The Last Dinner Party At No Vacancy
So, here’s the breakdown–this week The Last Dinner Party brought all the rock glamor to a haunted house in Hollywood.
Last night, I took a break from being at my wit’s end to head into Hollywood for a secret show at No Vacancy. The speakeasy style bar has an entrance that will never fail to surprise first timers (and I will be keeping it a secret) and is complete with moody lighting and Victorian gothic style architecture and decor.
It was the perfect venue made to feel like the typical dwelling of The Last Dinner Party. The British rock band, composed of all women and nonbinary members, recently broke international lines with their debut album “Prelude to Ecstasy,” which followed the success of their hit single “Nothing Matters.”
The album was produced by James Ford, who has notably worked with Depeche Mode and Blur, and combines elements of the sonic theatrics of Queen and the powerful ruminations on the impossible nature of womanhood of Florence and the Machine.
The group has rapidly made a name for themselves with their dramatic baroque-pop influenced music and performance style, and their talents were only proven further by their successful delivery in a much more intimate and stripped back setting. Candles dripped over tables decorated with frilly lace and baby’s breath flowers as the warm California spring evening dimmed nature’s house lights.
The band’s ruffled long gowns, corsets, and ribbons feel whimsical and literary (fitting for a circle of friends who majored in English at university), yet also demand their place as a force to be reckoned with as they accompanied themselves on guitar and various instruments. After all, this small secret show on the back porch in the garden of No Vacancy comes just after their booming Coachella show in the desert.
Their place in a festival of such prestige comes at a time in which the music industry continues to push towards being more inclusive, with Book More Women reporting that as of this year, music festivals continue to book less than 25% of women and nonbinary performers.
The group mingled with the writers and industry members lucky enough to occupy No Vacancy for the evening. They then humorously cracked jokes about a speaker playing some vaguely EDM-esque music from next door, but this immediately faded into the distance once lead singer Abigail Morris launched into the soft yet seething envy of “Beautiful Boy,” a requiem for a life devoid of sexism and strife. “Another win for British rock music,” she quipped as the mystery speaker was eventually silenced.
Among other tracks on the set list were the rollicking “Sinner,” the ethereal “On Your Side,” and a surprise cover of Chris Isaak’s 1989 track “Wicked Game.” While written by a man and released decades prior to the group’s inception, the song fell into their range organically, and fit in with the doomsday star-crossed lovers storyline of their own breakout hit “Nothing Matters.” The acoustic cover channeled yet another alt-pop contemporary–Lana Del Rey.
The brief set offered a glimpse into their recently released debut album, which has already made waves in the U.S. amid a series of TikTok trends and late night television appearances. While the spontaneity amid hardships commonly associated with Gen Z is ever present in their work, so is an understanding of generations of women’s struggles and queer liberation. The irony that their lead single is titled “Nothing Matters” is the fact that their work and presence very much does matter. “Prelude To Ecstasy” is on streaming services now.