Thrills & frills with The Last Dinner Party at Oakland’s Fox Theater

On the evening of May 27th, alt rock band The Last Dinner Party brought their From The Pyre Tour to The Fox Theater in Oakland. From The Pyre is the sophomore album from the London-based quintet, hot off the heels from their debut album Prelude to Ecstacy, featuring their breakout single “Nothing Matters”. Chances are, if you listened to the radio in 2023, you caught “Nothing Matters” on its nonstop rotation.

In 2024, BBC Radio even crowned them the Sound of 2024 winners!

The Last Dinner Party features the mesmerizing Abigail Morris on vocals, the spellbinding Emily Roberts shredding on lead guitar, Lizzie Mayland on rhythm guitar, Aurora Nishevci on keys, and Georgia Davies on bass, who sadly had to sit out the tour due to a very serious injury. Get well soon, Georgia! 

Opening the night for this portion of the From The Pyre Tour was Los Angeles-based electronic pop trio Automatic. I got major Phantogram vibes from them and can see Automatic going far — just like Phantogram. Izzy Glaudini on lead vocals and synths was absolutely stellar. Automatic’s third studio album Is It Now? was released September last year, with a new remix of their single “Don’t Wanna Dance” from Mario C dropped this month. Automatic played an energetic 30-minute set that flew by so fast.

I bet they would slay a full set… 

Finally, it was time for the epic headlining show. The stage was set like a grand opera or Shakespearian play — very theatrical and detailed. And that’s just the stage, don’t get me started on the outfits! If you see The Last Dinner party for the first time, you might think they time traveled from the Renaissance days or teleported from Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette movie set. Opening the show, The Last Dinner Party played several songs from their new album, starting with lead track “Angus Dei” followed by “Count the Ways”. The Last Dinner Party then wove songs from both their albums throughout the rest of their nearly two-hour set.

Naturally, they saved “Nothing Matters” till the end. Abigail asked everyone to put their phones away and to enjoy the moment, but if you must, you can record the last chorus. I loved this, because everyone in the crowd came together to be present — what a special moment. After the girls walked offstage, they came back for the encore with “This is the Killer Speaking”, where Abigail taught the crowd how to do the song’s iconic dance. For the final song, they finished with “Angus Dei (Reprise)” — a perfect circle. 

The Last Dinner Party has been on the rise since their debut album in 2024 and I don’t see them slowing down anytime soon. They are just going to keep getting better and better, so see them while you can! They’re arguably the best rock band playing right now!

Photography by Katey Schoenberger

Share this article

or