The Last Dinner Party is a band that seems to be on every radio station recently.
And for good reason.
The British indie rock band is still less than three years old and has already signed to one of the world’s biggest record labels; won a BRIT award; performed at Glastonbury and followed Hozier, Lana Del Ray and Florence & The Machine on tour in the past twelve months.
After months of teasing fans at shows across the UK, including right here in Leeds at Live At Leeds: In The City, now their debut album has been released – and the momentum just keeps building from here.
The Brudenell partnered with Crash Records for a one-off show as part of an intimate album launch: and it was safe to say the afternoon was a truly personalised experience, showing a different, simpler version of the band that showed off their vocal ranges and plethora of musical talents without being tempted to hide behind stage theatrics. This was all about the album.
Having sold out tickets in a matter of days, the album launch was always going to be busy, but I certainly didn’t expect to find myself in a queue snaking around the Brudenell Social Club. At least half of those with tickets had turned up early to try and bag the best seats in the 400-capacity room.
The five-piece, made up of Abigail Morris (vocals), Georgia Davies (bass) and Lizzie Mayland (guitar), Aurora Nishevci (keyboards) and Emily Roberts (guitar), were wooed on stage before Abigail immediately clarified the concert would be a completely acoustic performance: “it’s something we’ve been testing out on this album tour and we’ve been really enjoying it, before bursting into Beautiful Boy.
Next up was On Your Side, a song that’s slower melody lends itself perfectly to an acoustic set: taking listeners on an emotional journey of healing, heartbreak, and that haunting feeling being awake in the middle of the night an bring.
Now the ‘more depressing’ songs were out of the way (according to the band), it was time to focus on bringing that tempo up and having a good sing-a-long.
Caesar On A TV Screen had the crowd roaring with lyrics that brought the Roman Empire back to life, with a longing for power and attention:‘When I put on that suit / I don’t have to stay mute / I can talk all the time / ‘Cause my shoulders are wide’.
Turns out Sinner is actually a homage to our own West Yorkshire, told guitar and vocalist Lizzie Mayland, who is originally from Halifax. She explained that the song was all about her move from the Yorkshire hills to London (where she met the other members of The Last Dinner Party whilst at university).
The lyrics ‘There’s nothing for me / Here, where the world is small / But how you touch me /For that I’d leave it all / Back in the city /Cold eyes and lips of dust’ seemed to mean even more coming from Emily during the acoustic performance, featuring an unrecorded introduction that the band would love to release in the future. We can only hope.
Mirror was written by Abigail aged seventeen, making it the oldest album on the track by a fair few years, explaining she was “so pleased [her] teenage angst had been put to good use”.
Admittedly the song drew parallels of Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game: the sexy guitar, dark lights and moody lyrics, and led very quickly into the 2006 hit single.
Nothing Matters was the obvious choice for the band’s final song, the single threw the band to success in 2022, and was the first to be released after signing with internationally-renowned label, Island Records.
Unlike some of the other intimate launch afternoons there was no signing or time with the band, pre or post-performance.
@thehootleeds The Last Dinner Party ended their intimate album launch in Leeds tonight at the Brudenell Social Club, and of course the band had to end with Nothing Matters.🎤 #leeds #thelastdinnerparty #thelastdinnerpartylive #tldp #intimatetour #albumlaunch #nothingmatters #yorkshire #livemusic #brudenellsocialclub ♬ original sound – Thehootleeds
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The Last Dinner Party will return to Leeds and play the O2 Academy on 24 September 2024, and in the meantime will play in nearby Hebden Bridge at the Trades Club as part of War Child BRITs Week.
Feature Image – The Hoot Leeds
