LIME GARDEN + UGLY + LADYLIKE – CHALK, BRIGHTON 8.3.24
Lime Garden mark the end of their first headlining UK tour with a sold out show at Brighton’s Chalk venue. Support tonight comes from Ladylike and Ugly, which must be one of the more unfortunate name choices that a band can make. For example: (band) “Hello! We’re Ugly!” (audience) “Yes, we can see that”. Still, I’m sure that it has already led to a lot of in concert banter.
Ladylike are a Brighton band formed around vocalist and guitarist Georgia Butler. They have been in existence for around eighteen months but seeing their assured performance you would assume that they had been around for far longer. They feature Spencer Withey on guitar (he also plays synth as well) and Archie Sagers on a Squier VI six string bass. Ladylike are completed by James Ely on drums. There is a definite air of shoegazing about the band. Slowdive would be proud. They have a single out entitled Southbound, which is well worth a listen.
They are next playing in Brighton with Van Houten at The Hope & Ruin on Tuesday 2nd April – Tickets HERE.
Ladylike:
Georgia Butler – vocal and guitar
Archie Sagers – bass
Spencer Withey – synth and guitar
James Ely – drums
Ugly are originally from Cambridge but are now based in London. They are a six piece, comprising an electric guitarist, an acoustic guitarist, two keyboard players (one of whom, Jasmine, also handles most of the lead vocals), a bassist and a drummer. The bassist plays in gloves, which is something that I haven’t seen before. Indeed, the band in general are quite unusual, or at least their music is. I have seen them described as “alt rock”, but I think that this description is a bit lazy. I think loosely they can be described as ‘rock’, but there are lots of other influences at play. ‘Got You’, a new song they play, has an intro which is reminiscent of Paul Simon circa the ‘Graceland’ era, especially the song’s bass line. However, despite that the song still sounds remarkably fresh.
Another song has backing vocals that sound like the Volga boatmen. Now that is certainly not a comparison that I was expecting to make! As compositions the songs are interesting and imaginative. There is nothing throwaway or overly simple, yet the songs still remain accessible, which is quite an achievement. Further interest is added by the drummer, who seems to play around the beat rather than on it. In terms of groove the band remind me a little of Hothouse Flowers, with a dash of prime Van Morrison thrown in. There’s a flexibility about their performance that I really like. They have that feeling of being musically ‘tight but loose’. Certainly they’re a band that I will see again.
Anyway, now it’s time for the main event: Lime Garden. Tonight is the eighth time that I’ve seen them play, and they really do seem to get better every time. At one point I didn’t see them for around eighteen months, and when I finally saw them at the ‘End Of The Road Festival’ last year there was a definite steeliness about their performance which they hadn’t had before. I guess that it’s confidence gained through experience. They’ve always been a good live band, but they seemed to have suddenly become a REALLY good live band! One thing that has changed about the band is their attire. Previously they sometimes looked as if they had raided the dressing up box in the dark whilst inebriated. There were Victorian dresses, 1970s trouser suits (with shades), and hand-knitted cardigans, which are an absolute no-no in any circumstances. Now they just look effortlessly cool, especially guitarist Leila Deeley with her Doc Marten via Start-Rite sandals.
I think that I’m right in saying that this is the biggest Brighton venue that Lime Garden have headlined. More credit to them for selling it out. There’s a definite sense of anticipation, and the crowd explodes with cheering when four shadowy figures lope onstage at bang on 9pm. In theory the reason for this tour is that the band have an album, ‘One More Thing’, to promote. It’s a very interesting album. It’s relatively short at only thirty minutes in length, and has a couple of tracks that deviate significantly from the band’s previous recorded work. One of these is tonight’s second song ‘Pop Star’, which occasionally features Chloe Howard’s going through her synth, which makes it sound as if she’s using autotune. I presume that this effect is being used ironically!
After ‘Pop Star’ Chloe looks out into the audience and says “this is kinda crazy”. There is one particularly vocal section of the crowd to Chloe’s left who she takes a look at and says “well, I definitely don’t know any of you!” I think that she’s going to have to get used to large numbers of people that she doesn’t know enjoying her band’s music! Tonight we get nine of the ten songs on the album (album closer ‘Looking’ is the exception). In general the crowd already seems to know the songs word-for-word. Also, it shows the quality of the material in the way that the songs all fit together with the older songs, despite many of them being very different.
‘Mother’ from the new album is a definite highlight. Leila adds a delicious repeated guitar lick to the verse. Another is ‘Nepotism (Baby)’. Chloe wishes that she was one! It features gloriously barbed lyrics, and features Leila on keyboards and Chloe on guitar. ‘Love Song’ is about Chloe’s ex-boyfriend. She gets the audience to boo, which they enthusiastically do. The set ends with early single ‘Clockwork’, which features Leila playing the strings on the headstock of her guitar.
They leave the stage but quickly return, with Leila indulging us with some glorious feedback. There’s then a rapidly accelerating synth intro which heralds ‘Pulp’, which is possibly the most assured performance of the evening. However, Chloe announces “we’re taking it way back”, and we get the debut single ‘Surf ‘n’ Turf’, which is now remarkably four years old. This features a magnificently strutting bass line courtesy of Tippi Morgan. Honourable mention must also be made of drummer Annabel Whittle, who’s playing has been utterly awesome throughout. If I could play drums, I would want to play like Annabel.
Although this is the end of the UK tour, it isn’t the end of Lime Garden’s road work, no sirree. They are indeed about to hit the road hard. This week they’re in Barcelona. In April they take in the rest of Europe. In early May they have a short US tour (maybe they could do something about that Trump guy while they’re over there?), and after that they head to Scandinavia. They wash up again on these shores when they play the ‘Truck Festival’ in Oxfordshire on 27th July. I’m a little concerned about the countries that Lime Garden are going to visit. Maybe I should warn them, because the band are going to slay them.
Lime Garden:
Chloe Howard – vocals, guitar
Leila Deeley – guitar, keys
Tippi Morgan – bass guitar
Annabel Whittle – drums
Lime Garden setlist:
‘Bitter’ (a 2022 single)
‘Pop Star’ (from 2024 ‘One More Thing’ album)
‘Sick & Tired’ (a 2022 single)
‘Marbles’ (a 2022 single)
‘Mother’ (from 2024 ‘One More Thing’ album)
‘Pine’ (from 2024 ‘One More Thing’ album)
‘It’ (from 2024 ‘One More Thing’ album)
‘Fears’ (from 2024 ‘One More Thing’ album)
‘Nepotism (Baby)’ (from 2024 ‘One More Thing’ album)
‘Floor’ (from 2024 ‘One More Thing’ album)
‘Love Song’ (from 2024 ‘One More Thing’ album)
‘I Want To Be You’ (from 2024 ‘One More Thing’ album)
‘Clockwork’ (a 2022 single)
(encore)
‘Pulp’ (a 2021 single)
‘Surf ‘n’ Turf’ (a 2020 single)
