The Last Dinner Party ended their tour at the Fonda Theatre in a characteristically spectacular fashion, leaving fans ravished and aglow in the wake of their rapturous baroque anthems. With just one album to their name, the crowd was essentially given a cover-to-cover performance of Prelude to Ecstasy, including the live debut of three unreleased songs: “Second Best,” “Big Dog,” and “The Killer.”
Unleashing overtures of ferocious desire, tragic love, and breathless pathos—part of the bliss of experiencing The Last Dinner Party live is finding yourself blown away by the sonic fury of their songs. With smoldering riffs, roiling bass lines, and melodies that shake and shiver with unbridled passion—there was no escaping their combustive performance at the Fonda.
At the center of this tumultuous storm was Abigail Morris, her voice a lightning rod for The Last Dinner Party’s climactic emotion, appearing as a graceful flurry of melodramatic gesticulations as she danced from bandmate to bandmate. Add this to the infinite reasons this band kills it live: every single one of them shares the spotlight, whether on vocals or via electrifying instrumentals.
Take, for instance, “Sinner,” a song that captures the grandiose array of talent required to conjure the thunderous melody into existence. Emily Roberts tearing into a thrilling riff; Lizzie Mayland‘s guitar and Georgia Davies‘ bass a frenetic tangle; Aurora Nishevci taking the lead with their luminous voice in the silence as her bandmates coo in the background. Their charm and charisma onstage are beyond intoxicating. And if every soul in the Fonda wasn’t enamored with them at the start of their set, they were at its end.
All the proof you need of their ability to incite their audiences to grand romantic gestures came during their encore when Morris invited two fans onstage for a proposal that drew just as much joy and tears from the crowd as one of their songs. They then proceeded to close out the night with the fittingly impassioned “Nothing Matters,” howling out its torrid chorus in honor of the newly engaged couple.
King Isis rocked the absolute hell out of the early arrivers at the Fonda—winning over the crowd with the raw emotion of their music. Playing songs from their shed EP as well as their new single “Dissonance,” they absolutely made more than a few fans that night. Near the end of their set, she pulled out the noisy rock bangers, and King Isis proceeded to wail and melt faces. She was also joined by The Last Dinner Party for their final song—a favor she returned at the end of the night—giving the whole show the celebratory momentum the final night of a tour should have.
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Words & Photos: Steven Ward
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