Ahead of their sophomore album, Lime Garden played an incendiary sold out show at Moth Club.

Ahead of their upcoming sophomore album Maybe Not Tonight, Lime Garden turned Moth Club into something bursting at the seams. Chloe Howard (vocals, guitar), Leila Deeley (lead guitar), Tippi Morgan (bass) and Annabel Whittle (drums) walked on to a crowd that didn’t need winning over, and from the first moments it was obvious how locked in they are right now. The band feel tighter than ever, but never in a way that feels over-rehearsed or stiff. There’s a looseness to it, a confidence in letting the songs stretch out and land properly, whether that’s the punch of something like ‘Clockwork’ or the more immediate hooks of ‘Pop Star’ and ‘I Want to Be You’.

It’s still strange that Lime Garden sit where they do. They have the hooks, the presence, the songs. If they’d come up in the mid-2000s indie boom, they’d be unavoidable. What that era really lacked was a band like this: four women writing genuinely massive, clever, danceable indie songs without compromise. It’s frustrating watching a band this good still feel like a best kept secret, especially when the material is this consistent.

Chloe Howard was magnetic throughout, her vocals cutting clean through the room with an effortless kind of control that never tipped into showiness. Around her, the band pushed everything forward, Leila Deeley’s guitar lines weaving between sharp and melodic, Tippi Morgan’s bass grounding everything with a groove that kept the room moving, and Annabel Whittle driving it all with a precision that never lost its energy. Tracks like ‘Cross My Heart’ and ‘All Bad Parts’ felt especially sharp, landing with a clarity that made it obvious how much the band has grown into this next phase.

The crowd played their part too. The pit wasn’t aggressive or self-conscious, just genuinely communal, people dancing properly, shouting lyrics back, fully in it together. When ‘Love Song’ hit, the room tipped into something close to catharsis, with “You know that I love you but this ain’t a love song” coming back at the band loud enough to nearly drown them out. It’s rare to see that kind of connection feel so natural.

They leaned heavily on their upcoming album Maybe Not Tonight, and even going in without knowing the new material well, it didn’t matter. The newer tracks landed instantly, more direct, more dance-ready, pulling further into that indie-electro space without losing what makes them feel like Lime Garden in the first place. They closed with a cover of New Order’s ‘Age of Consent’, which could have gone either way but instead felt completely natural.

It still feels strange seeing Lime Garden in small rooms like this. Not that I’m complaining, bands are always better in venues this size than when they blow up and end up at the Apollo (cough cough Geese). But they shouldn’t still be a hidden gem, and this show proved why.