Night With The Dare

You can’t spend your whole life inside; this is the thesis of Harrison Patrick Smith’s career as The Dare. Known for his black suit and blacker sunglasses, this musician has been gaining notoriety as of late due to his infectiously fun songs off his newly released album What’s Wrong With New York? Now he is on tour across the globe and he is bringing back the punk dance beats of the past.

​The Dare performed at the Denver venue Hi-Dive on Sept. 17, 2024, and with a sold-out show, it was clear that his name had gotten bigger in recent years. His path to stardom came about with the release of the viral song “Girls” in late 2022. A few months later in March of 2023, the artist’s monthly listeners on Spotify was listed as 271,488. But a year later, after the song “Guess” by Charli XCX was released and it was revealed that he produced this viral sensation as well, his monthly listeners rose to 2,818,790. Charli xcx’s music has recently been attributed to a trend amongst those in their early twenties that focuses on living freely, and The Dare’s songs certainly align with this ideology.

​His local show in Denver filled the Hi-Dive to the brim. Located just ten minutes from UC Denver’s campus, the self-described dive bar/rock club’s neon lights and loud decor made for the proper atmosphere for his music. He follows the beat of raunchy, unfiltered party songs that are meant to be danced to, and he is not afraid to play the supersized, bigger-than-life part himself.

​The Dare’s stage presence is a notable facet of his persona. He is known to be wildly energetic, and he danced around with the audience all night. Dotted around the stage was a plethora of different DJ decks that he used to add new sounds to his songs while he was performing, and as he darted from the microphone to the sound systems, he followed the energy of the crowd and even went so far as to throw his water at them in the heat of the moment. Later in the night, he dangled a cymbal stand above the crowd and reached up to hit it in tune with the music as the audience roared with shock and excitement.

​“Electroclash revival” is the phrase The Dare uses to characterize his sound. He draws inspiration from the spunky party scene of the past, and makes songs that consist of dance rock music that is a testament to a life of hedonism and never letting the night end. His show in Denver may be the last he ever does in a location of this size; the experience of witnessing his outrageous persona in a venue such as this is a kind of intimacy that cannot be overlooked. For those concert-goers in their youth who want to feel the rush of that grungy party vibe, seeing The Dare live is the epitome of the experience.

Photos by Lexi Cipriani.