Only days after the release of their highly-anticipated second album, Baroque-pop favourites The Last Dinner Party stopped off in Southampton for not one, but two sold out performances.
The Mercury Prize nominated band filled The 1865 to the brim as they presented songs from their latest album, From The Pyre, in events organised by Vinilo Records.
The setlist made up of only new songs, it was a fans-only show of 50 minutes full of singalongs, birthday celebrations and chats with the audience.
Very much moving on from album number one, the group walked on to stage with a different soundtrack than usual. Gone are the days that the classical sounds of Prelude to Ecstasy meant it was time for the show to start?
Album tracks Agnus Dei and Count the Ways kicked off the performance, and although they had some of the crowd singing along, it was Second Best, one of the lead singles, that showed just how fun the gig can be, even without any old songs to keep you going.
There was the occasional chat in between songs, with compliments towards bassist Georgia Davies’ instrument, which goes by the name of Cassandra – a reference to the 1992 film Wayne’s World.
Next up were Rifle, Woman is a Tree, I Hold Your Anger and Sail Away, which really cemented the sounds of the new album, in case anyone hadn’t already heard it.
The vocal harmonies of the band were shown off in The Scythe, the band’s latest single.
As much as the gig was a celebration of the album it was lead singer Abigail Morris’ birthday, which meant gifts galore from dedicated audience members.
The band even gave a shout out to local venues Clowns and The Hobbit as they described their night on the town from the previous evening.
After Inferno, it was time for the finale, though not without a rendition of Happy Birthday in between.
Barely able to sing the song because of the giggling (and chugging a bottle of vodka), This Is the Killer Speaking closed the show out and I think it’s fair to say there wasn’t one person in the room who wasn’t jumping up and down.
The Last Dinner Party will tour the UK this November and December.
