I thought I’d be flying solo for this one and blogging more about the gig and less antics, but DJ Gez managed to pull through a late fitness ‘soundcheck’ and made it along as well. Happy that he did because it was his suggestion to come along to see one of Brighton’s finest for this sold-out Voodoo Rooms show.
It’s becoming quite a regular thing that there’s a fair mix of ‘older’ Gigeratti and young music fans in attendance, which I think shows the appreciation for their material from us more seasoned giggers, as well as encouraging signs that new music’s still attracting newer fans out for bands coming through playing in small venues, who I know all appreciate the support. That said, the screams, squeals and cheers between songs signalled where the majority of the crowd were coming from. I know streaming isn’t all that financially rewarding for bands but when I checked Lime Garden’s streaming on Spotify there’s a couple of songs into the millions of plays. While their album is relatively new their next nearest tunes seems to be around a couple of hundred thousand that made me wonder are they (Clockwork with 3.8m streams and Sick and Tired 1.9m streams) featured on soundtracks I’ve missed, or in some Netflix series I’m not the demographic audience for?
As the band came on to start, they were incredibly cool and calm, looking very much at home and comfortable on stage. Their easy-going melodies and poppy tunes had the crowd going from the first song and didn’t let up the whole set – by the time they got to Sick and Tired they had most of the room singing along and while lead singer Chloe might still be disappointed that she’s not Kate Moss’s daughter (the backstory to writing Eyes Of A Best Friend), she must be happy with the resulting song and the fans appreciation for it.
A new ‘synth-vocals’ track was well received and a first at a gig for me that I can think of (there aren’t many firsts now, so it’s worth calling out) when the crowd booed the explanation of a song written about an ex-boyfriend. Luckily the booing was for the ex and not the song, as they carried on into I Want To Be You then Clockwork to keeping the energy (and temperature) in the room up.
Their encore was welcomed as they re-took the stage for a finale of Pulp just in time to stop the crowd starting into a chant of “Here We, Here We, Here We F*ckin Go!” while the band were offstage (a pet peeve of mine, but I’ll save that story for another blog). This rounded off a fantastic set by a band who it’s easy to tell have been playing together for a very long time and will only get bigger and better - when they come back, I’m sure they’ll be in a much bigger venue.
I’ll finish with a special mention for their drummer, Annabel White – not because she’s originally from Edinburgh, but because her drumming is a standout and by far the best I’ve heard this year (no disrespect intended to the dozen or so other drummers I’ve not specifically mentioned in other blogs or to the rest of Lime Garden!). Before I’d even mentioned this to DJ Gez afterwards, he said the exact same thing and we’d both noticed that for the first few songs of the set the rest of the band seemed to look to Annabel as they launched into every intro.
Their recorded material is great – well worth a listen if you haven’t heard them already and I’d recommend you go see them to hear their songs played slightly differently (livelier, with a less polished sound IMO) but you’ll also to see a great band in action. They owned the stage, had the crowd in raptures and left everyone wanting more. Hope to see them again soon!
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