Fine Lime
Live at the Ship inn
Gillingham.
Being invited down to see a bands first ever gig can be somewhat worrying. The thoughts that go through your mind are the likes of , "what if they really suck" or "how do you say politely that they need more practice" . Well this happened. Friday the 16th August 2024, the Ship inn , Gillingham . An unknown band called Fine Lime take the stage to perform their first ever live gig . A packed house , its hot and sweaty and to be honest most of the people in the crowd had no idea what they were about to witness. A short soundcheck gave a hint of what style of music they might be playing but even I wasn't sure.
Then this happened. Fine Lime happened.
Funk , seriously filthy downright groovy funk. Straight out of the 70s, all that was missing was a haze of smoke hanging low in the air , flairs , paisley and a whole lot of big hair. I was not expecting that ,
Kieran Brown on Bass and vocals , Jason Tomlins on guitar and backing vocals , Robert Hammond on drums and backing vocals and Will Heather on the keyboard delivered what can only be described as pure brilliance.
Not one soul in that place was standing still , not one person didn't stand there and watch in awe as Fine lime became everybody's new favourite band.
Gloria Estefan wasn't wrong all those years ago , we were seriously got by the rhythm. There is no way that all those who saw this set will ever forget how much energy these guys generated on stage, how they played with so much passion and with the audacity to have that much belief in themselves. If I didn't know this was their 1st gig I'd have called bullshit. They managed to weave together the stylings of Kid Creole and the coconuts, some Frank Zappa, a bit of Bootsy Collins and a dash of some really early Chilli peppers. They were so tight you would have thought they had been together years. Sadly they only have 5 songs to their name , they could have played the rest of the night and you'd have had one hell of a happy crowd. That was proved by the applause and the buzz after the set .
The next time i get asked to pop down and see someone's first gig , I might not have too many reservations but I doubt I will ever experience what i did with Fine Lime. Only once before have I seen a band take the stage as an unknown and bring the house down , that was Muse on as first support at the Brixton academy back in 1999.
There's a Fine Line between good and incredible and that line has been crossed. Well done guys .
On a side note , when your 16 year old hard core metalhead daughter turns to you and says that that was one of the best gigs she's ever seen , "that was fucking incredible" were her words exactly then you take that all the way to the bank.
We will defiantly be seeing Fine Lime again , not soon enough though . Someone book these guys, I'm in need for a fresh dose.
See you in the pit . ( all be it a funky, groove fuelled skank pit , its still a pit)
All photographs courtesy of Jake Finch.
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