The Last Dinner Party are appearing at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney tonight. This is an upgraded venue because their tour of Australia sold out in record time, leaving promoters scrambling to find larger venues. The band consists of Abigail Morris (vocals), Lizzie Mayland (vocals, guitar), Emily Roberts (lead guitar, mandolin, flute), Georgia Davies (bass-who is from Australia), and Aurora Nishevci (keyboards, vocals).
The Last Dinner Party, adorned in their signature frilly, cascading ballgowns, exploded onto the music scene with a fervour that was impossible to ignore, clinching both the BBC Sound of 2024 nod and the Brits Rising Star award, making TLDP the first guitar band to have won the BBC award in 11 years.
Indeed their meteoric ascent has not been without its share of drama, with the deeply sexist accusation that the band were somehow “industry plants” and put together by a label. It seems the music industry still grapples with the rise of female artists, often responding to their swift ascents with skepticism and scrutiny. This pattern isn’t new—artists like Wet Leg, Sigrid, and even Lana Del Rey have all faced the same incredulous gaze.
The band, much like Madonna and other trailblazing artists before them, employs Catholic imagery in their music to dissect and reflect on the church’s profound impact on their personal identities.
“Even for myself, it’s such a rich well to draw inspiration from, aesthetically. It’s interesting as queer women or non-binary people to use religious, particularly Catholic, imagery to express queerness. To subvert the tradition, and use the images of the saints and martyrs to express a sort of queer female experience.”
Georgia Davies Interview with Junkee
Tonight’s audience is a dazzling reflection of The Last Dinner Party’s own flamboyant aesthetic, there are bustiers, tiaras, frocks, and gloves aplenty. The playlist leading up to the show is unique and features (amongst others) Verdi’s ‘Das Ware Erfinden,’ ‘Vivat!’ and ‘Act 1’ from Carmen and ‘Un Ballo in Maschera: Ma Se M’e Forza’ performed by Michael Halász. My Shazam is working overtime.
When the band take the stage, any lingering questions about their meteoric rise evaporate. Emily Roberts, with a history of being in a Queen cover band, channels Brian May with a fervour that might even outshine the legend himself. I watch Georgia Davies scan the crowd and I can see the delight in her eyes as she recognises people in the audience. Later she tells us that her grandparents and some cousins are here tonight. Lizzie Mayland provides some tight rhythm guitar and backup vocals. Aurora Nishevci, a classically trained virtuoso, brings a refined complexity to their sound that is unmistakable. And then there’s Abigail Morris, the magnetic frontwoman, blending the magic of Kate Bush with the raw charisma of Freddie Mercury. At one point hedonistically holding up a glass of red wine, she prowls the stage with a captivating intensity, commanding every eye and ear in the room, making it clear why this band is the talk of the town.
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