The Dare at Electric Ballroom review: Gen Z’s favourite suited musician puts on a rapid, raucous show

Can 1 antheral revive an full genre? Well, that’s what they’ve been whispering astir Harrison Patrick Smith, aka The Dare. The electroclash instrumentalist is champion known for his enactment with Charli xcx connected her underwear themed earworm Guess (later remixed to see Billie Eilish, taking it from a modular deed to an unavoidable phenomenon).

His ain euphony has a akin style: raunchy lyrics, straightforward prose and world shattering bass drops. He’s been tipped arsenic the reviver of indie sleaze, the subculture associated with indie euphony from 2006 to 2012. It’s a dense crown to wear. The past indie sleaze monarch was Pete Doherty, if that puts it into perspective.

But past night, astatine Camden’s Electric Ballroom, Smith proved that helium whitethorn beryllium susceptible of carrying the weight. Arriving connected signifier successful his trademark achromatic and achromatic suit (he is seldom seen successful thing else), airy flooded the assemblage arsenic Smith shouted the lyrics to “Open Up”. The assemblage jostled and jumped, an array of hands astir perpetually elevated to get their worthy of footage for socials (he’s precise beloved connected TikTok).

From here, Smith took revellers connected a whistlestop circuit of his debut (and only) album, What’s Wrong with New York? The phones disappeared astatine times successful spot of upthrown hands during large bass drops, similar that of I Destroyed Disco and Perfume.

During the latter, Smith fell to his knees and gyrated connected the stage, a tiny but outrageous spot of performing that drove the assemblage wild. Many of the fans were truthful obsessed with him that helium didn’t request to bash overmuch much than rise the microphone to the entity successful bid to get a resounding shriek from the assemblage – and helium did.

A newbie to The Dare mightiness person complained that it each sounded the same, but that’s what the radical were determination for. Smith has a distinctive dependable and an medium of songs successful a format that his fans adore. Saying that, if 1 of his songs isn’t your thing, the remainder astir apt won’t beryllium either.

Smith took a interruption from singing astatine 1 constituent to play Bloodwork, a much electronic, lyricless opus from his oeuvre, which added to the feeling of it being much of a nine nighttime than a gig. Sadly, owed to said oeuvre inactive being comparatively tiny and Smith doing hardly immoderate assemblage interaction, helium raced done the songs successful what felt similar rather accelerated succession, leaving the assemblage hanging.

The last opus was, of course, Girls, The Dare’s archetypal ever single, which was ranked arsenic the 5th champion opus of 2022 by The New York Times. It’s a thoroughly modern time reenvisioning of The Rolling Stones’s Some Girls, with shades of Calvin Harris’s I Get All The Girls Girls, which chronicles each of The Dare’s favourite women. “I similar the girls that bash drugs (Drugs), Girls with cigarettes successful the backmost of the nine (Club)” … “Girls with dicks, Call girls, Girls that get bare connected the ‘gram.”

The venue exploded with glee, lone to travel crashing backmost down to world erstwhile the opus finished. No physique up and nary extended outro: Smith wrapped things up successful a businesslike mode and called it a night.

A shame. As the assemblage filtered out, it felt arsenic if everyone could person gone different mates of rounds. The Dare’s inactive got a agelong mode to travel earlier we cognize if he’s capable to singlehandedly revive indie sleaze. But helium decidedly near the radical of Camden wanting more.