Be Aware Of Heavy Strobe Lights: Seven Nights of The Dare at Baby’s All Right

The Dare performing at Festival Palomosa 2024 After Party - photo creds: Sierra Madison

On May 12th through May 18th, popular Brooklyn venue and bar Baby’s All Right put on The Dare seven nights in a row, making it the longest run the venue has ever hosted. The Dare, aka Harrison Patrick Smith, recently returned to New York after a momentous EU tour and Coachella performance. It was a homecoming moment as Baby’s was where he played his first live show. Moreover, while The Dare is originally from Los Angeles, it was in New York that his career blew up in a major way, and his signature party series, “Freakquencies” gained popularity. 

The venue at Baby’s All Right is an intimate 250-capacity room, a far cry from the massive EU venues and Coachella crowds that The Dare had just played for. By the time I decided on Monday May 12, that I wanted to attend, all the tickets were gone. In fact, it’s said that tickets for all seven shows sold out within six hours. I had to get creative. 

Meanwhile, The Dare had been teasing fans with free tickets through his mass SMS service. A modern take on a newsletter, The Dare regularly posts a public phone number on his story, prompting fans to text him and sign up for updates. Out of curiosity, I texted the number. It first told me to put in my information (name, email, phone number, etc) to join the community. Or the club rather. After I filled it out, I got a text saying, “thanks. welcome to the club. see you later mf.” (no capitals). The Dare is not the only artist to utilize such a service. It effectively builds hype and creates an aura of exclusivity around all his events. 

The opening DJ for each show was announced day-of on The Dare’s Instagram story. Showing off his connections within the industry, The Dare had openers like Brutalismus 3000, Beach Fossils, Model/Actriz, and Geese (all DJ sets). On Tuesday, May 13th, he announced that Chanel Beads would be the opener, a New York-based musician I remembered I had mutual friends with, so I seized the opportunity.

I texted my friend and secured a list spot mere hours before the show’s start time. 

It was a gross and rainy day, and I arrived at Baby’s over an hour late. Unexpectedly, there was no one standing outside, and upon entry, I only saw a few people sitting in the bar. I was confused; I thought this was a sold-out show. As I would soon find out, the bar was empty because The Dare had just started, and everyone was already inside. 

I asked the ticket salesperson if door tickets were still available, and surprisingly, she said yes; “Twenty dollars. Cash only.” Every door had a sign warning attendees of heavy strobe light use. All of this was very strange so far. 

As I entered the venue, the door almost hit someone in front of me—that’s how packed it was. I had been hoping to get close to the stage but was only able to take a few steps forward, so I reluctantly took a spot standing against the bar. 

The strobe light warning was no joke. Most of the time, you could barely see The Dare because of the elaborate light show. For a one-man show, The Dare puts on a notably captivating live performance. It was a well-thought-out set, with slightly slower songs mixed with the more club-forward ones. He didn’t say much between songs, mostly expressing love and thanks to his fans.

Predictably, he ended his set with “Girls,” his most well-known song. The crowd loved every second of it. 

As everyone re-entered the main bar area, I got a better look and feel of the night’s attendees. I overheard a multitude of British accents. It was an 18+ show and evidently so. Most of the crowd was young teenage girls. I met one of these girls’ mothers in line for the bathroom. With a broad smile, she expressed how much fun she had, “He’s such a rockstar, isn’t he?” 

As the night wrapped up, and people were leaving sweaty and buzzing, I couldn’t help but wonder how he would keep up this energy for the next five nights.