The Last Dinner Party have seemingly come out of nowhere and have gone on to make waves in the British indie scene, but not without putting in the hard graft. The baroque rock quintet formed during the various lockdowns that unnerved the music world and it’s nothing short of a miracle they managed to stick together through it all. Four years later, via an opening slot for The Rolling Stones on BST Hyde Park’s Great Oak Stage in 2022 and an opening slot over at Glastonbury Festival’s newly-named Woodsies Stage last year, and they’re on The Other Stage in front of a large crowd who knew exactly who they are, with some also dressed for a hedonistic banquet.
The Last Dinner Party @ Glastonbury Festival 2024
As the band walk on to Glastonbury’s second biggest stage they appear almost timid, clutching onto their instruments as lead vocalist Abigail Morris follows. But as they break into Burn Alive, the troupe quickly find their groove and whatever trepidation they might had had soon disappears. Morris has the stage presence of someone who has been just casually playing on the second biggest stage, at one of the biggest festivals in the world, for many years. And the rest of the band, Aurora (keyboard), Emily (lead guitar), Lizzie (rhythm guitar), Georgia (bass) are not far behind. They’re introduced one by one fairly early on in the set, so those in the crowd who are not familiar with them remember their names, because they will certainly be back.
They wear their musical influences on their sleeves; Bowie, Florence Welch, Kate Bush, Queen, and for some this may indicate a lack of originality. But as unavoidable as it is to ignore their past inspirations, they do display tremendous self-confidence.
The Feminine Urge offers the crowd a chance to sing along to its catchy chorus, after which Lizzie takes up flute for the intro of Beautiful Boy and a change of tempo. More ‘weepy’ numbers follow for what is the only dip in their set. Stirring Gjuha is introduced by keyboardist Aurora Nishevci as a song about being ashamed about not knowing her mother tongue, the title itself meaning tongue or language in Albanian before the rousing Sinner is delivered, the crowd surging in a second wave of energy.
Unreleased new tune Second Best is the crowd’s “treat”, introduced by guitarist Emily Roberts as “about choosing to leave someone who treated you as second best”. Vocal harmonies are allowed to dominate before sparse guitars and storming bass bring it’s bounce, Morris pausing the tune mid-flow, almost snarling at the Glastonbury crowd while dominated by the character she embodies for the song’s delivery.
Morris is endearing as she engages with her crowd asking for “something in return” for the gift of a new song. “It’s just your lungs and your souls and your willingness to sing with us on this next one” she requests as piano kicks off Portrait Of A Dead Girl, it’s deceptive gentleness soon making way for it’s soaring chorus. And of course the crowd oblige, when the time is right before Mirror allows an opportunity for the band to stop and let Morris’ powerful vocals take centre stage.
They close their Other Stage set with biggest single Nothing Matters, but not before Abigail attempts to diffuse any political apathy in the crowd by reminding them of this week’s election (albeit getting her months mixed up!). The word on the street is that The Last Dinner Party are still looking for a permanent drummer to join them full time, but question is do they even need one?
Review of The Last Dinner Party at Glastonbury Festival 2024 by Dnieper Cruz, photos by Kalpesh Patel
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