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To say The Last Dinner Party’s live reputation precedes them would be a sinful understatement. Tales of the Brixton-formed quintet’s onstage theatrics have become so renowned among London gig-goers over the past couple years that they’ve sold out their “intimate” show at Camden’s Roundhouse tonight – on the eve of their debut album’s release – with so few singles you can count them on one hand.
For a band who built their name on the live circuit and opening for the likes of The Rolling Stones – so successfully that they’ve spent their breakthrough year batting away “industry plant” allegations – the air of pre-show anticipation is one of excitement and intrigue. When the group floats out from the shadowy wings, mediaeval gowns and stompy boots cast silhouettes against a white chiffon backdrop, their staging immediately resembling a renaissance-era painting. The reverence to the ceremony is stark, as the crowd remarkably refrains from documenting the tender opening moments of ‘Beautiful Boy’ through their phones.
But the band’s stillness doesn’t last long. They slip into recent single ‘Caesar On A TV Screen’ and frontwoman Abigail Morris is strutting, crawling and flinging herself into every drumbeat and wild keychange. Already the band have asserted that their baroque-pop lore isn’t just for show, as each corner of the stage holds a fervent display of musical excellence.
“I literally can’t tell you how fucking excited we are to be here,” says Morris, whose bashful stage personality is charmingly at odds with her thespian showmanship. Early previews of the new album follow, from the spiky diction of ‘The Feminine Urge’ to the ceremonial Albanian-language call ‘Gjuha’. But it’s ‘Portrait Of A Dead Girl’ that storms the ‘Prelude to Ecstasy’ portion of the set, as Morris’ voice veers from booming to hysterical, her squeals rising up to the dome’s iron rafters.
With much of the crowd being unfamiliar with the new material – which has only existed on stages and in YouTube footage thus far – energy levels rise and fall somewhat awkwardly throughout the neat one-hour set. But it means that raucous singles like ‘Sinner’ set the room alight. And their return for the encore – for which they bring out a mini orchestra – only heightens the anticipation for a grand finale. “And you can hold me, like he held her,” Morris proclaims, “And I will fuck you like nothing matters.” Fans throw roses onto the stage as Morris giggles and twirls amongst the nihilistic fervour of their runaway debut single ‘Nothing Matters’.
Pockets of friends turn away from the stage and face inwards as if preaching to one another. Tonight feels like a glimpse into the next era of The Last Dinner Party, for which they’ll be hitting stages with a whole album out in the world. Give it one more week, and crowds will be reciting every word right back at them.
‘Beautiful Boy’
‘Caesar On A TV Screen’
‘The Feminine Urge’
‘Burn Alive’
‘On Your Side’
‘Gjuha’
‘Sinner’
‘Portrait Of A Dead Girl’
‘My Lady Of Mercy’
‘Mirror’
‘Prelude To Ecstasy’
‘Godzilla’
‘Nothing Matters’
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“I received plenty of comments saying it was far too soon to ‘go solo’,” Geese frontman Cameron Winter told NME last year while reflecting on how people initially reacted to his decision to branch out on his own. “Most likely because a lot of folks assume that ‘solo albums’ only happen once a band has passed its peak and that they usually feel like uninspired cash grabs.”
Honestly, everyone is trying to earn a living however they can these days, yet no one expected a Geese side project to generate any real financial payoff in 2024. “Just so you know,” he went on, “my solo album is different: because barely anyone knows my band, I am young and comfortable living with my parents and I have the freedom to follow any ideas that interest me.”
Brooklyn indie followers and former NME cover stars Geese were gaining real momentum when their second album ‘3D Country’ mixed cowboy psychedelia with a jazzy, art-punk energy that had already captured the attention of many UK 6 Music dads back in 2023, but who could have predicted what came next? Geese have become one of the most talked-about bands of 2025 and are expected to dominate multiple end-of-year lists with the ambitious and full-range rock of ‘Getting Killed’. Yet the moment that set the stage for this rise was Winter’s Lou Reed-inspired debut solo record ‘Heavy Metal’.
A handful of late-night US television appearances and a spot on Jools Holland acted as a welcoming doorway for the world to see what this 23-year-old can do far beyond what many twice or three times his age are capable of. Now the sold-out Roundhouse audience made up of indie teens, art school regulars, fans who traveled across Europe and seasoned listeners reacts with a collective breath as a slight opening in the stage curtain reveals the silhouette of Winter seated at a piano. First comes a spark of excitement, then a sudden hush.
There is no flashy social media moment, no chatter overriding the music and almost no sea of raised phones. There is a sincerity to how the night unfolds. The Geese singer barely turns toward the audience. “Turn around!” someone calls out from the balcony at one stage. “Is this not enough for you all?” Winter teases back. For some, maybe it was more than enough. At least four people appear to faint around the warm and crowded Roundhouse while the room stands in absolute focus as Winter moves through the dreamlike storytelling of ‘Try As I May’, the emotional swirl of ‘The Rolling Stones’, the bright lift of ‘Love Takes Miles’ and the sermon-like stomp of ‘Nausicaä (Love Will Be Revealed)’. When he reaches the intense and spiritually charged ‘$0’, even the most skeptical hipster might be convinced that “I’m not kidding, God is actually real”. In that moment, it feels as though we all understand.
The entire performance can be summed up in how ‘Drinking Age’ unfolds. It starts softly with a gentle touch on the keys before erupting into a thunderous attack on the Steinway that could echo into next year, followed by a long, open cry aimed toward the sky. Winter somehow manages to blend something minimal with something enormous, something grounded with something cosmic, a delicate approach that hits with staggering force as he reaches toward ideas of existence, heaven, hell and everything surrounding them.
Winter could recite the phone book and still leave a crowd stunned. He carries the spirit of a post-punk Rufus Wainwright you can play alongside The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys, a Gen Z Tom Waits for listeners exhausted by TikTok overload, a new Nick Cave who arrives at exactly the moment he is needed. His voice feels older than his years yet perfectly suited to express the concerns and emotions of his own generation.
We will continue praising Geese endlessly because they deserve it. They are an extraordinary burst of musical creativity that goes far beyond what their lineup would ever imply, and along with Fontaines D.C., they are poised to become one of the decade’s essential bands. Still, tonight offers something quieter and more intimate. Cameron Winter stands completely on his own power, talent and magnetism, proving himself a rising force who can hold an entire room with only his voice, a piano and an entire future waiting for him.
‘Try as I May’
‘Emperor XIII in Shades’
‘The Rolling Stones’
‘Love Takes Miles’
‘Drinking Age’
‘Serious World’
‘Nausicaä (Love Will Be Revealed)’
‘If You Turn Back Now’
‘Vines’
‘Nina + Field of Cops’
‘$0’
‘Take It With You’
‘Cancer of the Skull’
