LIVE REVIEW: THE LAST DINNER PARTY AT FABRIQUE, MILAN 13/02/26
Photo credit: Laura Marie Cieplik
Was a gig even good if you do not come back home feeling a little bit in love with the artist?
If this is the case, The Last Dinner Party’s fantasy glam rock certainly succeeded, opening the doors to their baroque, mystical festivities and drawing the audience in with their siren songs, from the first to the last note.
The show opened on the slower ‘Agnus Dei’ and ‘Count the Ways’, leaving the rockier, more experimental sounds of tracks like ‘Woman is a Tree’, ‘Inferno’ and their international hits 'Sinner’ and ‘Nothing Matters’ for the second half. The setlist included The Last Dinner Party’s two records almost in their entirety, spanning between themes of womanhood, queerness, religion, guilt, shame, sexuality, mythology, our relationship to others and to our own self, our own history and sense of belonging.
Lead singer and frontwoman Abigail Morris was a force to reckon with, her vocals always powerful, her performance never still and almost theatrical as she danced from one side of the stage to the other, jumping around and even falling to the ground when the music calls for it.
The rest of the all-female ensemble was just as magnetic, everybody playful with each other as well as the crowd, sharing the stage and the literal spotlight when Morris took a step back more than once, leaving the lead vocals to guitarist Lizzie Maryland (for ‘Rifle’) and multi-instrumentalist Aurora Nishevci (‘I Hold Your Anger’) - who played keyboards for most of the show but was also proficient in organ, piano, saxophone, synthesizer, keytar - respectively, lead guitarist Emily Roberts and bass player Georgia Davies never missing a beat as they followed along, joining in for harmonies and also picking up different instruments whenever needed, never missing a beat.
When she was not twirling around and playing around with the group, Morris interacted with the crowd and entertained them with ease in both English and a little bit of Italian, with anecdotes not only about the band, but about their time in Milan specifically, recalling a much smaller audience only a couple of years ago. She teased the audience before playing ‘Big Dog’, a song the band has been performing for years although it was never officially released, as well the very recent ‘Knocking at the Sky’, which she said has not been played live more than ten times at this point.
Before playing ‘The Scythe’, one of their most beloved tracks, she shared how important live performances feel, as they are always a singular experience, where the crowd can shape the meaning and feel of every track. She also took her time to individually thank every single crew member working with them, as well as bringing attention to the local food bank (Fondazione Banco Alimentare) the band has chosen to support and work with, as they do for every date on this tour.
On the last song of the show, ‘This is the Killer Speaking’, she stopped to teach the audience a small dance before closing off amongst roaring cheers of excitement from the very diverse crowd, leaving both the younger and more seasoned members equally enamoured.