As I walked in the doors of Festival Hall on this fine Monday night– I immediately knew I found my people. I looked amongst the crowd – and there was a sea of beautiful women with Steve Nicks-esque ‘pirate’ outfits- it was like stepping into a hippie festival in the 70s. I thought, I am definitely at a Last Dinner Party concert – reserved for the hottest and coolest people only.

I slipped into the front of the barricades at GA to watch the up-and-coming Tia Gostelow who was the opener. She is your classic indie-folk singer – but what makes her music interestingly unique is that she’s got this silky ethereal voice that is coupled with the electric guitar –which means her sound teeters between beautifully haunting and cheery.

Definitely an artist worth looking into.

As the clock struck 8 The Last Dinner Party made their grand opening.

I had seen The Last Dinner Party at Spin Off Festival, so I knew what to expect- but this concert was much more intimate- I feel like I really got to have more of an insight into the complexities of the band – whether it’s Abigail’s insane vocal range or the sheer talent of the guitarists. Their mix between classic rock and choral music leads itself to a staggering experience to see live. One moment I’m banging my head – the next I’m witnessing angelic spirits being summoned.

They opened with ‘Second Best’ which is an unreleased song – and they started singing this heavenly harmony at the beginning and I felt like I, myself was going to ascend into the heavens. I heard someone behind me say ‘this is like a spiritual experience’ and it’s so true- I had goosebumps the whole time.

Their cover of ‘wicked game’ was definitely a highlight – the use of feminine voices added an eery twist to an already haunting song – their impeccably smooth harmonies gave me full body shivers. Just as I thought they couldn’t get any better after that, the pianist pulled out the flute and started singing in her Albanian mother tongue. What a multi-talented band.

As the show went on it got more and more unhinged – Abigail gave someone in the audience a tattoo, got given personalised witch hats, which they wore for the rest of the set- and most crucially – Abi ended up doing a shoey – a rite of passage for anyone who steps on Aussie grounds. It was clear the band was having such a good time- and the audience was too.

The closing song ‘Nothing Matters’ of course made everyone in the crowd go crazy – including me. This felt like a complete catharsis – the crowd was collectively swaying their arms in the air to the beat while screaming ‘and you can hold me like you held her, and I will fuck you, like nothing matters’- because truly nothing does- except of course The Last Dinner party- they matter.

The Last Dinner party has everything. As Abigail said – they take us on a journey from ‘violence, dancing and sex’ to ‘weeping hour’ – and then to a spiritual revelation in a matter of 45 minutes. It’s insane. Their performance really shook me to my core – one of the best I have seen in a long time. I can’t wait to see them over and over in the next coming years.