19 January 2026 – Riverstage, Brisbane – words by Cecilia Pattison-Levi – pictures by Ricardo Croce
After the last few huge day of massive rock shows, Brisbane on the Monday was offered another serve of alternative indie rock heaven. The crowd at Brisbane’s Riverstage shared in the last supper delivered by The Last Dinner Party and Sir Chloe. Those in attendance were fed a feast for the ears and eyes and the diet was indeed rich and rewarding.
The evening began with the indie-rock musician from New York Sir Chloe (aka Dana Foote) who delighted the crowd and her fans with her singular musical vision and sound that references pop to grunge with sides of post-punk and shoegaze. The band’s musical expression was tight and emotionally charged, as the songs performed sit in the musical range between mainstream ambition and cutting experimental edge as the guitars were played with stage equipment like microphones during the set.
Sir Chloe arrived on stage ready to go with her lyrical song ‘July’ to commence the night’s banquet of music and the crowd and band were off to a crackling pace. Then, the band delivered ‘Kiss’ from the new album Swallow The Knife. The set started to gather pace as Sir Chloe found her feet and voice when she delivered her older fun songs such as ‘Untie You’, the wonderful ‘Animal’, ‘Salivate’ and the pure pop-rock of ‘Sudonia’ and ‘Forgiving’. She did stop to address the crowd and confirm that it was ‘a Monday’ – Yes. It was a Monday!
Sir Chloe – Riverstage – photos by Ricardo Croce
On stage with Dana Foote was supported with class by Alina Sloan on bass, Soph Shreds on guitar, and the impressive Maya Stepansky on drums. It was incredible to see four femme-presenting people performing such potent and unapologetic songs like ‘Passenger’, ‘Company’ and ‘Hooves’ that were intense and urgent. If there was any issue in a couple of songs Dana Foote’svocals were too low in the mix and we couldn’t hear her clearly. But it’s a small quibble.
Sir Chloe closed out her set with three biggest songs: ‘Michelle’, ‘Eyes’ and ‘Too Close’ that were brilliant and filling. I really want to thank The Last Dinner Party for bringing Sir Chloe to Australia. I have been a longtime fan, and it was wonderful to see a band that most of us would need to travel to the US to see. I cannot wait to see what Sir Chloe does next.
Now the appetiser was finished. The crowd moved onto the main course. The fabulous stage had already been dressed in billowing cloth and curtains, cloisters, a lovely golden bell that tolls and fabulous instruments were put in place: grand piano, flute, saxophone, guitars of all types and the drum kit was readied.
The Last Dinner Party – Riverstage – photos by Ricardo Croce
The lights went down and the opening serve from The Last Dinner Party was the introduction of ‘Walking Into The Pyre’ and followed with ‘Agnus Dei’ that set the tone and the standard for the performance: it was theatrical stagecraft, musicianship as an ensemble with glorious harmonies and it all sounded wonderful. The bassline was heavy through the whole set, so the crowd understood this was a big rock meal.
The frontwoman Abigal Morris immediately made an impression, commanding the stage with her balletic movement and strong vocals delivering an effortless but pitch-perfect performance. The stage design matched her elegance. It was two-tiered and featured a backdrop straight from a medieval church with arches like cloisters, a podium and swirling white blinds all set against a projection of what looked like endless satin, which glowed different hues throughout the night. It lent a heavy cinematic vision to the musical delivery of the band.
The Last Dinner Party – Riverstage – photos by Ricardo Croce
For those new to The Last Dinner Party, the band is a five-piece (Abigail Morris, Lizzie Mayland, Emily Roberts, Georgia Davies and Aurora Nishevci) with a touring drummer, Casper Miles. The music played on as ‘Count the Ways’ was performed to the crowd’s delight. The band’s harmonies and musical performance clicked into top gear and was matched by the snarled vocal performance from Abigail Morris. It was after this introductory start that the band stopped and acknowledged the Brisbane crowd, their last performance in 2024 at Riverstage and the introductions to the band before they launched into the superb ‘Feminine Urge’.
What is so impressive about The Last Dinner Party is that all five members contribute vocal leads and the setlist reflected a mix of both albums Prelude to Ecstasy and From The Pyre as the songs blended seamlessly together. The songs ‘Caesar On A TV’, ‘On Your Side’ and ‘Second Best’ followed in quick succession. That curfew at Riverstage can be sobering on completing songs.
However, The Last Dinner Party kept up the flow, the choreography and the stage banter. The wonderful piano-led ‘I Hold Your Anger’ was beautiful and saw Lizzie Mayland taking vocal duties. This transitioned to all five members harmonising what sounded like a Celtic séance for a superb rendition of the gothic horror-esque ‘Woman is a Tree’. Then, the Albanian song ‘Gjuha’ was delivered by Aurora Nishevci with the lovely sounds of the mandolin played by Emily Roberts.
The Last Dinner Party – Riverstage – photos by Ricardo Croce
Unfortunately, during the dark and brilliant delivery of ‘Rifle’ there was a “crowd incident” that stopped the concert. It was so annoying. But as Abigail Morris stated: “Well. You know this is a live concert no lip-syncing here” as the band lost their way and forgot the words but re-commenced at verse 2.
The Last Dinner Party struck gold with the dynamic hard rock of ‘Big Dog’, ‘Portrait Of A Dead Girl’ and the flute-led ‘The Scythe’. It was a set highlight. What was extraordinary as the quality of the musicality whenever they played quieter numbers, such as minimal and beautiful renditions of ‘Sail Away’ and the later song ‘Inferno’.
The snarling and frantic fan favourite ‘Sinner’ was another huge moment. The stop-start dramatics of ‘My Lady Of Mercy’ was fun and interactive with keyboardist Aurora Nishevci delivering a wicked keytar. The big songs of the night were approaching with the new song ‘Knocking At The Sky’ unveiled. Then, the over the top ‘Nothing Matters’ complete with Abigail Morrisindulging in some crowd surfing, interaction and crowd call-response was epic.
Crowd – The Last Dinner Party – Riverstage – photos by Ricardo Croce
Then, the band left the stage. The evening was ending and the crowd called out for ‘one more song”. Then, the encore started with line choreography for ‘This is the Killer Speaking’ with added country hat. It was performed with real class as the band highlighted the song’s boisterous country inflections and they played up the dramatics with a ‘rest break’ as Abigail Morris rested against the piano before launching into the song’s final stanza. It was pop-rock country gothic heaven.
The Last Dinner Party’s baroque pop-rock spread had been delivered in full and the crowd was full and happy like little gluttons. The setlist was superb. It had tasters and a bit of everything as it highlighted the whole band and their ability to delivery full-on rock ‘n’ roll with theatrical assurance and composure. It was another performance to put up in concert of the year voting category as we all left the venue singing along to The Veronicas. A classy night!
