Dare is Darren Wharton (front-centre) and (left to right) Marc Roberts (keys), Nigel Clutterbuck (bass), Kevin Whitehead (drums) and Vinny Burns (lead)
Dare is an English rock band from Oldham, fronted by former Thin Lizzy keyboard player Darren Wharton. They formed in 1985 and have released eleven albums to date, ten studio and one live. Their most recent album was originally due to be released in 2019, although this was later delayed, with Road to Eden announced by the band in January 2022.[1]
History
Early days
Dare was formed in 1985 by former Thin Lizzy keyboard player Darren Wharton after Phil Lynott had dissolved the band.[2] By 1987, Dare had gained a local following in Oldham and were signed with a four-year deal by A&M Records.[3]
The band's debut album, Out of the Silence, was released in 1988.[2] It was recorded in Los Angeles at singer Joni Mitchell's private studio in Beverly Hills.[3] The lineup consisted of Darren Wharton (vocals/keyboards), Vinny Burns (guitars), Martin "Shelley" Shelton (bass), James Ross (drums), and Brian Cox (keyboards).
The follow-up album Blood from Stone was released in 1991,[2] by which time Nigel Clutterbuck had replaced Shelton on bass and Greg Morgan was on drums. Showcasing a much harder edge than the band's debut, the album was produced in Los Angeles by sound engineer Keith Olsen.[3] Wharton has since commented negatively about the change in style, stating that while he is "very proud of that album..., ...we should have stuck to our guns musically and not try and jump on the heavy metal band wagon." He added, "Blood from Stone was written to please the rock press of the world."[4]
Despite Blood from Stone peaking at No. 48 in the UK Albums Chart[5] and the band enjoying minor success elsewhere in Europe, album sales flagged and the band was dropped by A&M (which had been acquired by PolyGram).[3] By this time, Dare had released five singles that had charted in the UK Singles Chart: "Abandon" (No. 71, 1989), "Nothing Is Stronger Than Love" (No. 95, 1989) and "The Raindance" (No. 62, 1989) from Out of the Silence, and "We Don't Need a Reason" (No. 52, 1991) and "Real Love" (No. 67, 1991) from Blood from Stone.[5]
Lineup reshuffle
It would be 1998 before a third album was released — Calm Before the Storm, produced by Wharton.[2] By this time, Vinny Burns, Brian Cox and Nigel Clutterbuck had all departed; instead, the band now consisted of Andrew Moore on guitars, Martin Wilding on bass and Julian Gardner on drums, with "additional musicians" Kevin Whitehead on drums and Richard Dews on acoustic guitar and backing vocals. Of those departing, Cox would go on to play with D:Ream before becoming a noted particle physicist and science communicator,[6] while Burns, after a brief stint touring with Asia, would go on to play with groups including Ultravox and Ten, as well as releasing a solo album The Journey in 1999. He eventually returned to Dare in 2008. Clutterbuck would likewise return to Dare in 2014.
Calm Before the Storm marked another change in style towards a mellower sound with Celtic influences. Wharton has since commented on the emergence of this sound, stating, "I think that was mainly a part of my Thin Lizzy roots. Out of the Silence was quite Celtic in some of its stuff. You know, "The Raindance" and "King of Spades". You know, I spent my early career with Thin Lizzy, so that rubbed off me a great deal, working with Phil Lynott and Scott Gorham. And those Irish roots and the Celtic roots, where I live in Wales... You know, it's a very similar type of genre of folk music."[7] A year after its release, Calm Before the Storm was reissued in the UK on Wharton's own label, Legend Records. This edition featured alternate cover art, a rearranged track list, remixed sound, and the addition of a previously unreleased bonus track, "Cold Wind Will Blow".
The band's next album, Belief, was released in 2001 and continued the style introduced on the previous album. By this time Dews was credited as a full-fledged member of the band, alongside Wharton, Moore and Gardner. The leadoff single, "White Horses", was playlisted by Sir Terry Wogan on the UK's largest national radio station, BBC Radio 2. Tours throughout Europe and Scandinavia were to follow, including a 12 date tour with Asia in the UK.
In the summer of 2004, the band released their fifth album, Beneath the Shining Water. The single "Sea of Roses" once again received considerable airplay on Radio 2. The supporting tour was captured on the band's first live album, The Power of Nature: Live in Munich, released the following year in both CD and DVD editions, the latter of which included a series of interviews with Wharton in which he chronicles the history of the band. The live release would be the final Dare album to feature Andrew Moore on guitars. In 2008 Belief and Beneath the Shining Water were released as a double CD though Warner Music/ADA in the U.S.[3]
Return of Vinny Burns
In October 2009, Arc of the Dawn was released. With Moore departed the band was reduced to a three-piece, with Wharton on vocals and keyboards, Dews on guitars and backing vocals, and Whitehead on drums. However, founding member Vinny Burns would return to the band for the subsequent tour. This lineup was retained for Calm Before the Storm 2; released in 2012, the album is a re-recording of the band's third album Calm Before the Storm with a slightly altered track listing.
