The Last Dinner Party live in London: Dramatic pomp and classic rock greatness combine
On their first night in Brixton, The Last Dinner Party show off a deserved reputation as one of the UK's best live acts.
By Nick Reilly
Talk about coming full circle. There’s a lovely moment during The Last Dinner Party‘s first night at Brixton Academy when singer Abigail Morris introduces the soaring ballad ‘On Your Side’ by recalling how they played it during their second ever gig at The Windmill – the pub just a stone’s throw from here which has proved to be one of the capital’s most fertile grounds for band spotting. “We had five songs, a dream and some ball gowns,” she jokes.
Those songs and indeed that vision has seen them good. Nearly five years later, they stand here as one of Britain’s most talked about bands and, as this show proves, undoubtedly one of the most exciting too.
Opening with the soaring pomp of ‘Agnus Dei’, it’s a performance which leans into extravagant and dramatic moments, but one which also shows off a more emotional side. That’s in part down to the showmanship of Morris, who is equally comfortable zipping across stage – see first album standout ‘The Feminine Urge’ – as she is showing off vulnerability. That latter point is particularly true when they launch into ‘The Scythe’ – a rock sound about facing mortality which, ironically, sounds absolutely joyous.
But she’s flanked by a band who are equally impressive. Emily Roberts is surely one of the best young guitarists in the UK and – as she explained in the band’s Rolling Stone UK cover story – already encouraging women of all ages to pick up the axe. Tonight, she stands centre stage with an ability to shred that leaves the rest of her contemporaries in the dust. Similarly, the band’s sludgy anti-war anthem ‘Rifle’ offers a real chance to show the individual talent of guitarist/vocalist Lizzie Mayland, while Aurora Nischevci gets her time to shine on the haunting ‘Gjuha’.
There’s also the chance to show off unreleased fan favourite ‘Big Dog’ – a frenetic and genre-flitting punk number – while ‘Nothing Matters’, their unstoppable breakout hit, is enough to send the Brixton balcony bouncing under our feet.
By the time they return with the triumphant country pop of ‘This Is the Killer Speaking’, it’s truly job done. One of Britain’s best live bands remain at the peak of their powers and – if we’re completely honest – two nights at Brixton seems to undersell the sheer scale of what they’re capable of. You sense they’d smash arenas…