I feel like I’ve moaned a bit in recent reviews, so I’ll skip over Victoria Warehouse’s flaws. It’s a big venue, as big as The Apollo, but for some reason it doesn’t get the same love (probably because it’s an arse to get to and move around in). It’s where The Last Dinner Party have chosen to take the next step up the ladder. It’s a big step from their last Manchester gig (well the last one I was at a year to the day at Academy 2, they played this venue a few weeks ago… and sold that out too), but with the way their debut album was received, it’s not really a surprise. After a string of cancelled dates due to illness, this tour is just getting going again. Not that they need much to get going. They may be still a new band, but you’d be forgiven for thinking we’re a few albums in, they’re that good! We’re in a bit early for the support, but it fills fast and by the time The Last Dinner Party take the stage to their typical theatrical fanfare, it’s rammed. The temperature has aptly risen as the blood red stage lights up for ‘Burn Alive’. There will be brilliant somg after brilliant song tonight, but it’s a great goth rock stomper to start. Everything has an air of fun and wild abandonment. The outfits, the rockstar posturing, the fucking keytar! ‘Second Best’ is new to me, but slips easily into the set. Proving without doubt that that debut album wasn’t fluke. You get the sense they could all swap instruments and be just as tight. Put down a guitar, jump on a piano, quick pass me that flute, I’ll sing this one. It’s all effortlessly brilliant. ‘On Your Side’ is a slow sombre come down song that turns into a rousing ball of emotive power. It marks a sort of half way point along with ‘Gjuha’. Honestly up to now the crowd have been quite sedate. Possibly down to it being boiling in here as usual. Thats about to change though. ‘Sinner’ is not a sedate song. The roar to its intro is deafening and the singing is immediate. A thousand phones go up and it goes off. Party started. Emily rips riffs from her guitar as her wings beat in time, yes she’s wearing wings. Although slower ‘Portrait of a Dead Girl’ packs no less punch. It’s rock opera territory. Massive string laden chords and that piano at the heart of it, Abigail orchestrating the gorgeous maelstrom. The performance is spectacular, but it wouldn’t be what it is without the tunes and fucking hell, they’ve got them by the bucketload. All sung back to them at volume. ‘Feminine Urge’ particularly and even a flamboyant cover of ‘Call Me’. They head into the break with ‘My Lady of Mercy’. It’s like something from a ballet that you can head bang to. They give it absolutely everything, it’s pretty stunning, even to a gig junkie like me. As the lights come up there’s a lot of smiling faces that looked awed at what they’ve just witnessed. There’s more, of course there is. There’s THAT one after all. Before that though, they come back in with another new one ‘The Killer’. The band returning in a funeral procession. Stalking up and down the stage. It’s like Nick Cave meets musical theatre. Then it’s time. It’s the hit amongst a lot of equally massive songs that are probably better, but ‘Nothing Matters’ is a genuine generational classic. You could tell me that people will still love and reminisce about the first time they heard this song 30 years from now and I’d believe you. It’s a release of pure unadulterated joy. There are some great bands around at the moment, but make on mistake, this lot are one of the very best.
The Last Dinner Party, Victoria Warehouse. 11th October 2024
Updated: Oct 12
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