It’s a cold and rainy Wednesday night, but the bustling atmosphere around Leeds O2 Academy suggests more of the evening. There’s no chance of missing the venue for The Last Dinner Party’s stop in the city with help from a sea of bows and lace that greets a glance in the building’s direction. The in-demand girl band graced the stage of their Leeds venue last week and I, for one, have been listening even more than before ever since.
For those who are not as aware of the band, The Last Dinner Party (TLDP) are a UK rock/alternative band, comprised of five women and non-binary people. TLDP has recently been met with a huge amount of attention after engulfing social media platforms with their most popular track ‘Nothing Matters’. Appearing at a concert by legendary rockers The Rolling Stones in July 2022 as well as Glastonbury this summer, their rise to this level of popularity arrived relatively quickly. I can see them performing in exponentially larger venues from this tour onwards.
For fans of the band, fashion and physical odes to their music have certainly become a popular attribute. A mixture of contemporary and vintage, baroque; outfits, of course, did not disappoint. A camaraderie was felt amongst us all as we queued outside and filtered our way inside in frequent smiles and compliments on one another’s tulle skirts and embroidered corsets. The fashion of the band themselves, of course, followed suit. Cuts of Broderie Anglaise, dark leather, pearls and lace embossed the on-stage heroines, and emulated the aesthetic of their first album, Prelude To Ecstasy, incredibly well.
A moment first for the supporting acts: Kaeto followed by Lucia & The Best Boys. Experiencing new music in stage form is always an eye-opening and pleasantly surprising experience and an easy way to find new Spotify artists. Both acts warmed the crowd nicely, particularly the echoed and electric sound of Scottish indie band Lucia and The Best Boys, whose stage presence was something of seasoned performers; supplying the audience with towering vocals and impressive guitar riffs. Kaeto’s hints of dream pop and inviting energy did not fall short of that of a TLDP audience. Both openers felt incredibly fitting for the aura of the night as well as representing a larger band providing a great platform for some smaller performers whilst catering to the wider taste of their fans. By around 9pm, the audience buzzed with excitement, ready for the band to grace the stage.
TLDP found themselves positioned on stage one by one, getting to grips with the familiar feel of their instruments and microphones, with lead vocalist Abigail Morris bounding on last, grasping at the mic stand to open the concert with ‘Burn Alive’, the dramatic second track on their debut album, bursting with curious guitar riffs and a dynamic drum track. Ending with Abigail’s lone voice singing ‘Burn Me Alive’ sets the atmosphere for an evening of a delicate yet fearsome catalogue of femininity, love, loss, rage, objectification, and all of the complexities that lie in between them.
Comprising the rest of the band was Lizzie Mayland (vocals, guitar), Emily Roberts (lead guitar, mandolin, flute), Georgia Davies (bass), and Aurora Nishavci (keyboards, vocals). While Abigail Morris introduces these roles in the band’s anticipated build-up to performing ‘The Feminine Urge’, a sense of moveability was present within them. Lizzie Mayland, for example, performed a rendition of ‘Up North’, paying homage to Catherine Howie with powerful belting vocals and Aurora’s performance of ‘Gjuha’ (translating to ‘Tongue’). The Albanian-British member introduced the song about her feeling ashamed about not knowing her mother language very well. It was set against angelic harmonies from her fellow bandmates in its climaxing melodies. Another cover of Blondie’s ‘Call Me’ received the infamous TLDP treatment, sat nicely alongside their catalogue, and greeted a sea of all ages screaming the anthem back at them.
The different strains of creativity and talent each member brings to the band in such moments are echoed throughout the performance. Particularly in the chorus to ‘Beautiful Boy’, a growing harmony begins to repeat the titled phrase, one by one. This provided quite a literal representation of the group’s differing pitches and tones coming together and creating such a beautiful sound.
On the topic of straying from the album, the band also performed two unreleased songs. ‘The Killer’ in particular drew my attention in its changing tones and stresses; from catchy and loud to almost spoken, poetic and isolating. The song potentially gave a glimpse into new, harsher and rockier territory for the band which we may see in their second album release. ‘Second Best’ found similar cues, heavy rock tune in feel, informed with rather emotive moments too.
Of course, ‘Nothing Matters’ could not have been missed and was expertly left to the final encore of the night, enticing the crowd to dance and shout the bridge back at the band, who seemingly enjoyed this as much as we did. While the night ended with their most popular and catapulting hit, I left with further excitement to see where The Last Dinner Party take their next sound.
Another worthy mention is Banquet, a zero-waste food bank charity that the band have partnered with and become a sponsor for, doubling and donating whatever the amount made through audience donations is for each night of their current tour. Donations were collected at the opening and close of the night in coquette style, through purchasing ribbon-tied bows that were donned through the crowd and around the stands of the band’s microphone stands; a touching and fitting addition to their UK tour.
Like many other listeners to the band, I experienced a room full of people ready and excited to shout every word of their beloved album Prelude To Ecstasy was certainly a highlight amongst all of the concerts I have attended. It felt as though the album’s style and themes echoed in its listeners and were sung fiercely throughout the night. I found myself harkening back to the excitement of some kind of school disco or fancy event in my preparation for the event, which began months ago when I began asking my housemates for their opinions on various bow-strung and lace-adorned dresses. I look forward to new releases, premiering fashion, and much more from The Last Dinner Party.
