A Night of Baroque-Rock with The Last Dinner Party
London, UK - October 17th 2023
The UK indie-rock scene has been reignited this year by the triumphant rise of The Last Dinner Party. Hailing from London, the band partied with over a thousand people at the first sold-out London show of their autumn tour on October 17th. Blending theatrical rock with fast-paced riffs and distinctive vocals, the band sailed through their set. With only three singles out, including the recently released “My Lady of Mercy”, The Last Dinner Party gave London a night of baroque rock to remember.
The first few songs were unreleased but powerful tracks (we can only hope that the new songs performed are destined for their debut record), starting with “Burn Alive”, “Caesar on TV” and the new crowd favourite, “Feminine Urge”, which featured a stunning falsetto verse. Lead singer Abigail Morris’s vocals were spell-binding, rising and falling effortlessly while she danced around the stage, reminiscent of Stevie Nicks.
They continued with “On Your Side” (centring around stripped back piano) and “Beautiful Boy”, where Morris delicately wails ‘I wish I could be a beautiful boy’, before the heart-wrenching “Gjuha”, in which Aurora (keys and backing vocals) sings about wishing to know her first language better over blend of harmonies and a mandolin. Then came new tracks “Sier” and “Zecond Bezt” and “Portrait of a Dead Girl” - and a sing-along with the lyrics ‘give me the strength’.
Then it was time for their most recent single, “My Lady of Mercy”, released only a week before this show. When the single was released, the band shared that “My Lady of Mercy is about being a girl. A girl looking up at a painting of Joan of Arc for the first time and thinking that she looks so brave and so beautiful that she wants to kiss her. And maybe she also wants to kiss the girl who stands next to her in the school choir.” Expanding their world into a “darker, heavier atmosphere” the thrashing drums and feral and carnal lyrics (the only way to describe a teenage crush this strong), this was baroque rock at its best. The artistically-executed track electrified the crowd, who clapped along to the opening bars in perfect rhythm, and the whiplash chorus filled the room with the mind-boggling guitar part, played by multi-instrumentalist Emily Roberts.
Abigail introduced the penultimate track, “Godzilla”, as an old favourite of theirs that they absolutely love to play. Interacting with the crowd and doing dance routines with each other, the band had just as much fun as the audience did, relishing in the moment of their sold-out hometown show, before they all lay down on the floor like we were at a rock ‘n’ roll theatre production. The indie-rock darlings left us with their most loved track, “Nothing Matters”, released in April of this year. As their biggest song to date, it was no surprise that the crowd (dressed in grecian outfits, as per the evening’s dress code) went crazy, the band finishing on an immense high that filled the packed venue with joy. Decadent, flamboyant and divine, The Last Dinner Party are ones to watch.
The Last Dinner Party are going on their first US tour this autumn, and performing at The Roundhouse in London, UK on February 1st 2024. Last remaining tickets are available here.