E-Werk, Cologne, Germany2nd November 2024
The Last Dinner Party - “European Tour” - Support: Katy J Pearson, Luvcat
THE LAST DINNER PARTY are probably the hottest newcomer from England. While the five young women led by singer Abigail Morris supported the likes of the ROLLING STONES and LANA DEL REY at live gigs in their first years, they have also been making a lasting impression on recordings since their first single ‘Nothing Matters’, which was released in April 2023. Their first sign of life has now been streamed over 133 million times on Spotify. The debut album ‘Prelude To Ecstasy’, released in February 2024, also hit like a bombshell. The glam rock celebrated by the band with a good dash of baroque pop is reminiscent of KATE BUSH and FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE. We wanted to find out how the newcomers would perform live on stage in Cologne.
Luvcat
As newcomers THE LAST DINNER PARTY only have one album to their name and their set was unlikely to last two hours, there were two supporting acts. The first one was LUVCAT. The artist from Liverpool has been in the business a little less long and has not yet released an album. However, her three singles ‘He’s My Man’, ‘Matador’ and ‘Dinner @ Brasserie Zédel’, which have been released on streaming services, have been quite successful and suggest that the young artist is likely to go her own way. Musically, LUVCAT and her band - on stage, the band presents itself as a quintet - made quite a decent impression, but in my opinion fell a little short, also in comparison to the second support act.
Setlist
01. Lipstick
02. Alien
03. Matador
04. Love & Money
05. Bad Books
06. He’s My Man
07. Dinner @ Brasserie Zédel
Rating
Music: 5
Performance: 5
Light: 7
Sound: 7
Total: 6 / 10
Katy J Pearson
There wasn’t much to change after LUVCAT. The drum kit, for example, was shared by the drummers of both support bands. So, it took perhaps just 15 minutes for KATY J PEARSON and her band to enter the stage. Like LUVCAT before them, this quartet also performed seven songs, with KATY J PEARSON having the largest selection of her own songs of all the acts of the evening, as the Englishwoman has already released three albums. The focus was clearly on her album ‘Someday, Now’, released in September 2024, from which six of the seven songs were presented. Carried by her beautiful voice, the rather quiet songs, which sound a bit like singer / songwriter and indie pop, were thoroughly enjoyable.
Setlist
01. Those Goodbyes
02. Save Me
03. Grand Final
04. Beautiful Soul
05. Long Range Driver
06. Maybe
07. Sky
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 5
Light: 7
Sound: 7
Total: 6.5 / 10
The Last Dinner Party
Finally, at 9.45 pm, which was comparatively late, but also understandable because of the two support acts, the time had come for THE LAST DINNER PARTY. The opening track ‘Prelude To Ecstasy’ still came from the tape, but it was already here that the band’s four instrumentalists entered the stage, joined by drummer Casper Miles (THE LAST DINNER PARTY doesn’t have a permanent drummer), and shortly afterwards singer Abigail Morris followed to lead into ‘Burn Alive’ (as on the album). And in the subsequent ‘Caesar on a TV Screen’, THE LAST DINNER PARTY also followed the song sequence on their debut album. You couldn’t tell for a second that THE LAST DINNER PARTY were a young, inexperienced band. On the contrary: the five young English girls seemed incredibly experienced and confident, especially singer Abigail Morris had a stage presence that was very impressive. She was everywhere, sought to get close to the audience, seemed likeable and spontaneous when chatting to the fans in the audience.
No question, the singer is the absolute fixture of the band. But that shouldn’t detract from the performance of her band members: the other four young women, who together with their singer make up THE LAST DINNER PARTY, also did an excellent job. The band performed all twelve songs from their debut album ‘Prelude To Ecstasy’. But that wasn’t all and probably wouldn’t have satisfied the fans in the sold-out E-Werk in Cologne, because their only record only has a playing time of just over 40 minutes. THE LAST DINNER PARTY therefore borrowed from Chris Isaak’s catalogue with a cover version of his massive hit ‘Wicked Game’. On the other hand, the band performed three previously unreleased tracks of their own: ‘Second Best’, ‘Big Dog’ and ‘The Killer’. Of these, ‘Big Dog’ was particularly surprising due to its simple rocking character, which caused astonishment and enthusiasm without any of the band’s typical trademarks. These women can rock!
And the fans? Not only did a large proportion of the fans dress in the band’s style, they were also absolutely sure of the lyrics and carried the songs in the moments when singer Abigail Morris deliberately remained silent. And by the encore ‘Nothing Matters’ at the latest, they were completely won over. Looking back, it was a surprisingly strong performance by a young band that knows all the tricks of the game. Strong!
Setlist
01. Burn Alive
02. Caesar on a TV Screen
03. Second Best (Unreleased)
04. Beautiful Boy
05. Wicked Game (Chris Isaak cover)
06. On Your Side
07. Gjuha
08. Sinner
09. Portrait of a Dead Girl
10. The Feminine Urge
11. Mirror
12. Big Dog (Unreleased)
13. My Lady of Mercy
14. The Killer (Unreleased)
15. Nothing Matters
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Light: 8
Sound: 8
Total: 8.5 / 10
All Pictures by André Wilms
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