LIME GARDEN – RESIDENT, BRIGHTON 16.2.24
Six pm and a long queue down Kensington Gardens in Brighton can only mean one thing. Yes, that’s right it’s the music shop that never sleeps, I am back at Resident Music for another evening sampling Brighton’s fine musical talent as they play host to the magnificent Lime Garden for the launch of their debut album ‘One More Thing’.
I have been lucky enough to catch Lime Garden twice before in this wonderful city, first by chance when they supported Sunflower Bean at the Komedia in April 2022, that was when I first heard their most excellent earworm of a song ‘Clockwork’, which in turn led me to make sure I caught them again last May at Horatio’s Bar during ‘The Great Escape’ festival.
Both of those occasions have always left me wanting to hear more, so I am super happy to be here tonight to celebrate the occasion and hear songs from their long awaited debut album. In fact, so keen was I that I arrived very early and picked up my Dinked edition of the LP beforehand, a thing of beauty with its cornetto effect Mr Blue Sky / Pink Cadillac swirled vinyl, all signed by the band too.
I took up position number two in the queue which gave me a good view through the window of the near 30 minute soundcheck taking place within the store, then at 6:45pm the doors were opened and we poured. It is always a dilemma where to stand in the shop, do you head to the counter and be in a good spot for the signing afterwards, do you find a pillar to lean against or do you race to the front? Well today I did just that, right to the front, my record was already signed and the CDs were not yet in the building so the signing line was not my priority tonight, maybe I can get a look at the setlist before things kick off.
At 6:53pm the band came out, taking position on the small stage platform “Hello, this is crazy, shall we just get a move on” welcomed lead vocalist Chloe Howard as they launched straight into the most recent single ‘Pop Star’. As the set tonight is going to be stripped down with a more acoustic feel, drummer Annabel Whittle is without her drum kit and plays the acoustic guitar for this one.
“Thanks so much, this is so crazy, we are absolutely shitting ourselves right now…. just to let everybody know.” declared Chloe, “Thank you so much for coming, we never think anyone is going to come, so this is really cool, we have Annabel on the beats tonight.” Here Chloe was referring to the lack of drum kit and the keyboard set up which was providing the far lighter than usual backing drums beats and rhythm.
Picking up her acoustic guitar Chloe said “This one is called ‘Fears’, I wrote this one, when I was having a very anxious day and I wrote down a list of everything I was afraid of…and it was quite a long list, so I thought I’d put that into a song, so here we go.” Whilst the song may have been about fears, it was a beautiful one, great lyrics which really captured your attention with some haunting guitar licks emanating from Leila Deeley’s Fender Stratocaster.
Touching on how long the band have been together, Chloe announced “as you know our album came out, it’s so cool, we’ve always wanted to release an album since we met which was ooh five, six years ago” “seven” offered Annabel , “yes, we were about 17 and this really is the coolest thing in the world and certainly means so much that you are here, thank you”. Feigning tears, she joked “oooh I’m getting all emotional.” The band all did meet back during their college years and you can just feel how comfortable they are all are together, they gel so well, incredibly in tune with each other musically, I believe when it comes to the music creation and writing everything is a joint effort, you just feel a happy vibe from them and that comes through in their performance.
“This next one is ‘Mother’, and I wrote it about my Mum, so let’s do it” said Chloe. Annabel kicked off the keyboard beats and Tippi Morgan’s strong bass sound pulsed from the speakers.
Chloe reflected on our location this evening, “So we are starting out our so called record store tour here, we come here all the time and have been for years, we’ve also been to many (of the in-store) record signings”. Chloe then proceeded to tell us a story of one of those events; “we came to see Marika Hackman play here, we snuck in as we didn’t have a ticket and couldn’t afford a record, we queued up to get her to sign something and we realised we didn’t have anything for her to sign. We are huge huge fans, so I got out an unused period pad and got her to sign that, and that’s still stuck on my wall to this day, so we have fond memories of being in here” this prompted a laugh from the crowd. Chloe continued “on a more sombre note this is probably the most depressing song of the set, it’s called ‘Looking’”. This one was a slow gentle song, I am unsure if it is played like this on the album itself, but it felt quite stripped down with just the bass, slow keyboard tune and the rhythm guitar gently playing, I look forward to hearing this once I am home and can get the album on.
