Saturday night saw Stray return to Milton Keynes with a terrific show at The Stables, which has become a regular favourite for the band. Del Bromham lead the band through two hour long sets that afforded them plenty of time to get in the classics, but also to stretch out and mix up the set pulling some real nuggets out from their history and giving them a good dusting off.

Proceedings get under way with ‘Time Machine’ and ‘Jericho’ follows soon after which is remarked upon that it is just as relevant today as it was in the 70s. Del is in fine form, both in his playing and vocally. It’s then time to visit one of those rarer tracks with ‘Smile’ from the Stand Up And Be Counted album which makes it more than 50 years old. Del mentions that this is the first time since then that it has been played live and that there are band members that weren’t even born when they last played it.

Pete Dyer takes the lead vocals on ‘Give A Little Bit’, and ‘Our Song’ from Saturday Morning Pictures is preceeded with the story of how delighted Del was to get PP Arnold recording backing vocals on the album. The second half packs in a mix of the expected timeless masterpieces, latter day favourites such as the excellent ‘1600 Pennsylvania Avenue’ and tracks from the more recent About Time album proving that Stray have lost none of their potency.

The main set closes with the lengthy ‘All In Your Mind’, a song Del mentions was covered by Iron Maiden and gives the perfect opportunity to mention the prestigious addition Strays headline slot on the Friday night of Maiden’s Eddfest at Knebworth later in the year.

An encore is demanded and the band return for a raucous ‘One Night In Texas’ and a throughly deserved standing ovation. At less than £20 a ticket it’s been incredible value for money and so refreshing that a band with such heriatge can still deliver a thrilling set and not be tied down to playing the same predicatble sets year in year out. Long may they continue to do so.