6th November 2023
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On Thursday night, Liverpool welcomed The Last Dinner Party with open arms to conclude their album-launch tour hosted by Rough Trade Liverpool. Their matinee performance felt less like an ordinary gig and more like a celebration of everything they had built throughout their career. The Dome was transformed into a cathedral of whimsy, drama and intimacy, as the band invited us to venture into The Pyre with them.
With a succession of a multitude of performances at some of the biggest festivals this summer, such as Sziget in Budapest and Tramlines in Sheffield, I was thrilled to watch the band in such an intimate setting as The Dome. Under the harsh, yet somehow comforting red and white flashing lights on stage, The Last Dinner Party delivered an ethereal, electric performance of their new album ‘From The Pyre’ in its entirety.
From the outset, all five members of the band sang, swapping leads and stacking harmonies until The Dome seemed to vibrate with sound. Their collective voice has always been the band’s ‘secret weapon’, and nowhere was that clearer than during their rendition of ‘Woman is a Tree’. Instruments fell silent and the band came together centre stage for an acapella start to the song that swelled into a fierce, almost ritualistic war cry.
The raw emotion and power emanating from the band was definitely the highlight of the night. Each song played was a sincere, heart-aching reflection on themes such as womanhood, love and grief. The sheer force of lead singer Abigail Morris solidified her as arguably one of the most important frontwomen in the music industry today. Her stage presence commanded the crowd, leading us all to fall deeply under her spell and into the mystery of The Pyre.
The feel within the crowd was in one word, enchanting. Morris constantly paused the performance to interact with the crowd, and spoke candidly about the creative experience behind the album that “came from a place of pure joy!”.
Between songs, laughter rippled around The Dome, and at one moment, a fan handed Abigail a hand-painted portrait of the band. She stepped off stage to sign it, then held it up to the cheering crowd, a small-humane moment that solidified the connection between performer and audience. And then came Christopher: the crochet lamb inspired by their album cover, presented to Morris among grins and applause.
The band ended their eccentric, dramatic set with a powerful rendition of their single ‘This is the Killer Speaking’. Midway through, Abigail paused the performance to command the audience to follow their choreography, “we’ll never come back if you don’t do the choreo”. Leading to the whole crowd, jumping, dancing away with the band to their catchy chorus.
The Last Dinner Party proved that they are different to anything in the music industry today. Their performance was a delight to watch and their energy commanded The Dome throughout the night, leaving the crowd more enchanted with the band and their work.
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