Dare - Bristol Review

I have been a fan of the British melodic rock act Dare for quite a few years at this point, but they have never been the busiest of touring bands - at least ever since I have been following them. A handful of gigs every so often seems to be their general way of operating, but for whatever reason 2022 has seen the band more active than they have been for quite some time. What has prompted this I am not sure, but perhaps the COVID-19 pandemic made frontman Darren Wharton and the rest of the band realise that getting out there and playing live is never something that can be taken granted. Another key factor, however, is likely to be the release of the band's eighth studio album Road to Eden - which came out back in April. For me, Road to Eden is one of the band's strongest releases to date - and perhaps this is also something that Wharton sensed. It is an album that certainly deserved to be taken on the road - and that is just what the band has been doing over the past month. The band's current UK tour is likely their most extensive for years, and it has allowed Road to Eden to be showcased to the Dare fanbase - which I have learnt over the past year or so is very dedicated. I knew that I had to get to a show on the tour, as I have always enjoyed seeing the band live, so back in January I bought a ticket for the show at The Fleece in Bristol. Little did I know at that point, though, that I would actually end up seeing the band live twice before this Bristol date. I already knew that I would see them at the Cambridge Rock Festival, but at that point I had not decided to go to Nuneaton to also catch them live. In fairness, the Nuneaton trip was a fairly last minute decision as it tied into some existing plans in the Midlands - but following last night's trip to Bristol I have now seen Dare live three times this year! This is a level of dedication that is generally reserved for bands like Mostly Autumn or The Quireboys - but Dare have become one of those bands that I will take every opportunity to see live, and it has been great seeing them so many times in 2022. The Fleece in Bristol is a good venue, too. Surprisingly, it is not one that I have been to very often - and prior to last night I had not been there since March 2020, just before the first lockdown. It was good to get back to the venue, then, and it was also good to see the place pretty full throughout the night. As I mentioned above, Dare's fanbase in the UK seems to be very loyal. Prior to this year I had only seen the band as a support act, so I had not really experience the band in full flight. Dare's fanbase seems to be full of people who regularly travel lengthy distances to see the band live, so as such the atmospheres at both of their headline shows that I have now been to have been excellent. Dare's headline shows are those where pretty much everyone in attendance knows every word to every song - which is why the band are able to put so much emphasis on their newer songs when playing live.

As was the case at the Nuneaton show back in March, the growing crowd was treated to 30 minutes or so of blues from slide guitarist Troy Redfern before Dare's set. Due to the Nuneaton show, and also seeing him open for The Quireboys back in January, I have now also seen Redfern live three times this year - and in truth I am still not sure what to make of him. I really enjoyed his Birmingham set, where he was joined by a traditional rhythm section and spent most of the set attacking a Les Paul, but last night and the set in Nuneaton I found less enjoyable - as he was only accompanied by a drummer and spent the whole set playing a resonator. His Birmingham set was hard rocking, riff-driven blues - with lots of strong slide solos and the occasional moment of resonator - but since then he seems to want to operate in a more stripped-down manner, with no bass backing and the fairly limiting resonator tuned to suite slide playing. Redfern is clearly a master slide artist, but for me the type of blues which almost solely relies on slide playing can get quite old quite quickly. There is only so much that can really be done with the guitar tuned in such a way and one finger covered by a slide - so after a couple of numbers last night I felt like I had heard it all really. That generally proved to be the case, although Redfern is clearly a strong songwriter and an excellent musician. Whilst it seems that he wants to establish himself primarily as a slide player, in my opinion he excels more as a hard-hitting blues rocker. When he strapped on his Les Paul in Birmingham his set was great - and the occasional slide moment made those parts of the set really shine. I was actually quite bored a couple of songs into his set last night, though, and it did not help either that his voice was very low in the mix - which meant that even the vocal melodies were not often there to help fill out the very raw songs. The most frustrating thing for me, personally, is that I know how powerful Redfern can be. I can only assume that he does not want to be that sort of blues player - which is fair enough. As it stands, though, I think that it is fair to say that Redfern's current style is not for me.

