The Last Dinner Party Concert Review: An Enchanting Night of Decadence and Catharsis

The Last Dinner Party, a rising indie rock band from London, brought a sonically rich and captivating performance to Boston’s Royale last Sunday. The band’s set encompassed a range of songs that created beautiful moments of connection, from the acoustic rendition of “Beautiful Boy” to the dynamic performance of “My Lady of Mercy.”

Opening with “Burn Alive,” The Last Dinner Party made a dramatic entrance set to the song’s steady drumbeat. Abigail Morris’s strong vocals set the tone for the show as she sang “There is candle wax melting in my veins / so I keep standing in your flames” and instantly heightened the excitement of the show.

Morris’s charismatic stage presence was engrossing as she danced around the stage before moving on to “Caesar on a TV Screen.” By Courtesy of Anna Moiseieva

Morris’s charismatic stage presence was engrossing as she danced around the stage before moving on to “Caesar on a TV Screen.” A lively track about wielding power, it draws on the opulence of Julius Caesar’s empire and recontextualizes this grandeur through the female experience. This theme continued throughout “The Feminine Urge,” where Morris referenced stereotypes about women as she sang “And push me down / I’m only here / for your entertainment.” Lizzie Mayland and Georgia Davies, on guitar and bass respectively, played incredibly powerful instrumentals, adding a gorgeously robust sound to the song.

The band followed this strong start with more melodic tracks like “Beautiful Boy” and “On Your Side.” Emily Roberts gave a stunning flute solo on “Beautiful Boy,” which complemented the ethereal vocals.

Despite the band’s budding career, they drew a large and passionate audience. Morris commented “you’re the loudest singing crowd we’ve ever had” during the show and invited the crowd to sing background vocals during “Portrait Of A Dead Girl.” A beautiful moment of connection between the audience and the band, the enduring chants of “give me / the strength” from the post-chorus through the outro melded with Morris’s potent vocals.

Aurora Nishevci beautifully sang “Gjuha,” a song in Albanian about her connection to her heritage. The keyboardist said, “it’s about my relationship with my language and my culture” when introducing the track. It was a touching moment for Nishevci and her bandmates as she soulfully performed the song, providing a welcome reprieve before returning to the band’s energetic rock sound.

“My Lady of Mercy” wove together religious imagery and desire into a track that explores queer romance. The guitars in the chorus and especially the bridge provided a climactic build-up alongside the vocals that culminated in a performance one couldn’t help but feel in their soul.

The guitars in the chorus and especially the bridge provided a climactic build-up alongside the vocals that culminated in a performance one couldn’t help but feel in their soul. By Courtesy of Anna Moiseieva

While closing out the show, Morris told people to “Look after each other. Get home safe. And just remember…” before a fan yelled out “nothing matters!” finishing Moriss’s sentence. The band’s most popular track, with over 57 million streams on Spotify, “Nothing Matters” ended the show on a high note. A devotional love song, the upbeat instrumentals and catchy lyrics unite themes of lust, emotional intimacy, and unbridled feeling, resulting in a cathartic finale to the show. The band danced together while singing and encouraged the audience to do the same, embracing the idea that “nothing matters.”

While the set was less than an hour long, The Last Dinner Party delivered an exciting performance, embracing musical maximalism and potent lyricism. The band is one to watch and hopefully one that will return to Boston in the near future.

—Staff writer Anna Moiseieva can be reached at anna.moiseieva@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @AMoiseieva.