Artists: Dare, Blackballed
Venue: Holmfirth. Picturedrome
Date: 8 December 2024
"I’ve been to all of Dare’s Holmfirth shows, and all have been brilliant, but this one was just that extra bit special. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Darren smile as much from start to finish."
Apologies to Blackballed, as I remained in the pub next door until 8.45 pm, although those I spoke to really enjoyed their set, as I did the previous year. One of the reasons for not entering the Picturedrome early doors was that the upstairs was closed, resulting in minimal seating, so I wanted to minimise the time I was on my feet. There were approximately 400-450 in attendance, and despite not being at full capacity, there was a terrific atmosphere and a real sense of anticipation when Dare hit the stage at 9.00 pm.
The show's first half was devoted to tracks from the last two studio albums, their seventh and eighth studio releases, ‘Sacred Ground’ (2016) and ‘Road To Eden’ (2022). It’s a testament to how strong those two albums were that they can furnish half the set with tracks from them both and the fans are more than happy. All were singing along to set opener ‘Born In The Storm’, ‘Cradle To The Grave’, plus the emotional ballads ‘Home’, ‘Until’ and ‘I’ll Hear You Pray’. There were still many they didn’t play, which I would have loved, but it would have meant a four-hour set!
Lead singer Darren Wharton amusingly couldn’t remember the album ‘Sea Of Roses’ was on. He asked bassist Nigel Clutterbuck, keyboard player Marc Roberts and drummer Greg Morgan, but they didn’t seem to know either, so he resorted to asking one of the knowledgeable fans, the majority of who were fan club members; 2004’s ‘Beneath The Shining Water’ just in case you were wondering. It was one of three consecutive tracks from the opus, including the first fully electric performance of the passionate ‘Battles That You’ve Won’, plus the ever-popular ‘Silent Hills’. Following ‘Wings Of Fire’ from Dare’s Hard Rock album ‘Blood From Stone’, the one where guitarist Vinny Burns gets to play “Hair Metal God”, Wharton joked, shaking his head in amusement, “You rockers.”
An early Christmas present for me personally was the inclusion of my all-time favourite Dare song ‘Don’t Let Go’, which I hadn’t seen the band play live since the 1988 ‘Out Of The Silence’ tour. They managed to nail it, including the atmospheric keyboards, courtesy of Roberts. The song was accompanied by perfectly synchronised flashing bright lights, which were a little on the blinding side; however, that aside it was another great light show from Fez (aka Lee Foster) with lots of greens to accentuate the Celtic ambience of many of the songs. Thanks also to Lee who handed me a setlist at the end of the show. They followed it with my second favourite Dare song (one that DJ Steve Wright used to play on Radio One back in 1988), and probably most fan’s favourite, ‘Abandon’. The partisan crowd duly sang along with volume levels increasing further during ‘Into The Fire’.
Storm Darragh may have stopped a few people from attending this year’s Christmas show, but it did not prevent Fahad A Mehdi from travelling from Baghdad. He received a shout-out from Wharton and subsequent loud applause from the other fans. ‘Raindance’ fittingly followed, although the weather had calmed down a little by Sunday evening. There was also a shout-out to one of Wharton’s old school friends, plus Dale Drinkwater who runs the Facebook Dare Fan Club page, which is one of the friendliest groups on social media. The main set closed with the Phil Lynott dedicated ‘King Of Spades’, Wharton proud of his tenure in Thin Lizzy, starting at the tender age of eighteen.
The band left the stage, and Wharton could be heard backstage asking, “Do you want another one?” Silly question, to which one fan replied as the band returned to the stage, “At least another three.” Unsurprisingly the band duly obliged with ‘Return The Heart’, which concludes most Dare shows, complete with snowstorm. The latter forced my wife Carol to the bar for a glass of water as she started choking. This evening, we were spoiled with a further two tracks. Recently, the Dare boys have formed a Thin Lizzy tribute band Renegade and played a cover of the Bob Seger classic ‘Rosalie’. Wharton dedicated the final song to all fans, another rarely played ballad, ‘Every Time We Say Goodbye’.
I’ve been to all of Dare’s Holmfirth shows, and all have been brilliant, but this one was just that extra bit special. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Darren smile as much from start to finish. In this often-shitty world, it’s great to know that some things can always bring a smile to your face and joy to your heart.
Setlist (contains spoilers)
Review: Mark Donnelly
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