Dare released Sacred Ground in July 2016.[3] The album is often referred to as studio album number seven, given that Calm Before the Storm 2 was re-recording; a "7" also features prominently on the cover artwork. Dews had left the band by this time, leaving Burns as their sole guitarist once more, while Nigel Clutterbuck had also returned on bass. The band was joined in live shows by Marc Roberts on keyboards. The album topped the Amazon Rock Charts in the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy, and received predominantly positive reviews, albeit usually genre-specific. A typical example might be MelodicRock.com, which[8] commented that "the album features some of Wharton's most mature song writing to date. Thought provoking and passionate, whilst still retaining a dark rock edge". It continues, "the return of the masterful Vinny Burns on guitar is certainly a stroke of brilliance. Vinny's guitar takes the songs to the next level, delivering the rock edge that fans have wanted. Yes, tempo is far more 'up' than recent work and like past Dare albums, it does take several listens to get to know the tunes. The similar pacing makes it a little harder to separate the songs initially, but as always with Dare, it is all about mood. And no one does mood better than Darren Wharton and Vinny Burns". The summation concludes, "there are no fillers here – 11 great tracks of keyboard and guitar framed music; this is a wonderful album that takes a step back from the Celtic influences of recent times and a huge step back towards straight ahead moody AOR".[8]
In an interview for metalcovent.com in August 2016, Wharton commented that "I've got a new album almost ready to go for next year, so. So it won't be 4 years 'til the next one".[7] Tour dates/venues during 2017 included the Oslo Hard Rock Café in Norway, the Rockingham Festival at Nottingham Trent University, UK, Winter Storm in Scotland, and the H.E.A.T festival in Germany. The band continued to tour into 2018 and by September that year had played venues such as Hard Rock Heaven (UK), Row Club (Athens, Greece), and Melodic Rock Festival (Sweden). The band had also co-headlined five UK shows with FM.
On 4 May 2018, the band announced Out of the Silence II, an anniversary special edition of their debut album. Much like Calm Before the Storm 2 before it, the album is a complete re-recording of the original with the band's current lineup, and features a special extended version of their song "King of Spades" incorporating the instrumental section from Thin Lizzy's "Róisín Dubh: A Rock Legend", in tribute to Phil Lynott. The album was released on 29 June 2018, with pre-sales having started on 18 May.[9] On 9 May 2018, the band announced the launch of a new official website. On 30 November 2018, Dare announced initial European tour details for 2019, which by 6 January 2019 had expanded to 22 dates in Belgium, Germany, Holland, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.[10]
A new Dare album was scheduled for release in 2019,[11] but as of July 2020 this had not happened, but was pending according the Dare FaceAche page. Dare continued to tour into 2020 with their first appearance being on the King's Call Cruise (4–5 January). Other confirmed dates for 2020 were at the Cascais Rock Fest on 25 Jan (with Cutting Crew and The Stranglers), and at the Rock of Ages Festival, Germany 31 July – 2 August.[12] However, in line with official guidance/regulations, all 2020 show were halted from March 2020 because of the COVID-19pandemic.
In a Christmas wishes post to fans on Dare's official Facebook page, on 24 December 2020 Wharton commented that the band would "hopefully see you all next year [2021] with our brand new album".[13]
On 25 August 2021, on Dare's official Facebook page, a Christmas headline show at Holmfirth Picturedrome (4 December) was announced. At the same time the band gave an update on the pending new album: "In the coming weeks we'll be announcing the brand new DARE album, title and release date, plus full UK tour dates for 2022. The new album will be released on CD & Vinyl." On 8 October an initial date for 2022 was announced (Chester Live Rooms; 4 March), with additional dates to follow.[14]
Road to Eden and beyond
The latest Dare album, Road to Eden, was finally announced by the band on 10 January 2022, with a release date by Legend Records of 1 April 2022. An initial track from the album (the lead track), "Born in the Storm", was announced at the same time.[15]
Dare circa 2016; band members remain as of 2023
The lineup for the album remained unchanged from the preceding releases, consisting of Wharton, Burns, Whitehead and Clutterbuck, with Marc Roberts once again handling keyboard duties on the supporting tour. The UK leg was announced on 10 January and consisted of 12 headlining shows, kicking off in Leeds on 6 October and concluding in Newbury on 29 October.[16] Additional dates were later added, these including an appearance at Cambridge Rock Festival.
Dates for 2023 have included an appearance at the Great Rock and Blues Festival at Butlins, Skegness (13 January), Hard Rock Hell's spring break (9 March), H.E.A.T. Festival in Germany (15 April), the Rocknytt Cruise in Sweden (21-22 April), and a 12-date co-headline UK tour with FM and Tyketto.[17] Planned 2023 dates include the Firestorm festival in Manchester on 13 August and a joint-headline tour of Spain with FM in October. Additionally, on 17 June Darren and Vinny Burns and Nigel Clutterbuck did an evening of the very best of Dare, unplugged, at the Barnoldswick Music and Arts Center, and on Thursday 16th and Friday 17th November will repeat the show over two nights.[18]
Band members
Current members
Darren Wharton – vocals, keyboards, keytar (1985–1992, 1998–present)
