The Last Dinner Party at Royale Review: Britain’s pop trailblazers enchant concert-goers with their Boston debut.
March 27, 2024
By Alyssa Goldberg
Boston entered the mystical world of The Last Dinner Party Sunday evening––a feast ripe with lyrical decadence and debaucherous musicality. Following the February release of their debut album, Prelude to Ecstasy, the femme five-piece––composed of singer Abigail Morris, guitarists Emily Roberts and Lizzie Mayland, keyboardist Aurora Nishevci and bassist Georgia Davies––have taken the music world by a storm. Fans were cordially invited to their sold-out show at Royale and arrived adorned with lush frills, lace corsets, and white bows, ready to get lost in the charmingly gothic spectacle that is The Last Dinner Party.
“Nothing Matters,” the band’s leading single, circulated through the indie music scene throughout 2023, reaching new audiences during their opening run for Hozier last fall. But the band’s history traces back to purchasing a scrappy notebook on a drunken night in Brixton and later performing as “The Dinner Party” across East London pubs. Their debut album, released February 2, 2024, features twelve tracks that proved to be a refreshing renaissance of lush pop, each exploring femininity through a bloodied, raw approach.
Their appeal doesn’t solely lie in the aesthetic presentation of bewitched femininity, but also in lyrical confrontations that champion women’s empowerment. Still, this isn’t a typical break-up album––even with its gentler moments, justified rage shines through all corners. “The Feminine Urge” combats the male gaze, and “Portrait of a Dead Girl” is pulled by an unwithering stride for independence as Morris confronts an abusive partner, ending the final verse with “Oh, anyone could kill me / And I'd never ever let it be you.”
The band entered the Royale stage to their instrumental title track, and went on to play the album in full. “Burn Alive,” a pleading track with explosive choruses, set the track for the rest of the night. From the moment Morris hit the stage, it was rare to feel a moment of stillness. Her energy is volcanic, spreading like lava through the crowd.
Onstage, the entire group radiates. Pure joy and comradeship fuels each exchange between band members, making it clear to any witness that this is a group that finds performing fun, even adventurous.
The Last Dinner Party worked their way through their entire album, rearranging the order of the last few tracks to close on a high with the invigorating “My Lady of Mercy” and “Nothing Matters” rather than haunting fans into the night with “Mirror.”
The Last Dinner Party will play another sold-out show in New York tonight at Brooklyn Steel, and continue embarking on their North American journey in Montreal on March 29.
SETLIST
- BURN ALIVE
- CAESAR ON A TV SCREEN
- THE FEMININE URGE
- ON YOUR SIDE
- BEAUTIFUL BOY
- GJUHA
- SINNER
- PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GIRL
- MIRROR
- MY LADY OF MERCY
- NOTHING MATTERS
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