It may be The Dare’s biggest show yet, but the party is still only just getting started

The Dare arrives at London’s Kentish Town Forum.

Words: Abigail Firth.
Photos: Patrick Gunning.

They say you only become iconic when you’re recognisable as a silhouette, and if that’s the case, The Dare has managed that feat this year. Behind endless clouds of smoke, he’s immediately identifiable at six-foot-odd, in skinny trousers, wayfarer sunglasses and no discernible haircut; a uniform established enough to prompt the crowd at Kentish Town Forum to also turn up in a shirt and tie on a Tuesday night with Swiftie-like devotion. 

Rounding off a year that’s been undeniably massive, tonight’s show was an extra addition to his UK tour, and following a recent closure of Heaven, has ended up being moved to a venue that’d host his biggest headline show in London yet. The Dare is often mistaken for a Brit, a comparison which, aside from the dry wit and resemblance to Paul Weller in the 70s, becomes more obvious when you realise how well-received he is on the island. 

Because of course his debut album ‘What’s Wrong With New York?’ pulls sonically from its namesake, but the presentation of it feels more influenced by the other side of the Atlantic. From the on-the-nose starter ‘Open Up’ – a track that lends itself to one of Britain’s specialities: chanting – The Dare graces the stage with Britpop-era arrogance, holding nothing back. We get it, too; the floor attendees are obviously going crazy, but despite multiple attempts from security to get the balcony dwellers to sit down, they don’t.

He powers through banger after banger, hitting ‘Good Time’, ‘Sex’ and ‘Perfume’ and peaking early at the manic ‘I Destroyed Disco’. He doesn’t talk much on stage; in fact, it’s better when he doesn’t. The illusion is so deliberately curated, it’s sort of a shame when the occasional one-liners break it a little. 

With such a sparse discography – one album and one EP does not quite a headline show make – the hour is fleshed out with the unlikely cover of ‘I Can’t Escape Myself’ by British post-punk band The Sound. Even in its electroclash disguise, it’s a pretty harsh contrast to the hypersexual party tracks he’s become known for, if only for a minute before we’re blasted straight back into that world with a double bill of unreleased tracks ‘Freaky/Right’ and ‘Lights, Camera, Action!’.

The sheer number of hard hitters means those darker moments are incredibly stark when they arrive. Like ‘Elevation’, for which the relentless strobing is ditched for a single spotlight, and the thrashing around the stage is put aside for a stillness at the front of the stage.

Still, there’s nothing quite like the bangers. The encore here is relentless; ‘Movement’ into ‘All Night’ into the ridiculous breakthrough single and absolute apex ‘Girls’, the energy is practically dripping from the walls, and that’s really what it’s about, isn’t it? It may be The Dare’s biggest show yet, but the party is still only just getting started.