The last time I wrote about The Last Dinner Party was looking back at their wonderfully intimate show at Hebden Bridge Trades Club – two hundred fans in a beautiful venue celebrating the band as their ascent to major household names seemed inevitable. Six months later they’re starting out on a sold out UK & Ireland tour playing medium sized venues. Which sadly means charming and intimate venues are out and the Victoria Warehouse in Manchester is in.
For those who have never been to the Victoria Warehouse, it’s name derives from the fact it used to be a warehouse. It looks like a warehouse (with a stage). It feels like a warehouse. It smells like a warehouse. In past visits it has had the atmosphere of a warehouse. Needless to say it’s not one of my favourite venues by a long way (note to self: write an article on my favourite and least favoured venues). Asides from the almost twenty fold crowd size, would playing in such a characterless venue impact on the band?
Thankfully, the brilliance of The Last Dinner Party won over, utilising the simple trick of making sure that the attention of the crowd never wavered from the show. The simply designed stage was lit in a variety of ways to emphasise the different emotions of the songs, making the venue feel like an extension of the band rather than something separate. The larger stage size was made full use of, with band members not staying in any one position for very long unless instruments required it. The Warehouse was for an hour and a half well and truly converted into a funhouse.
During the opening salvo of Burn Alive, Caesar on a TV Screeen and Second Best it’s clear that the band aren’t just here to perform but to enjoy themselves. The knowing looks between band members almost says that they can’t quite believe that they’re here playing to such a large crowd – in what I suspect (but don’t have the ability to check) is there largest headline show to date.
With things threatening to lift off already it was a surprise to then enter the ‘chill section’ of the evening so early, with the more relaxed numbers from their album along with a cover of Catherine Howe‘s Up North (Fun Fact: According to setlist.fm they’ve performed Up North live twice in their career, which is both the times I’ve seen them). The highlight of the section being the sublime By Your Side, leading to a mass crowd sing along to the outro.
Having cooled things down an explosive rendition of Sinner brough the energy back to the venue, with singer Abigail Morris spinning and throwing herself around the stage like a whirlwind (see the Youtube Highlight of the Evening below). Frankly there were points where it was exhausting just watching her – but whilst clearly the frontperson of the group there was still time for her bandmates to take centre stage, notably when the rest of the group stood aside to allow the lights to fall on lead guitarist Emily Roberts as she shredded her way through the outro guitar solo to Mirror.
Whilst the tightness of the band and quality of the live performance had gone up a notch since seeing them in March it’s not all plain sailing – lyrics were forgotten at one point as Abigail descended into fits of laughter, whilst at least once audio cues to start songs were ignored. But each set back is taken with a grin from the band and frankly with everyone enjoying themselves so much any slight technical misgivings are quickly forgotten.
Of course, Nothing Matters is held back for the final song of the evening, a celebration of all the good that Last Dinner Party are, along with additional swearing and a final arm waving sing along. Watching the band take the final applause it’s difficult to tell who has enjoyed the evening more – them or the crowd who have lapped up every moment of the performance.
Reflecting on the show afterwards it’s clear that the Last Dinner Party juggernaut is showing no signs of slowing down. The next time I see them live* I suspect it will be in far larger venues – how well they transform their set to even more cavernous venues is the next challenge. Well that and producing a second album which builds on what makes them special but shows evolution from their impressive debut.
That said the three unreleased songs performed point towards a continuingly bright future for the group, with each pulling in a different musical direction for the group; whilst Second Best wears its Kate Bush influences for all to see, Big Dog pushes the rock influences seen in My Lady of Mercy to new levels, whilst The Killer is an out and out country & western stomper. The benefits of having five song writers in the group means a huge number of creative influences will be bearing down on them, with the challenge being to tie them together into a cohesive structure for album number two. Hopefully it won’t be too long until new material is ready to be released.
* In the course of writing this article I may have accidentally bought tickets to see them in Sheffield later in this tour. This statement therefore means the time after that!
The Last Dinner Party performed:
Burn Alive
Caesar on a TV Screen
Second Best
Beautiful Boy
Up North
On Your Side
Gjuha
Sinner
Portrait of a Dead Girl
The Feminine Urge
Call Me
Mirror
Big Dog
My Lady of Mercy
—
The Killer
Nothing Matters
***
Youtube Highlight of the Evening: Courtesy of Rachel Pickering, here’s the electric performance of Sinner, showcasing how it’s not just the music but the performance that make The Last Dinner Party such an essential live act.
And the final picture gallery of photos taken during the performance:
Alex Reviews Gigs 
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