The Last Dinner Party Deliver a Spellbinding Night in Wolverhampton
- Sam Holt
- 4 minutes ago
- 3 min read
The Halls, Wolverhampton, 29th November 2025
WORDS / IMAGES SAM HOLT
The Last Dinner Party are an all-female alt-rock band from London, who have created their own sound inspired by drawing inspiration from artists such as David Bowie, Queen, Roxy Music and Sparks, of whom they have in the past performed a fantastic version of This Town Aint Big Enough for the Both of Us. Tonight, the award-winning band are at Wolverhampton's Civic Hall as part of their tour for their recently released album From the Pyre, the sequel to last year's incredible Prelude to Ecstasy
Imogen and the Knife, a five piece band complete with a brass section, open tonight. Her music was received well and spanned several genres. The set consisted largely of songs from the Some Kind of Love album. Imogen highlighted Paris Night, a song she wrote for her sister and dedicates to everyone’s siblings. The band increase the tempo with Mother of God and closed the short set with the outstanding title track Some Kind of Love
Anticipation was building as the lights dimmed; out came the band, comprising Lizzie Mayland [guitar], Georgia [bass], Emily [lead guitar, mandolin and flute], Aurora Nishevci [keyboards] and Abigail Morris [vocals], to great applause. The band launched into the set with the opening track from the new album, Agnus Dei. The new record makes up much of the set, as expected. Abigail later joked now they had so much music they were able to choose tracks when compiling the set list. She prowls the stage, having fantastic stage presence, using the stage set to full advantage and interacting with the rest of the band to great effect.
It was refreshing to see that not only did Abigail take on vocal duties, but Aurora and Lizzie also took on some of the vocal duties. Aurora in particular spoke about the importance of language before singing Gjuha, accompanied by Emily on a mandolin effectively. As lead guitarist, her solos are powerful yet succinct and incredibly effective. Collectively the band played a great version of Second Best, a song that tackles the concept of overcoming feeling undervalued in a defiant way and as such includes a powerful chorus that has the crowd joining along in fine voice
The band's vocal harmonies were outstanding when they came together for Woman is a Tree. The biggest cheer came when they teased, 'Who wants to hear Nothing Matters?. The highly charged track is received with enthusiasm by the Wolverhampton crowd at the end of the set, but it's clear they wanted more.
As the band left the stage, the crowd chanted ‘one more song’, and for a while nothing happened until the drummer and keyboard player returned to the stage, followed by the rest of the band, all following one another in a line. The crowd erupted as they went on to play a rousing version of The Killer – it's clearly a crowd favourite and mine too – before reprising Agnus Dei to bring the night to a close.
Having listened to both albums, I can't help but feel their music is better live than recorded. Live, it is brought to life and takes on a richer dimension. Tonight's theatrical stage set adds further to that dimension. It was simple but effective, giving the whole band the chance to take centre stage. Abigail is a fine frontwoman, but as a whole each band member adds to the show in their own way. The sound mix was impressive, and the lighting powerful yet incredibly effective. As a band they interact well with their fans, and the fans connect with them, many having dressed for the occasion in a similar fashion to band members.
SET LIST
Agnus Dei
Count the Ways
The Feminine Urge
Caesar on a TV Screen
On Your Side
Second Best
I Hold Your Anger
Woman is a Tree
Gjuha
Rifle
(Restarted due to medical emergency in crowd)
Big Dog
Portrait of a Dead Girl
The Scythe
Sail Away
Sinner
My Lady of Mercy
Inferno
Nothing Matters
ENCORE
This Is the Killer Speaking
Agnus Dei
(Reprise)
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