Alternating between a sound board and the microphone, Harrison Patrick Smith, known as The Dare, danced loosely on the Miller Lite stage on Sunday and embraced the trashy, edgy style he’s renowned for. He popped his hips and shook out his arms and legs while subwoofers pulsated, a fiery force of frenetic dancing ignited through “Good Time.” He pushed his black square sunglasses up and swung the microphone in circles, stumbling while crooning sexually suggestive lyrics, bringing a precise, messy, inebriated visual that can only be pulled off if perfectly rehearsed.
Much like his name suggests, his raucous style particularly shone through his performance of “Sex,” a hot and heavy track with an equally bass-heavy, sleazy, feverish tone. He served as a one-man band, continuing to alternate between the synthesizers and funky crowd control. His libido-maxed grunts and sordid hubris stimulated the crowd. The Dare smashed a cymbal stand while marching heroically across the stage with it.
It became clear that this music is intended to be heard during the witching hours in a dark, grimy warehouse where the thumping bass is heard within a mile radius. He claimed it’s the earliest show he’s ever played, but brought the same underground New York City, cigarette-smoking, smudged-mascara-paired-with-party-drugs sound regardless. His presence oozed a slimier recycled LCD Soundsystem, slightly offensive but all the while still fun. He screamed, “I Destroyed Disco,” a cheeky electro-shock dance track. He stood atop the speakers, stripped off his suit jacket and played into “LCA,” asking the audience to get their “camera phones” out.
He returned behind the soundboard for “Bloodwork,” a wordless dance track that featured a brief cameo of Charli xcx’s voice from “Guess,” a song he produced. He slowed the performance for “Elevation,” bringing a reverbed soundscape while he continued to croon into the microphone in a crouched position.
The Dare closed with “Girls,” an electrifying track that heralds women from “girls with cigarettes in the back of the club,” to “girls with dicks.”
