NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2026
It’s only been a little over two years since The Last Dinner Party released their hit debut studio album Prelude to Ecstasy and they’ve been riding a wave of emotional highs and lows ever since. Between the enormous support of their fans, the negative commentary by some about their being industry plants, the accolades and awards, and the mental tolls of constant touring, the band, consisting of Abigail Morris (lead vocals), Emily Roberts (lead guitar), Lizzie Mayland (guitar), Georgia Davies (bass), and Aurora Nishevci (keyboard), have fought through and come out stronger, resulting in the release of their sophomore album From the Pyre (released last October). They’ve currently on a North American tour in support of their latest record and made a stop at the Agora Theatre in Cleveland on Monday, April 6th. I missed their first run in North America in 2023 but managed to catch them at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto in March 2024. It was and incredible show and I was looking forward to seeing how they integrate the new album into their live performance! Unfortunately, bassist Georgia Davies injured her back in a fall a couple of shows ago, requiring surgery, and will be missing the rest of the tour. I’m sure her replacement, Max Lilley, will prove more than adequate but we will miss her smile and personality!
The opener for the first leg of the North American tour is Irish rock band Florence Road, made up of Lily Aron (vocals, guitar), Emma Brandon (guitar), Ailbhe Barry (bass), and Hannah Kelly (drums). Together since 2019, they have made a splash in the UK, supported Olivia Rodrigo, Sombr, and Wolf Alice on some of their tour dates, and released their debut EP Spring Forward just over a week ago. Aron’s singing style is especially notable as she often “cries” many of the lyrics, lending more heartbreak and emotion into her vocals. It was a great introduction to the band and I’m grateful to the Last Dinner Party for bringing their sounds to North America.
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The Last Dinner Party have really upped their game with respect to set design since their last time across the pond. A beautiful backdrop with raised platforms at the back and sides of the stage allow the band to elevate themselves as needed. They opened the show with “Agnus Dei”, the lead track from their last album From the Pyre. A great opener, although I’m not sure you can possibly beat “Prelude to Ecstasy” as a show starter. But move forward we must and the band followed with “Count the Ways”, one of my favorite songs from the record. As usual, vocalist Abigail Morris was the life of the party, running and dancing around the stage, making sure fans at every part of the venue received some attention. The only negative party of that was that the spotlight didn’t follow her and she spent a lot of time in darkness or partial darkness.
As usual, individual fashion was a huge part of the lure of the Last Dinner party, with many in the audience dressed up for the occasion. Abigail, on this night, showed off her long legs wearing shorts with lace fringes and tall white boots. Emily, always angelic, wore a lacey gartered bodysuit with long sleeves that feel to the floor! She chose to forgo the wings for this night’s performance. Lizzie was decked out in an oversized navy pinstripe suit with peak lapels, remind me the Talking Heads’ David Byrne in his Stop Making Sense era, although Lizzie’s suit was not nearly so oversized. Aurora wore a red Elizabethan doublet with puffy shoulders, paired with black tights and boots. Fabulous all!!
There were so many highlights during this show that it’s hard to name them all. First, “On Your Side”, a dedication to sidelined bassist Georgia Davies. Then Aurora singing lead vocals on “I Hold Your Anger” and “Gjuha”, pausing in between to talk about her pride in being an immigrant and how immigrants are also what makes The Unites State special, before singing Gjuha in Albanian! Lizzie blowing us away (figuratively, not literally!) with lead vocals on her songs “Rifle” and “Sinner”. Abigail rushing up to one of the balcony boxes in the middle of yet to be released song “Knocking at the Sky”. The setlist, as expected, covered the entirety of From the Pyre. What wasn’t expected was that they also performed almost all of “Prelude to Ecstasy”, resulting in an incredible twenty song set!!
During the encore’s first song “This is the Killer Speaking”, the band stopped as Abigail gave a little kitschy dance instruction to the crowd. While cute, it felt a bit rehearsed and killed the momentum of the encore a bit, although the audience didn’t seem to mind. All in all, it was still an amazing concert, really showing that The Last Dinner Party has kicked it up a notch. Hmm…wonder if I can catch them again in NYC in a couple of weeks. Definitely see them while they’re still playing mid-sized venues. I can imagine that they can start selling out arenas soon!
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