At this point, Chloe’s acoustic guitar started really humming “oh fun, she’s been through a lot maybe she is giving up on me”, no matter what knob twiddling Chloe performed would stop the hum so she suggested she just unplug it “Right I’m going super acoustic now, this next one is called ‘Love Song’ and it’s about my ex-boyfriend…….Awwwkward” she joked raising some laughter. The whole band joined in with the chorus on this one “I want to take you everywhere with me”, another great song.
As the band started up the next song, Chloe broke it by asking “How is everyone, I haven’t asked” cheers and yeahs came from the crowd, “good me too, I’ve had three beers” she said gesturing towards the door, perhaps they’d been down at the pub at the end of Kensington Gardens beforehand. “All the better for seeing you” someone shouted out, “ahhh stop” it Chloe replied acting bashful, “this one’s called ‘Pine’”. This track really showcases Chloe’s vocal range, her ability to be effortlessly cool to far higher angelic tones, she makes it all look so easy, but all those years of hard work really have paid off.
Sadly the end was drawing near now, “Thank you so much for coming, I feel like we have just speed through all these songs because we have been so truly terrified, but thanks, you honestly don’t know how much this means to us. This one is going to be ‘I want to be You;, it’s going to be our last song, sing-a-long if you know it, if you don’t, then make up the words, if anyone wants anything signed afterwards feel free to stay where you are and the lovely Georgia will tell you what to do”. This caused a giggle between the band and some in the shop, as anyone that attends the shows at Resident will know that Georgia often will say to the crowd before or after “Stay where you are and we will let you know where to move for the signing” so the band were saving her the job this evening.
Chloe then informed the audience “We are having a party tonight if you want to come, it’s in Trafalgar Street, space is limited, but let’s raise the roof”. Whether this was a joke or not, I was unsure. I think with the huge crowd in this evening and the pile of CDs to sign after, they won’t be leaving too soon.
Into the last song we went, which was also the third single from the album, I love the full studio version of this one, here tonight it is very stripped back as it all has been semi-acoustic with no drums.
Whilst thanking the crowd and reminding everyone of their upcoming gig in March at Chalk, a big square cake was presented to the band with album cover design on the top, it took the band by surprise, but it was a lovely way to celebrate the launch day of ‘One More Thing’, Chloe pretended as if she was going to take a bite, but then actually did go straight down and took a huge bite out of the corner of it, bringing out cheers and laughter from the crowd.
A perfect day to celebrate, the band themselves on their Facebook had said a few hours earlier “The day has come, the album is here!!! We have been touring and making music together since we were 17 years old and this album is the soundtrack to the last 5/6 years of our lives. We’ve poured blood sweat and tears into this and we cannot thank you all enough for the endless support you give us. We are so proud to be releasing this on an independent label (So Young Records) that is so close to our hearts and has allowed us complete creative freedom and support. The most exciting thing about all of this is it’s just THE BEGINNING! So buy a record come to a show and let’s get this indie post brexit new wave pop band to the TOP BABY” I could not have summed it up any better.
Tonight was the start of the run of record store appearances, which is then followed by a UK tour ending right back here at their home town Brighton on 8th March at Chalk. They then hit Europe during April, and tour USA during May. So come and catch them at Chalk, tonight was brilliant, but with the drums and a big stage, they really are so much more, always fun and humourous in their live shows, you are guaranteed to be in for a treat.
As the band were putting down their guitars, a couple of young ladies took heed from Chloe’s Marika Hackman signing story and brought over a paper cup asking if they could sign it, which the band all happily did before being led to the signing counter.
Do go and buy their album ‘One More Thing’, support our local bands, they are only going to get bigger and bigger and get yourself to local venues like Chalk to see them – Tickets HERE.
Lime Garden :
Chloe Howard – vocals, guitar
Leila Deeley – guitar
Tippi Morgan – bass guitar
Annabel Whittle – drummer usually but on keyboards tonight
Lime Garden setlist: (All taken from the 2024 debut album ‘One More Thing’)
‘Pop Star’ (single released February 2024)
‘Fears’
‘Mother’ (Single released January 2024)
‘Looking’
‘Love Song’ (Single released September 2023)
‘Pine’
‘I Want To Be You’ (Single released November 2023)
