Photos by Ava London
Harrison Patrick Smith, who performs under the moniker, The Dare, was exhilaratingly sleazy, with sex, drugs, alcohol, and every now and then love made palatable through omnipresent synths; a lá Calvin Harris circa 2007. The Dare resurrected the eccentric grittiness manifested in the indie sleaze subculture of the early 2000s, with hedonism as its face (and probably also offbeat graphic tee-shirts). Donning his signature black tux and dark shades, Smith’s deliciously self-indulgent tracks seemed to resurrect a party culture thought to be extinct with the onset of our chronically online age.
Los Angeles’ El Rey Theatre housed the night’s festivities, a deceptively small venue just outside Beverly HIls. Considering The Dare’s recent social media explosion, with his song “Girls” achieving virality across a plethora of media platforms, a 700-capacity venue seemed quaint, or perhaps intentionally conservative. Regardless, with velvet-lined booths and crystal chandeliers adorning a warm-toned ballroom, the veritable Old Hollywood time capsule that is the El Rey seemed fitting as a the source of an indie sleaze renaissance.
Before The Dare could destroy disco, concertgoers were met with a beautifully jumbled DJ set consisting of Weezer, Spice Girls, Jockstrap, and assorted drum and bass tracks. In retrospect, the mixes were a sort of crash course into indie sleaze: ‘90s pop pioneers Weezer and the Spice Girls paved the way for the electro-pop of the 2000s, which are now emulated by the likes of The Dare and Snow Strippers. UK pop music history aside, sonically incompatible tracks were somehow worked into a lively, coherent set, welcoming The Dare’s arrival with Weezer’s “Pink Triangle” (“I’m dumb, she’s a lesbian”).
The Dare’s set could have lasted 30 minutes or three hours, time became a fantastical creation watching Smith stagger across the stage to a synthesizer, screaming smutty lyrics to an equally sexual crowd. The capacity of the El Rey might as well have been 150 with the level of intensity projected onto concertgoers which, even dozens of standing rows from the stage, could be felt at full force.
The Dare’s setlist traversed more or less Smith’s entire discography, from 2024’s What’s Wrong With New York to 2023’s The Sex EP.
Legs wide, knees inturned, “I want to turn you on/and then I want you gone” was met with high-pitched screams crescendoing over a vigorous electronic dance beat as The Dare tore through “Sex.” From crouching at the very lip of the stage to springing back, bashing a cymbal that seemingly materialized from thin air, The Dare became a sporadic blur during “Perfume.”
Club anthem “I Destroyed Disco’s” thumping bass, paired with the glorious rasp of Smith’s throaty shouting voice marked a departure from a laid-back singing style; serpentine hands and glowing smartphones alike could be seen shooting into the air in time with a drilling synth bass. Charli XCX’x “Guess,” which was produced by The Dare, made a surprise (but incredibly well-received) addition to the setlist, as Smith cleverly mixed the remix into a mid-show electronic break.
“Elevation,” a synth-heavy song whose backing track could be straight out of the ‘80s, radically altered the show’s pace as The Dare, stagnant for once, crooned about cyclical love beneath smokey blue light. With the latter half of the night underway, “All Night” brought the energy back up with lyrics, “LA to New York/New York to LA,” particularly invigorating given the location of the show…The Dare rounded out the night with his by far most anticipated track, “Girls,” a chaotic track full of abandon and debauchery. Just as animated as he was at the beginning of the night, Smith sang over the heads of those on the barricade before launching himself into a stage dive as the beat dropped on “drugs.” The Dare’s gangly swagger epitomized nightlife in all its raunchy glory. His lax vocals were accessible; his brusque movements brought his discography to life in an unforgettable, sweaty, sleazy night.
Stream What’s Wrong With New York Here:
