On Saturday, April 25, The Last Dinner Party sold out Manhattan’s Hammerstein Ballroom for their first of two nights in New York City. Having been two years since the U.K. band last played in New York, fans braved Saturday night’s pouring rain to catch the group live on their From the Pyre Tour.
The Last Dinner Party is an English rock band known for their baroque-pop, feminine rage hits. The band is composed of Abigail Morris (vocals), Lizzie Mayland (vocals, guitar), Emily Roberts (lead guitar, mandolin, flute), Georgia Davies (bass) and Aurora Nishevci (keyboards, saxophone, vocals). Taking an all-rounder approach, the members switch between singing lead throughout their discography and are all multi-instrumentals. The band uses biblical imagery and allegories – such as saints, scythes, floods, and infernos – to explore heavy emotions and modern society in a theatrical, Victorian style.
Walking out to “Agnus Dei,” the full band calmly took to the stage bathed under red light. At the cue of the drums, Roberts and Mayland began the recognizable electric guitar riff that led Morris into the first verse. Their modern twist on high-renaissance fashion and maximalist stage design are immediately eye-catching. Between Morris’ deeply captivating, whimsical stage presence and her powerhouse vocals, she proves she’s a leader in the next generation of art-rock bands.
“I’m biased,” singer Abigail Morris stated as she addressed the crowd for the first time, “but I love New York. It’s one of my favorites.” Asking fans if they attended their 2024 tour stops at Webster Hall and Brooklyn Steel, the house lights flashed over the packed floor filled with screams. The answer: a resounding yes. “Thanks for bringing reinforcements this time,” Morris giggled.
For the latter half of the From the Pyre Tour, bassist Georgia Davies is notably absent. After sustaining a back injury on their Texas tour stop, Davies is healing back home in London while the U.S. Tour continues with bass technician Max Lilley filling in. Commanding the audience to raise their glasses in the air, Morris dedicated “On Your Side” to their healing bandmate and toasted to all in the crowd who attended their previous NYC shows. While the band may be missing a bandmate, they’ve gained another friend — a ghost from their Canada stop. Pianist Aurora Nishevci explained through a fit of giggles that ever since Canada, her in-ears have been plagued with ghoulish sounds. “I banish the!” yelled Morris, who encouraged their fans to help rid Nishevci of her ghost.
The keyboardist got personal with the New York audience before leading the band into “Gjuha.” A child of immigrants, Nishevci explained how she wrote the song due to her shame of not knowing Albanian, her mother tongue. “There’s nothing more enriching than being around different cultures,” she explained. “From the outside looking in, diversity makes America great.” The statement was met with cheers from the floor to the second mezzanine as the keyboardist took lead vocals on the deeply personal tune.
Before performing their most popular hit, “Nothing Matters,” Morris had one simple request – to live in the moment. Asking fans to put away their phones for the length of the song, or at least until the last chorus if they were too eager, Morris spoke of how important it is to share moments with the people physically closest to you. With minimal to no screens glowing in sight, the rock band and their fans lived the “Nothing Matters” mantra in real time.
Not only does The Last Dinner Party put on a memorable show, but they also leave their mark on every tour stop through fan donations. Their charity campaign, Ribbons for Provisions, is an activism initiative to partner with a food bank charity on each leg of tour. Working directly with WhyHunger, the band takes monetary donations in exchange for band-branded ribbons. They give all donations to a local food bank at each night’s stop. “It’s a huge honor to facilitate this kind of thing,” Morris said. “It’s amazing to come to a city and do something with the people there that makes a physical, tangible good.”
The Last Dinner Party’s caring nature exudes into their personal relationships with each other. Between members bowing to each other as they soloed on the raised center pedestal, to climbing onto the barricade during “My Lady of Mercy” together, it’s clear that the bandmates thrive when performing as a group night after night.
Fans especially look forward to the little bits they devise, with a favorite taking place during “This is the Killer Speaking.” Returning for an encore, Roberts, Morris, and Mayland strutted in tandem, step by step. The three paced the length of the stage before quickly turning in the opposite direction. Breaking apart at the chorus to dance back into their original positions, Morris became a dance instructor straight out of an ’80s dance video. “Included in your The Last Dinner Party concert ticket was a three part instructional series on how to dance to “The Killer is Speaking!” she explained.
Garnering the attention of the whole room, she brought out Freya and Elle, two massive TLDP fans from Ireland, to co-instruct the three-step routine alongside the frontwoman. First: legs. They kick right back. Second: arms. Move them back and forth in front of you, or, a Morris trick – just vogue. Third: legs and arms. “Moving to the beat, by the beat, with the beat, give me a beat!” Morris instructed as Roberts shredded the chorus. The Hammerstein Ballroom shook as the sold-out crowd mirrored the dance routine they’ve just learned.
Wrapping up the night, Morris shared her gratitude for their entire crew and fanbase for making the North American tour possible. She explained, “You may feel like this is a gift or experience we give to you, but actually it’s not a one way thing. You give us such energy, power, and beauty – thank you for being here. It’s magical to be able to go on tour all the way to America. To meet us here – it doesn’t go unnoticed. You make us feel like we’re playing these songs for the first time. It’s a magical gift.” The band covered LCD Soundsystem’s “New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down” as a special encore and a final goodbye to night one in New York.
The Last Dinner Party – Saturday, April 25 – Hammerstein Ballroom
Setlist: Agnus Dei, Count The Ways, The Feminine Urge, Caesar on a TV Screen, On Your Side, Second Best, I Hold Your Anger, Woman is a Tree, Gjuha, Rifle, Big Dog (Unreleased), Mirror, The Scythe, Sail Away, Sinner, My Lady of Mercy, Inferno, Knocking at the Sky (Unreleased), Nothing Matters
Encore: New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down (LCD Soundsystem cover), This is the Killer Speaking, Agnus Dei (Reprise)
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