Dare are an English rock band, originally from Oldham, and fronted by former Thin Lizzy keyboard player Darren Wharton. They have been around as a band since the mid-1980’s. They are currently on their Road To Eden tour throughout the UK.
The opener for this tour is the slide guitar maestro Troy Redfern, who himself has recently released a new album ‘The Wings Of Salvation’, and I am sure we will be treated to a few from this tonight.
Troy is joined by Finn McAuley on drums for this tour and between the two of them, they create one helluva sound. They feed off each other and look to be having a fabulous time always on stage.
Troy doesn’t hold back and is straight on the attack with ‘Scorpio’, a track from his ‘Fire Cosmic’ album, and this is a take-no-prisoners approach. Full on, screaming guitar and pounding drums from the start, with a rock-a-billy vibe. This would have certainly woken the crowd up.
Next up we are treated to a track from his latest album release ‘The Wings Of Salvation’, with a song called ‘Sweet Carolina’ which has an addictive sing-a-long chorus and southern vibe. The pace doesn’t let up for another from the latest release with ‘Come On’, which again has a huge chorus and that National resonator gets a major workout.
‘Dark Religion’ slows the pace only slightly, for a moody and dark tale with a chain gang beat. ‘Waiting For Your Love’ is up next and brings that pounding beat back and hits you full in the face. Troy and Finn are certainly having fun tonight, playing off each other.
We end with ‘Sanctify’ from ‘The Fire Cosmic’, which is just a 100mph hurricane that rips through your very soul leaving you breathless and trying to figure out what just happened.
Troy is, without doubt, one of the most unique and enigmatic artists out there at the moment, no real genre to define him, and no holding back on his unique slide style, and with cowboy looks, he really does cut a fine figure on that stage. Definitely one of a kind and one not to be missed. An excellent and breathless opening to the evening.
Set list:- ‘Scorpio’, ‘Sweet Carolina’, ‘Come On’, ‘Dark Religion’, ‘Waiting For Your Love’, and ‘Sanctify’.
The lights went down and after a few seconds of walk-on music, the band appeared and took to the stage amidst a haze of blue and red coloured smoke. Always a joy for us togs, not.
Dare, as mentioned previously, have been going as a band since the mid 1980’s, and have built up quite a substantial back catalogue of songs. They kick off with a couple of tracks from their new release ‘Road To Eden’. ‘Born In The Storm’ and ‘Cradle To The Grave’ are both received well and the crowd are already singing along.
2016’s ‘Sacred Ground’ gets an outing next with songs including ‘Home’ which is just a fabulous and uplifting tune, and ‘Days Of Summer’. All obviously crowd favourites by the way they are welcomed. These are followed by the title track from the latest release, ‘Road To Eden’, with its Celtic vibes.
Over the next hour or so we are treated to tracks from several albums beside the two already mentioned, including ‘Arc Of Dawn’, ‘Out Of The Silence’, and ‘Blood From Stone’. Their loyal and supportive fans there tonight really did enjoy the mixture of new and older classic tracks, and the band seemed to enjoy the atmosphere in the venue also.
They have an extensive set list that they chose from tonight, with a few changes here and there to keep things fresh, but on the whole they seemed to do a good job of pleasing the majority if not all who were there in attendance.
They are seasoned professionals who know how to put on a show. Great performance from a class act.
Set list (to choose from):- ‘Born In The Storm’, ‘Cradle To The Grave’, ‘Home’, ‘Until’, ‘Days Of Summer’, ‘I’ll Hear You Pray’, ‘Road To Eden’, ‘Everytime We Say Goodbye’, ‘Fire Never Fades’, ‘Sea Of Roses’, ‘Where Darkness Ends’, ‘Silent Hills’, ‘On My Own’, ‘Wings Of Fire’, ‘Reason’, ‘Abandon’, ‘Into The Fire’, ‘Thy Kingdom Come’, ‘The Raindance’, ‘King Of Spades’, ‘Return The Heart’, ‘Lovers & Friends’, ‘Emerald’.
Review & Photography: Two Finger Media
