Mommy's All Right, Daddy's All Right
February 16 - February 22
It’s pretty late for me to be telling you. But we’re hosting another show at Baby’s on Saturday. The lineup is stacked, and I wanna see you there. Here’s the ticket link : )
Also, I forgot to tell you about the peak of Tyler’s party.
I would define a ‘serial viber’ as someone who can’t stop vibing. Someone who vibes compulsively. With little or no regard for their environment.
A few minutes into Thoom’s set, I spotted a serial viber in the corner by the speaker. He was as deep in the crowd as one could be. I pointed him out to Joey before I realized who he was. Purely on the strength of his vibe.
He was shirtless under an oversized fur jacket. Crazy abs. Messy blue hair. Wide goggle-like sunglasses. I’ve never seen a man groove so hard while moving so little.
He vibed so confidently and self-sufficiently. The outfit was dramatic, but his face was expressionless. His look demanded your attention, but his demeanor made you feel like he’d be grooving just the same if he was the only one in the room.
Then he stepped up in front of everyone and did this (see slide 2). It all made sense. Raw unbridled popstar energy. Stream Jack Powers.
Nothing (2/16)
Absolutely nothing…
The Dare Video Shoot (2/17)
On the 17th, I went over to The Dare’s apt and bullied him into letting 15 people smoke in his bedroom.
We were shooting promotional materials for single #2. We pushed Harrison around and yelled at him for the camera. It was interesting to see what different people vented when they were asked to yell at Harrison.
I’m pretty hype on the artwork for this song. Reminds me of Chester French.
Jake was behind the camera. Sharleen let us smoke in her car. Perla was the first to ask if we could smoke in Harrison’s bedroom. He said, “My roommates would kill me.”
I said, “What about rock music? What about New York City? Being The Dare used to mean something.”
Ten minutes later I was handing out Hestias. Harrison told us to ash them in Perla’s broken disco ball.
Multiple people wanted to slap Harrison on camera. Which may or may not reflect some communal pent up anger. Probably over the Gucci check he’d just received and kept mentioning.
After the shoot, a group of us walked to The Commodore, but we ended up at the Mexican place across the street. Rich and Fiona fell off, and Ruby joined. I sat next to The Dare but mostly talked to Blake and Jess and focused on my chicken quesadilla.
Ben the Goat Screening (2/18)
I don’t watch movies. I mostly just go to shows. But I wasn’t gonna miss Ben’s doc about touring with Horse Jumper of Love. So cool to see it screened at the Roxy. Always a pleasure and a privilege to see Dillon in a bow tie.
I met Sam at the bar. Matty, Harrison, Fiona, and Isaac were at the bottom of the stairs when we walked down. We all sat together in the back. They screened two films, then Dimitri played an acoustic set.
I hadn’t seen Dimitri perform solo since one of the first shows I ever played. It was probably 2018, and we played in a living room in Allston. The ‘unplugged’ setup is a powerful way to experience Dimitri’s songs—you really get a look under the hood.
Ben’s film was a window into life on the road with the longstanding gods of Boston DIY. It got me thinking about what it means to find success in music, and what kind of life I’d wanna lead if I had my pick.
Ben shot Dimitri working in his dad’s pizza shop. Dimitri drew a connection between his father’s career and his own: “I’ll play Ugly Brunette every fucking night. Because it’s my cheese pizza. And everybody wants a slice.”
Sorry, I Was Sleeping (2/19)
(Baby’s) Alex G hit me w that +1.
He was hearing a lot of industry hype about Greg Freeman. But I showed up late. Lau was excited to say, “You missed it.” Everyone seemed to agree that it was the best set they’d ever seen. I’ll catch him next time.
From Zone 1, we walked over to The Keep and saw a jazz trio.
The Great Slowening (2/21)
Heads only at this quietly-promoted concept show in the seaport. It encapsulated a lot of what I love and admire about Angel – the event’s singular presenter.
Creatively, she never stays in one place. She’s always exploring and experimenting by putting new parameters around her art. This show had one unifying principle: no songs faster than 100 BPM.
If you’re new to the blog, I want you to know that the Frost Children are two of the most down-to-clown people you’ll ever meet. They’ll play anywhere. And wherever they play becomes the place to be. They’ll do a one-off twee set (and write about it for You Missed It), then they’ll do a one-off DJ set called “Hipster’s Inferno.” Angel writes/edits at least two blogs, and Lulu manages international internet phenomenon Your Boi Sponge. They both travel the world and get paid to be attractive & fashionable.
This gig was in a pizza shop. It featured a live Frost Children cabaret set, and acoustic performances by Precious Human, Blaketheman1000, Mother Cell, and Jakob Lazovick. Then DJ sets by DJ Trick and DJ Wallh4x, and another appearance by the Frost Children. It was all streamed on Radio Bonita.
I didn’t realize how odd it would feel to dance to songs that slow. Everything felt like marching music.
Harrison’s Bio (2/22)
Harrison is at the club while you’re online. I’m at Dunkin writing his bio while he’s at the club.
I went over to The Dare’s house midday to interview him. We talked about what he’s going for and where he’s coming from.
I was excited to write his bio so I could recycle some of the language from back in August when I pitched “Girls” to the Pitchfork Tracks editor and got rejected.
Here’s the final bio:
New York City is horny again. Blame The Dare.
Harrison Patrick Smith’s new project revels in the aesthetics of late 2000s bloghouse with a post-COVID air of abandonment. Equal parts anthemic and cheeky, The Dare’s quotable bangers make a compelling case for the electroclash revival.
“Dancepunk and electroclash represent a lot of my personal ideals about music,” he explains. “It should be fun, dangerous, somewhat punk and primitive, but still tasteful and stylish.”
Harrison is a fixture in New York City’s thriving club scene. His DJ residency, Freakquencies, draws hordes of downtown cool kids to sticky-floored underground clubs every Thursday. After three years getting communally cock-blocked by a global pandemic, the city’s restless youth is hungry for an artist to embody the party.
As The Dare, Harrison Patrick Smith steps up to the plate: “What I do is not that complicated. It’s about the energy. It’s about giving people permission to have a good time.”
In conclusion…
I’ve been hearing reports of major label scouting and top-dollar record deals. High-level strategy meetings in glass-walled rooms of big apple skyscrapers. It’s The Dare season, babyyy. Let’s see the whole team blow the fuck up.
Artists rumored to be on the label market or recently off the label market:
There are quite a few legends in our midst who already have deals. And there’s definitely a lot going on that I never hear about. But this is boots on the ground reporting. Real conversations. Listening to the people.
Meaning that it’s also second or third hand info.
I don’t even know if record deals are good for artists. I’m just thinking that if friends are excited to sign and it puts real-life dollars in their pockets, then it sounds like something worth celebrating. So good job out there, team. Proud of you.
More soon <3
u have such a powerful and distinct voice, very fun read