Dare Force

About Dare Force

The nucleus of Dare Force has always been the guitar-slinging duo of Brian Bart and Johnny O’Neil. The two forged their six-stringed partnership at the tender age of eight, at which time they performed for the first time at Johnny’s Catholic elementary school as The Psychos, a trio that included Brian’s older brother, David, on drums. Their next big gig occurred in the fifth grade, a command performance at their public elementary school that was emceed by David Zimmerman, their music teacher and brother of Minnesota-native Bob Dylan (yes, that Bob Dylan). Their collaboration was briefly interrupted in junior high, when Brian’s family moved to California. During his absence, Johnny began playing in Twin Cities clubs with several other area musicians, but was unable to legally imbibe as he was only 14 years old.

The pair reunited when Brian returned to Minneapolis while in high school. Johnny suggested that they start their own band as soon as Brian graduated. Mark Miller was soon recruited to play drums through a classified ad. The group began performing as Alexis, and included Gary Snow on bass. One year later Snow was replaced by Brian Lorenson, whom Bart had met while the two attended high school in Minneapolis. In the fall of 1977, O’Neil coined a new name for the band, Dare Force, after seeing a display in a local record store for another band named Alexis on MCA Records.

The young group spent the late 1970s playing gigs around the six-state Midwest ((expired link)., Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and the Dakotas) and Ontario, Canada, building a reputation as a tight, high-energy act playing hard rock covers and an increasing number of original songs. The first of several lead singers, a frontman who performed under the stage name Xeno, joined the act around this time. Xeno had previously been the original frontman for Cheap Trick before they replaced him on vocals with Robin Zander and went on to fame and fortune. Dare Force also soon tired of Xeno’s pop-oriented songwriting and voice, replacing him in 1979 with an up-and-coming 19-year-old singer, Dave Reece. Reece had an exceptionally powerful vocal range and delivery, allowing the group to develop a much harder-edged sound and stage presence.

Unfortunately, Reece also had problems with substance abuse, and so the group soon returned to its original four-member lineup with O’Neil and Bart sharing lead vocal duties. Dare Force had a breakthrough year in 1982, when they began appearing on bills with numerous national acts. February of that year saw them performing on back-to-back weekend concerts, first as an opening act for Shooting Star and then for Triumph at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis, before headlining a show the following weekend at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Later that winter the group also opened for KISS, who were on their tenth anniversary tour (their last of the 1980s with makeup). In the spring of 1982 Dare Force released On My Way, a Bart original that quickly became a much-requested hit on regional radio.

In a momentary lapse of reason, Bart left the group in 1982 just as On My Way was beginning to attract the attention of several major record labels. Bart was lured away by DVC, an Iowa-based, four-piece band featuring drummer Johnnie Bolin, brother of the late guitar great Tommy Bolin of James Gang and Deep Purple fame. DVC had a label deal on Sony-owned Alpha Records, and had done tours with national acts such as John Mellencamp. In Bart’s absence, Dare Force re-hired Reece on lead vocals, as well as an English guitarist, Cris Voysey, with whom Reece had been performing in the Los Angeles club circuit. The reconfigured line-up continued to build a rabid following in the Midwest, culminating in an outdoor show on the Lake Michigan shorefront in Milwaukee for over 14,000 concertgoers, and a headlining concert at the Met Sports Center in Minneapolis that attracted over 12,000 fans in October, 1982.

However, Reece once again succumbed to his chemical demons, just as DVC’s label went bust (Reece later went on to record with the German heavy metal act Accept). In addition, Mark Miller developed carpal tunnel syndrome in his right wrist, resulting in excruciating pain that made it unbearable for him to perform on a nightly basis. Thus, the fates lined up for Bart to rejoin Dare Force, who brought along Johnnie Bolin to replace Miller on drums in early 1983. With the classic four-piece lineup in place, the group continued to write, record, and perform relentlessly throughout the mid-1980s. The group was a well-oiled metal machine by late 1985, at which time it released Makin’ Our Own Rules. The release was followed by a seven-week tour throughout the Midwest, Colorado, Texas, and Arizona, topped off by a couple of headlining shows in Barquisimeto and Maracaibo, Venezuela. Upon their return to the Twin Cities in March 1986, the group was confident it would make the leap to major label stardom. However, a lack of high-powered representation, and plain ol’ bad luck resulted in the group remaining unsigned.

Dare Force enlisted another lead singer, Roy Hedges, in late 1986, believing that having a frontman would bolster the group’s chances of success. Unfortunately, Hedges turned out to be a poor fit for the group’s constant performing schedule, and left with a bruised and battered set of vocal cords after a few short months. By the summer of 1987 the group was frustrated and tired, when Brian Lorenson decided to leave the group rather than return to a four-piece format. Bart and O’Neil reconfigured Dare Force with a new rhythm section and lead singer in 1988. With Dean Vallicello on bass, Paul Peterson on drums, and Karl Young on lead vocals, the new Dare Force released Firepower in the spring of 1989. As luck would have it, the timing of the CD was less-than-perfect, and the group’s melodic hard rock material was overlooked by the major labels as the onslaught of the grunge era began. The new lineup folded altogether in early 1990.

In its heyday, Dare Force was one of the premier hard rock groups in the Midwest, playing over 3,000 shows in front of hundreds of thousands fans, and opening for numerous national acts in addition to those above, including Ted Nugent, Kansas, and Ratt. The group also garnered extensive regional airplay. Today, Dare Force continues to write, record, and perform. The original lineup of Brian Bart and John O'Neil on guitars and vocals, Brian Lorenson on bass, and Mark Miller on drums celebrated their 25th anniversary in 2002!