The crowd at the Fermain Tavern put their hands in a party wave as Fade2Grey stay in time with the rhythm and rhyme. From left: Mark Trenchard, Nick Creed, Chris Pearson and Andy Fothergill. (Picture by Andrew Le Poidevin, 0807676)

EIGHTIES electronica came to the Fermain Tavern last Saturday as Fade2Grey played their first gig in front of a paying audience.

After the great success of the band’s free showcase a couple of months ago, it was no surprise that the floor in front of the Tav’s stage was packed solid with an audience that was clearly there to enjoy itself.

And enjoy itself it surely did, with an enthusiastic response greeting every track and a good deal of singing along with the likes of the Human League’s Love Action and Heaven 17’s Temptation.

The latter was a new song to the set list and based on its reception it will probably become a staple.

Musically, the performance was as professional as the group’s first outing, and once again the songs were slickly executed re-creations of some classic tracks.

If anyone had harboured any doubts that there is a paying audience for Fade2Grey’s music, they would have been laid to rest after that storming performance.

The gig marked a particularly poignant return for two members of Fade2Grey.

Nick Creed and Mark Trenchard had last performed at The Fermain Tavern over 20 years ago as Unique and the Style Warriors.

‘I really enjoyed returning to the Tavern stage after so many years,’ said Nick.

‘The Unique gig, which we released as a video, was filmed there in 1988, so for me and Mark it brought back a lot of memories.’

‘It felt like coming home,’ said Mark, who spent the gig gurning and pulling faces at the crowd and one time stepping up onto a box with arms aloft revelling in his guise as Little Gary Numan.

‘We have always tried to deliver a real show for punters with entertainment and attention to detail being the key. Fade2Grey has become a passion which we are so pleased is shared by so many,’ he said, adding that the band even has fans flying in from off-island to catch the gigs.

‘It has been great to combine so much of our original gear with modern technology to truly recreate sounds and the feel of the 80s.

Nick Creed. (Picture by Andrew Le Poidevin, 0807673)

‘Despite our success and finding it hard to satisfy the number who want to see us, rumours we were approached to fill 50 shows at The O2 were perhaps a slight exaggeration.

‘Twenty years have also failed to solve my problem of seeing over the keyboard, but the Little Gary Numan step helps.

‘Last Saturday’s gig is probably one of my favourites of all time… it just really buzzed and the 90-minute set just flew by.’

Talking of the gig, Nick was also full of praise for the audience on the night.

‘The crowd were fantastic. It’s good to see so many people reliving their 80s memories and we also seem to be attracting a new, younger audience as well.’

So where next for the phenomenon that is Fade2Grey?

‘We’re just concentrating on making the show bigger and better,’ said Nick. ‘We will continue to exploit the current 80s revival while the demand is there.’