Dare

Artists: Dare, Chantel McGregor

Venue: Picturedrome (Holmfirth)

Date: 14th December 2025

"Tonight, they absolutely nailed its atmospheric core. “Does it ever rain in Holmfirth?” Wharton quipped. Based on my last three visits to the Picturedrome – all resulting in a soaking – the answer is clearly yes."

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This evening’s support came by way of a local lass – well, just up the road – Bradford’s (Blues) Rock guitarist and singer-songwriter Chantel McGregor. You may notice I’ve put Blues in brackets, as tonight’s setlist was taken entirely from her third studio album, the impressive ‘The Healing’ (check out Paul Mace’s review in Issue #111 of Fireworks), which is deliberately and unashamedly Rock. The talented McGregor ran through the whole album, in order, alongside her rhythm section of Joe Thorpe and Keith McPartling on bass and drums respectively.

The blonde, barefoot songstress, dressed all in black, had the crowd captivated throughout her forty-two-minute, eight-song set, opening with the hard-rocking ‘I Will Breathe’. The kick-ass momentum continued with ‘Broken Heartless Liar’, McGregor putting her heart and soul into every note before joking, “I need to start going to the gym.” My personal favourites were equally – if not more so – impressive in the live environment. ‘Tears’, introduced as “This is a miserable one from the new album”; the Southern-rock-tinged ‘Stand On My Own’; and the sensational tour-de-force ‘Echoes’ all stood out.

McGregor asked the crowd to pretend ‘Truth Will Out’ was the last song, as she had no intention of leaving the stage – there were steps! The modern hard rocker featured band introductions and an enjoyable jam session from all three members. That just left the final “encore” track, ‘The Healing’, written about her mother during a period of serious illness. Thankfully, she has since recovered and was manning her daughter’s merchandise stand this evening. To steal Paul Mace’s review ending: pure class.

Setlist (contains spoilers)

I Will Breathe / Broken Heartless Liar / Tears / Stand On My Own / Echoes / Undercover / Truth Will Out / The Healing

This marked the fifth annual migration of the Dare Fan Club to the picturesque West Yorkshire setting of Holmfirth, home to its century-old picture theatre, perfectly positioned in the heart of the town. Tonight’s virtual sell-out crowd was largely made up of friends, family and fan club members, with a few seeing the band for the very first time – though, judging by tonight’s performance, certainly not the last. Many had travelled great distances to see their heroes end-of-year show. Fortunately, for me, this was a local gig and my third time seeing the band live in Yorkshire this year, having caught them twice at the inaugural V23 Rockfest in Wakefield back in May.

The atmosphere was palpable by the time Darren Wharton (lead vocals), Vinny Burns (guitar), Nigel Clutterbuck (bass and vapes), Marc Roberts (keyboards) and Gregg Morgan (drums) took to the stage for set-opener ‘Born In The Storm’. The stage set was minimal, featuring a large black backdrop emblazoned with the band name and the iconic Dare Celtic Heart. The band were well illuminated courtesy of the excellent lighting from Lee “Fez” Foster – and it was good to see Mr Roberts emerge from the shadows.

Initially, I thought the sound might be a little too loud; however, both volume and mix were near-perfect by the time we reached ‘Cradle To The Grave’. The Holmfirth Collective were in fine voice during ‘Home’, while the Celtic vibes came to the fore during the beautiful ‘Until’. Wharton dedicated ‘I’ll Hear You Pray’ to those we’ve lost – especially parents – a particularly emotional moment at this time of year. The title track of their most recent studio album, ‘Road To Eden’ (written during lockdown), is always impressive; it’s hard to believe it was released three years ago. Hopefully, there will be some new material in 2026, although there was no mention of it this evening. Wharton also told the story of how his father encouraged him to follow his heart when he was around ten years old, inspiring the excellent, rockin’ ‘Fire Never Fades’ from the same album.

The charismatic frontman, dressed in his trademark black attire and sunglasses, briefly left the stage as the intro to the classic ‘Sea Of Roses’ played – the first of a run of four songs from 2004’s ‘Beneath The Shining Water’. Sadly, the title track didn’t feature, but we were treated to deep cuts ‘Where Darkness Ends’ and the U2-tinged ‘The Battles That You’ve Won’. During the first intro to ‘Silent Hills’ (a song about rolling around in the heather), Roberts’ keyboards briefly failed, though they were thankfully fixed straight away. Darren then introduced his best friend from school, Chris Parkinson, whose birthday it was, before attempting to convince the crowd he had just turned fifty-four – to derisive laughter.

Almost an hour in, it was time to “make some noise” as the band dipped back into their Heavy Rock period with ‘Wings Of Fire’. It received the loudest applause so far, making it a slight disappointment that it was the only track aired this evening from their sophomore opus ‘Blood From Stone’ (1991). Wharton then regaled the audience with the story of how he and Vinny had to rough it at Joni Mitchell’s house in Los Angeles while recording their debut album ‘Out Of The Silence’. He recalled how Steve Wright played ‘Abandon’ on Radio One, before asking the partisan crowd to help him out, joking it’s hard singing when you’re fifty-two years old. Jokes aside, Wharton’s voice remains in mighty fine shape. For many of us, ‘Abandon’ was our first introduction to Dare – love at first listen – and it was even good to see Marc Roberts headbanging behind his keyboards.

Wharton spoke of joining the legendary Thin Lizzy at just eighteen years old, before reflecting on how many people were lost to drugs during that era. He and Vinny, while drinking grapefruit wine, wrote ‘Don’t Let Go’ as a message to stay away from drugs. It also happens to be my all-time favourite Dare song, and one they’ve only begun playing live in recent years. Tonight, they absolutely nailed its atmospheric core. “Does it ever rain in Holmfirth?” Wharton quipped. Based on my last three visits to the Picturedrome – all resulting in a soaking – the answer is clearly yes. Given its proximity to the band’s hometown of Oldham, this came as little surprise. Cue ‘The Raindance’. The song that secured Dare their A&M record deal, ‘King Of Spades’, dedicated to the one and only Phil Lynott, concluded the main set in fine style.

After a brief exit, the band returned following the silliest question of the night: “Do you want to hear another one?” There appeared to be even more friends and family in attendance than at previous end-of-year shows, including Barry James from Radio Caroline and Sandra, younger sister of Professor Brian Cox – all warmly acknowledged by Wharton and crowd alike. ‘Every Time We Say Goodbye’ was suitably poignant, before ‘Return The Heart’, complete with band introductions, brought the hour-and-forty-five-minute set to its ultimate conclusion.

All Dare shows are superb – but tonight’s was just that little bit special.

Merry Christmas!

Setlist (contains spoilers)

Born In The Storm / Cradle To The Grave / Home / Until / I’ll Hear You Pray Road To Eden / Fire Never Fades / Sea Of Roses / Where Darkness Ends / Silent Hills / The Battles That You’ve Won / Wings Of Fire / Abandon / Into The Fire / Don’t Let Go / The Raindance / King Of Spades

Encore: Every Time We Say Goodbye / Return The Heart

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Review: Mark Donnelly

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