Gig Review: Lime Garden at Rescue Rooms

After grabbing a good vantage point on the Rescue Rooms balcony, it’s not long to wait before tonight’s support act takes to the stage – singer-songwriter Sarah Crean. An Irish native who resides in Brighton, tonight is her first time in Nottingham, and she is complimentary when sharing her initial impressions of our city. Tonight’s set mainly pulls from her recently self-released second album Heirloom, with the songs built around her enchanting vocals and atmospheric guitar passages. Alongside her band she is an engaging performer, taking moments in-between songs to shout-out the bar’s “Jubel tap” and promote her therapy services, saying she will be at the merch desk after the show to “listen to your traumas for £15 an hour, on top of the price of a T-shirt”. After charming and thanking the near-full Rescue Rooms, she closes her impressive set on recent single, Dreamer. 

30-minutes later, it’s then time for tonight’s main event – Lime Garden. As a warped version of Petula Clark’s Downtown plays around the room and lime green lighting illuminates the stage, a projection at the back of the stage scrolls through different versions of a “YOUR FAVOURITE ____  BAND” tagline. The blank space is filled with phrases such as “New”, “Girl”, “Indie Disco”, “6 Music” and “Wonk Pop”, with the crowd cheering in agreement at every iteration, with each one feeling equally fitting. 

Eventually Lime Garden take to the stage, having admitted on their Instagram story earlier in the day that they were feeling a little hungover after the Manchester show the night prior. You wouldn’t tell though as they are in electric form for the packed sold-out crowd tonight, as bright red lasers light up the ceiling during opening track, Body. During the set the projections at the back of the stage continue, but now they are channelling the spirit of their album Maybe Not Tonight, by showing the band partying in various places around town and at each other’s homes. Pop Star and Lifestyle keep up the set’s early energy before recent single Moving Target, which frontwoman Chloe Howard admits she wrote to “reconnect with a long distance situationship”. She then admits that despite the airplay on BBC Radio 1, the song didn’t meet that goal.

"I know it is tight in here, but we can do more!" Howard declares midway through the set, encouraging the packed-in crowd to dance along with the band on this Saturday evening. There is a running theme through the songs tonight, as Howard mentions most of the songs are about the “trials and tribulations” of her dating life, exemplified by songs like Always Talking About You and Do You Know What I’m Talking About. Crowd favourite Downtown Lover is then dedicated to all the “F**kboys” in the audience, while early single Clockwork is for the fans who “knew us before we were cool”. The Rescue Rooms audience then finally comes alive for the final stretch of the set, as Lime Garden build to a crescendo of their very best Wonk Pop anthems, ending the night on a stellar run of All Bad Parts, Love Song, Cross My Heart and, their track to the make this year’s FC27 soundtrack, 23.

There’s no encore but the party doesn’t end there however, as the band DJ into the early hours in the Rescue Rooms bar after the show, playing vibrant mix of Daft Punk, Justin Bieber, Charli XCX, Madonna and even an encore of one of their own tracks, All Bad Parts. Another hangover may be on the cards today, but you can’t begrudge them for overdoing it – this really is Lime Garden’s moment and they are going to enjoy every single second. 

Lime Garden and Sarah Crean performed at Rescue Rooms on Saturday 17th October 2026.