There was just a glimpse as I hurried to my seat in the New Theatre... but it spoke volumes.

Waiting for 1980s funk legends Level 42 to hit the stage on Sunday night, one member of the audience sat there quietly reading her Kindle.

You don’t want to pigeonhole audiences but the audience almost exclusively were from a tight age band — early 40s to 55, and that was it.

They were here — standing and hollering from the off — for nostalgia. And they got it.

Old thunder-thumbs Mark King and fellow original member Mike Lindup served up a professional set that was based around playing their most successful album, Running In The Family, all the way through (including the bonus CD-only track, Lindup informed us).

The band, bar the young whipper snapper they now have on drums, were kitted out almost as cliche — what I call Generation Jeremy Clarkson in faded jeans, T-shirt and blazer.

Without doing down the newer members, everyone was there to see legendary bassist King and keyboard player Lindup. I saw Level 42 almost 10 years ago, sans Lindup, and there is just no comparison. Without his falsetto backing vocals that wasn’t Level 42 — just a Mark King backing band. Sunday night, however, was Level 42. Highlights were obviously the well-known Family tracks, including To Be With You Again, before the set moved into acoustic and then electric versions of other material.

Their first real big international hit, Something About You, went down a storm to wrap an evening with one last glow of mid-80s’ nostalgic glow.

All good enough to put your Kindle down for.

Smokey Kolthammer