Local covers band, Faded Target, supplied the music for a fundraising event for the refurbishment of Cefn Fforest Miners’ Institute.

Cefn Fforest Miner’s Institute, once the cultural centre of the village, has fallen into disrepair in recent years. In 2020 a charity was set up to oversee its refurbishment, with the aim of creating a community hub and a resource for villagers.

The Charity has been successful in winning several grants recently, and many local volunteers have offered their services for free, but the charity is still a long way from having enough money to restore the whole building.

With this in mind, several local faces got together to put on a fundraising gig with covers band Faded Target. The band bill themselves as ‘mod/ska/punk’ and have built up a following of scooterists and soul lovers.

The Blue Club, which sits the opposite side of the road from The Stute, has been very supportive of the cause, and this was the second time they have hosted a fund-raising event. An evening of punk and mod is not what the regulars are used to in the Blue, but the venue was filling up before the band had even set up their PA.

The band kicked off with a Buzzcocks number then worked their way through a set consisting of mostly punk and new wave tunes by the likes of Stiff Little Fingers, The Jam and the Only Ones. For most of the first set the audience remained firmly planted in their seats, watching from a distance.

There was then a break during which a raffle was held and the band’s resident DJ span some classic soul tunes which started to get the crowd out of their seats. As the second set got under way many of the dancers were warmed up and the dancefloor was packed for the next hour. Even the local vicar got into the swing of things.

There was one surreal moment when the club stopped the band so they could do the ‘tote’, but it wouldn’t be a valleys workingmens’ club night without little moments like this.

As the live music came to an end the DJ kept the crowd dancing with northern soul classics like ‘Turning My Heartbeat Up’ and ‘Ghost in the House’.

All in all, a good night was had by all. Lots of old faces were re-acquainted for the first time in many moons and £700 was raised towards the refurbishment of the Stute.

Keep an eye on this page for future gigs – including the amazing James Oliver next May.

By clint