Lime Garden Sow Seeds of Serenity at the Brudenell

Written and Edited by Millie Cain.

Lime Garden enchanted Brudenell Social Club on Sunday 3rd March, to the absolute joy of their fans. A later set, highlighting their ridiculously talented support acts ugly and Brodie Milner, the Brighton based band ascended to the eerie, pink-lit stage with the grace and sound of angels. The spotlights created a glowing atmosphere, and a moment of appreciation, lead singer Chloe Howard, began with “Bitter”. Drummer Annabel Whittel, kept a funkier sound between songs, as the band charmed and chattered away to their audience. “Pop Star” had an almost Metric-vibe, which scratched an itch between the ears with a reverberating baseline. They admitted this was their largest headline show, and the packed audience was giddy with glee as the band glowed with excitement. A room of statement silver necklaces and dangling earrings that seemed to clink together as a backing track to the indie-pop sound. 

A middle section of winding, singalong shoegaze-pop made for a lovely interlude, then breaking into “Marbles”, a favourite of rock legend Hayley Williams, of Paramore success, in a sultry deep number which must’ve been inspired by her. Lime Garden’s recent album “One More Thing” snaked through the setlist, the 80s synth of “Mother” and vocal-focused “It” allowed the band to show off their slower, tight technical abilities, before kicking the set up a gear into their bouncier tunes. Leila Deeley & Tippi Morgan made for an exceptionally talented guitar & bass duo, and are commanding respect within the genre. This is a year for female indie to flourish and Lime Garden are a leading cause. A crowd favourite was “Nepotism (Baby)” as they sung about their longing to be the daughter of Kate Moss, as we all do, and an angrier “Love Song” with punchy, fast drums and an accelerating tempo, I couldn’t believe Howard’s admission of a sore throat, it sounded so polished, and the crowd was more than happy to be the backing vocals. 

Big single “Clockwork” was a brilliant moment, there’s a real trappings of superstars here, it’s no surprise Johnny Marr named them as his favourite current band. For their encore, they returned with groovy single “Pulp” that completely captivated the crowd and finished on stellar track “Surf N Turf” with incredible guitar moments and it was a true blinder to play out an effervescent, noisy set.