From the Pyre Tour Brings The Last Dinner Party to a Roadrunner That Couldn't Hold Them
Roadrunner has seen sold-out shows before. Saturday night was something else. The Last Dinner Party packed the Boston venue so completely that the concept of personal space became a distant memory. Given the hype surrounding this band right now, they honestly could have filled TD Garden. Roadrunner just happened to be what was on the calendar.
This was the From the Pyre tour, supporting their second album released last October, and the growth between their last Boston appearance and this one tells the whole story. Two years ago, The Last Dinner Party played The Royale on a debut album that had been out for a month. Saturday night they were at a considerably larger venue and it still felt too small. That kind of trajectory is not an accident.
Opener Florence Road made a strong case that skipping the opener is always a rookie move. Their energy was infectious from the first song, and with their EP Spring Forward just weeks old, they arrived with fresh material and the confidence to deliver it. "Break the Girl" was the set highlight, the kind of track that sticks with you on the walk to the bar. I really don’t think it’ll be long until Florence Road is headlining their own Roadrunner show.
When The Last Dinner Party finally took the stage, the room hit a different energy entirely. Lead singer Abigail Morris has the kind of stage presence that makes everything else in the room feel secondary. The closest comparison in recent memory is Mandy Lee in the early Misterwives days, that rare combination of physicality, charisma, and genuine command of a room. The staging matched the energy: gothic, Shakespearean, draped and dramatic in a way that felt entirely intentional and entirely them.
The setlist leaned heavily on the new album, but the moment that brought the room to its loudest was an unreleased track, "Big Dog," a harder-edged rip of a song that has been making the rounds at their live shows. Morris acknowledged the crowd's enthusiasm with a grin: "If you all keep pestering us to release this... you might get your wish." On the evidence of what it sounds like live, the studio version can't come soon enough.
What sets The Last Dinner Party apart from most bands operating at this level is how deliberately they pull their audience into the show. A Wellesley University student at the barricade was midway through her school's 24-Hour Shakespeare challenge when Morris noticed her, took some pages, and read Sonnet 115 aloud to a full room. Morris also made her way to the barricade to meet another Abigail Morris in the crowd, remarking that it had never happened before. "Second Best" was the personal set highlight, a song that somehow lands even harder with a room this full behind it and was worth every minute of the wait.
The band was missing their bass player, who had injured her back during the Texas leg of the tour, a noticeable absence for a band this tight. They didn't let it slow them down.
The From the Pyre tour is also supporting the band's Ribbons for Provisions charity initiative, aimed at alleviating food poverty through a partnership with Bankuet. It's worth your attention, and an organization we’ve personally supported here at ROKKR Press.
The encore closed on a reprise of "Agnus Dei," bookending the night with the same song that opened it, a theatrical touch that felt completely at home for a band that understands how a show should be structured. Saturday night at Roadrunner was the kind of performance that makes you feel like you witnessed something special. It was Boston’s show of the year, and even though we’re only in April, The Last Dinner Party set the bar about as high as it could be.
The Last Dinner Party SETLIST:
Agnus Dei
Count the Ways
The Feminine Urge
Caesar on a TV Screen
On Your Side
Second Best
I Hold Your Anger
Woman Is a Tree
Gjuha
Rifle
Big Dog
The Scythe
Sail Away
Sinner
My Lady of Mercy
Inferno
Nothing Matters
Encore:
This Is the Killer Speaking
Agnus Dei (Reprise)
FLORENCE ROAD | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE
THE LAST DINNER PARTY | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE
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