The first time I heard The Last Dinner Party was after a mild breakup, driving to Laguna Beach for a day trip with my girlfriends. We proceeded to listen to “Nothing Matters” 10 times, until we could all scream the words out the window together. On August 10th, the all-female British indie-rock group blessed the stage of the Fonda with their anthemic baroque-style ballads that you feel deep in your chest.
Sometimes you go to a concert and are immediately aware that everyone in the room is a die-hard fan of the group– this was one of those shows. Girls were outfitted in Victorian dresses, corsets, and bows, restlessly waiting for the group to come onstage. Each of the band member’s respective positions were prepared with a water bottle and a beverage of their choice– Peronis and glasses of red. At 9:03PM the lights went completely dark as ominous yet playful music filled the theater, as if to transform The Fonda into the Dinner Party itself. Shrill screams emanated from the crowd as each of the girls stepped onstage and set up their instrument.
The Last Dinner Party was formed in 2021 after lead singer Abigail Morris met bassist Georgia Davies and guitarist Lizzie Mayland at King’s College in London. They attended numerous shows at a local pub called the Brixton Windmill and ultimately decided to form a band themselves. They met lead guitarist Emily Roberts and keyboardist Aurora Nishevci through mutual friends, thus setting each of five places at the table for The Last Dinner Party. In an interview with Under the Radar Magazine, Georgia stated that the band’s name “was inspired by the idea of a huge debauched dinner party where people came together to celebrate with a hedonistic banquet.” The Last Dinner Party is a collage of influences and individuality with undertones of darkness and light, resulting in a boldly sapphic catharsis of emotion and power.
In a suit jacket and slacks, lead singer Abigail Morris was the maestro of the night. She danced around the stage in a theatrical display signature of the group’s live shows. Other trademarks included synced hip-swaying with their instruments, back-to-back instrument playing, and pauses to refill their glasses of wine. Their quirky and endearing onstage antics were emblematic of genuine female friendship, reminiscent of wine nights with friends where laughter transpires into tears that we wipe from each other’s eyes while opening another bottle, which makes us laugh again. The girls performed a mix of songs from their first and only full-length album released in 2024, Prelude to Ecstasy, as well as unreleased songs from their upcoming album.
Songs like “Beautiful Boy” displayed The Last Dinner Party’s mastery of the buildup, starting with Emily on the flute, a simple keyboard melody, and Abigail singing in her uniquely alluring, elegant, and passionate way. As the song progresses, it gains sonic and emotional intensity, climaxing into a five-part chill-inducing harmony. “We’ve reached the portion of our set called weeping hour,” announced Abigail, wine in hand, as they moved into “On Your Side,” a song about being devoted to a partner, regardless of how painful or toxic the relationship becomes. She guided the crowd through a collective admission and release of the shared experience of darkness and self-inflicted suffering.
And just as the mood turned somber, Abigail declared, “we will return to our scheduled programming of violence, dancing, and sex” as the group launched into Sinner. This track, which a girl in the front row announced she had a tramp stamp of, dives into the world of religion and forbidden queer desires. The song is ultimately triumphant in its wholehearted acceptance of sexuality, further illuminated when Abigail invited a woman onstage who proceeded to propose to her partner unsuspectingly wearing a long white dress. “Can we sing you ‘Nothing Matters’ as our final song?” asked Abigail, quickly following up with “Well your engagement matters of course…”
And thus the group completed my full circle moment, as I joined the crowd in screaming each and every word of ‘Nothing Matters’ with the slightest British accent. The Last Dinner Party proved to be an enchanted banquet of abounding vigor and harmonious balance between lust and amusement, leaving you waiting for your next invitation to come in the mail.