It was not Redfern that I was there to see, though, and half an hour or so after his set finished Dare took to the stage. Despite Wharton initially thinking he was in Southampton, the show got off to a strong start with a duo of songs from the new album - and in truth the quality remained at a high level throughout. Despite a brief step off the stage between the main set and the encore, the band played for pretty much two hours - and delivered a powerful 20-song set that initially focused on the band's newer albums, before taking a dive back into the past. The anthemic Born in the Storm, which is one of the best songs that the band have written in a long time, and the more atmospheric Cradle to the Grave opened up the show - before a suite of four songs from 2016's strong Sacred Ground were played. The band's newer material tends to be more atmospheric and keyboard-heavy than their older stuff, but the new songs still tend to sound a bit heavier live. The guitar playing of Vinny Burns helps to bulk them out live, though, and his lead work in particular really shone - as many of the newer songs called for emotionally-charged solos. Despite Burns shining, the spotlight was always, rightly, on Wharton. His voice still sounds great, and the way that he delivers the band's material makes the songs really come alive. Songs like the slightly rockier Days of Summer were really brought alive by this warm delivery, whilst the more melancholic I'll Hear You Pray allowed Marc Roberts' keyboards to fill the venue. Three songs from the new album then followed, and it was great to hear some of these tracks live for the first time. The sweet Lovers and Friends was one that Wharton dedicated to all of the couples in the audience, but the highlight of this part of the set for me was the slightly harder rocking Fire Never Fades - which included some tight grooves from the rhythm section of Nigel Clutterbuck (bass guitar/vocals) and Kev Whitehead (drums). The band moved back in time somewhat after this suite, and pulled out of a couple of songs from 2004's Beneath the Silent Water. Sea of Roses is pretty much an ever-present cut, but it was the somewhat lesser-played Silent Hills that stood out for me with its smooth feel and strong atmosphere. The clock was then turned back even further, to the band's 'heavy rock period' as Wharton calls it. The guitar-led Wings of Fire kicked the night up a notch, before two of the singles from 1988's Out of the Silence - Abandon and Into the Fire - kept the party vibes going. A final new song, the epic Thy Kingdom Come, then brought the main set to a close - and the cheers as the band left the stage were pretty loud, meaning that they came back pretty quickly. As they still had a decent amount of time to play with, a five-song encore filled with favourites brought the night to a close. The riffy We Don't Need a Reason kicked off the encore, before the folky The Raindance allowed for some crowd participation due to its wordless vocal hooks. Wharton then introduced the band's version of Thin Lizzy's Emerald, before dedicating King of Spades as always to the late Phil Lynott. Hearing Burns transition into Thin Lizzy's Róisín Dubh (Black Rose): A Rock Legend is always a special moment in any Dare set - and it was then left to Return the Heart to bring what had been a lengthy and powerful set to a close. The setlist was:

Born in the Storm

Cradle to the Grave

Home

Until

Days of Summer

I'll Hear You Pray

Lovers and Friends

Road to Eden

Fire Never Fades

Sea of Roses

Silent Hills

Wings of Fire

Abandon

Into the Fire

Thy Kingdom Come

-

We Don't Need a Reason

The Raindance

Emerald [Thin Lizzy cover]

King of Spades/Róisín Dubh (Black Rose): A Rock Legend [Thin Lizzy cover]

Return the Heart

Dare have been great every time that I have seen them live, and last night in Bristol was no different. Last night's show was almost certainly the longest Dare show that I have been to, and it was great seeing the band play so many songs - with over half of the new album included in the set. Given that the band have been pretty active on the road this year it may be a while before I see them live again, but I will take whatever opportunities arise to do so - as seeing Wharton and the gang also makes for a special night.