wings of Fire
We Don't Need a Reason
Abandon
Into the Fire
The Raindance
King of Spades/Róisín Dubh (Black Rose): A Rock Legend [Thin Lizzy cover]

Return the Heart

Not daunted by the challenge, FM took to the stage half an hour after Dare finished and ran through a 90 minute set with ease that was greeted with glee by everyone in attendance. While not vastly different from the set the band played last year either, the songs were mixed up a little to keep the running order fresh and a few recent editions keeping their places. The new number Black Magic once again opened proceeding, with Steve Overland (vocals/guitar) leading the big wordless vocal intro early on, before the band went into the big hits Bad Luck and That Girl early on. It was strange to hear these songs played so early in the night, but it really helped to get the party atmosphere established early on. Bad Luck in particular saw lots of singing, with the whole band - who had recently gone through a traumatic theft in Spain - breaking into big grins. The band clearly wanted to just have a great time, and proceeded to wheel out favourite after favourite, with the synth-led Let Love be the Leader providing another early highlight as Jem Davis (keyboards/vocals) attacking his bank of keyboards with glee. There were a couple of songs played that did not feature last year, with the old B-side Dangerous getting a somewhat rare outing, and the old album track Face to Face being brought out for another similarly-rare appearance. The former was a song that I was not familiar with, but I loved it from the off. It has the sort of chorus that you can easily get into, and I shall now have to track down a slab of 7" vinyl that has it on! I was also pleased that the smooth AOR of The Dream That Died had retained its place in the set and enjoyed hearing it live again. There are lots of underrated songs on the Tough it Out album, and that is one of them. Another is Does it Feel Like Love that got another showing after Jim Kirkpatrick's (guitar/vocals) guitar showcase Metropolis and the somewhat-funky Over You. With so many of the band's usual closing songs already featuring, it was left to I Belong to the Night to get the final portion of the show underway. It is probably my favourite FM song of all time, so it was great to hear it pushed back to the end of the show and away from it's usual early spot. It worked well, and led nicely into Tough it Out to provide a strong one-two punch to bring the set to a near close. That honour however was left to the new number Killed by Love, meaning the set was bookended by numbers from last year's album. This worked well, and there were clearly many who knew the latest album as nearly everyone helped Overland out with the vocals. The band left with big smiled on their faces, but it was not long before Davis took to the stage again and started to play the ballad Story of My Life. The gentle song worked well to ease the band back into the encore section, before everyone in attendance wished drummer Pete Jupp a happy birthday, who was celebrating his 60th birthday! This heightened the party atmosphere further, and meant that the final two numbers of Someday and Other Side of Midnight rocked that little bit harder! It was a great end to a great night, and another stellar showing from FM. The setlist was:

Black Magic

Bad Luck

That Girl

Life is a Highway

Let Love be the Leader

Closer to Heaven

Dangerous

Face to Face

The Dream That Died

Metropolis

Over You

Does it Feel Like Love

I Belong to the Night

Tough it Out

Killed by Love

-

Story of My Life

Someday

Other Side of Midnight

Despite being very similar to a show that I went to last year, this March evening in Reading was an excellent display of melodic rock from two of the best that Britain has to offer. Both FM and Dare tend to play a select amount of shows a year, so it is always worth catching them when you have the chance. I will be seeing FM again next month with The Quireboys, and I hope there will also be more opportunities to catch Dare in the future.