MySpace
myspace music my music  featured playlists  top artists  music videos  karaoke  shows  forums 


MySpace.com | rss | sign in
Stray



Last Updated: 12/14/2009

Send Message
Instant Message
Email to a Friend
Subscribe

Status: Single
Country: UK
Signup Date: 5/29/2007

Blog Archive
[Older      Newer]
 /  / 
Monday, October 26, 2009 
8:35 PM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Monday, October 26, 2009 
10:14 AM 
1 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Saturday, September 12, 2009 
Friday 11th September
Last night I went back to the Beaverwood Club, just down the road in Chislehurst, to sink some beers and enjoy one of my favourite bands. I’ve seen Stray many, many times down the years – the first would, I think, have been opening for Saga at the Lyceum in 1983 - and they can always be relied upon to put on a good show. When I say ‘they’, of course I mean guitarist/vocalist Del Bromham, the band’s mainstay and driving force (which is not intended to demean the significant contributions of bassist Stuart Uren and drummer Karl Randall). Earlier this year Stray released an excellent Chris Tsangarides (Gary Moore/Y&T/Thin Lizzy, etc)-produced album called ‘Valhalla’. I was pleased that they included several of its selections during the show, notably the superb ‘1600 Pennsylvania Avenue’ and ‘Move A Mountain’, which closes with a bit of a ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’-style thrashalong when performed live.
Bromham is a great old school entertainer, full of comic one-liners and self-mocking wit. When his guitar drops out of the mix he announces in a music hall-esque style manner: “Ooooh, a slight technical problem there – me knob fell out, isn’t it shocking when that happens?” The band doesn’t use a set-list, relying on Bromham to shout out the tunes, which I’m happy to say included ‘Jericho’ (from 1971’s ‘Suicide’ album) and even ‘Come On Over’ (which first appeared on ‘Mudanzas’ in 1973 but will be known to some for the fact that Steve Harris’ daughter, Lauren, recorded it on her own album ‘Calm Before The Storm’). Someday I’d really like to see them do ‘Son Of The Father’, the opening track from ‘Suicide’, but last night’s performance nevertheless offered a very decent mixture of old and new. Here’s the set-list: ‘Houdini’, ‘Time Machine’, ‘Jericho’, ‘Move A Mountain’, ‘Skin’, ‘After The Storm’, ‘1600 Pennsylvania Avenue’, ‘Free At Last’, ‘Harry Farr’, ‘I Believe It’, ‘Come On Over’, ‘Buying Time’, ‘Suicide’ and ‘All In Your Mind’.
8:19 AM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Wednesday, March 04, 2009 
4:37 PM 
2 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Saturday, February 21, 2009 
Friday 20th February
Last night was spent in company of The Groundhogs and Stray at the Beaverwood Club, on the borders of London and Kent. Due to wrongly advised running times and a Number 160 bus that seems to reach Chislehurst via Guatemala and the Outer Himalayas, Stray were already into their stride by the time my friend Andy Beare and I arrived at the Beaverwood, a warm and welcoming, if slightly makeshift-looking, cricket pavilion-turned-suburban blues emporium that’s run by promoter Pete Feenstra, an industrious bloke whose network of eight clubs has helped to keep blues-rock alive within the M25 perimeter.
Starting with a support slot to Saga at the Lyceum in February 1981 (a show that also featured the semi-legendary Quartz), I’ve seen Stray many, many times. In fact, for a while there I probably overdosed on them. Strictly my own fault, I know. But the band’s new album, the Chris Tsangarides-produced ‘Valhalla’, has renewed my enthusiasm for their music. Del Bromham might be the last remaining original member of a group that has made records since 1970, but the enduring guitarist/vocalist has surrounded himself with able and (comparatively) young talent in John Bonham-obsessed drummer Karl Randall and a Steve Harris lookalike bassist called Stuart Uren. Three universally-themed songs from ‘Valhalla’ – namely ‘1600 Pennsylvania Avenue’, ‘Free At Last’ and ‘Harry Farr’ – justifiably stood their ground in the set. Bromham largely resisted the temptation to showboat, but as the performance closed with the Iron Maiden-covered ‘All In Your Mind’ he threatened to remove ceiling tiles by waving around his axe, depositing it atop an amp and controlling its feedback with a lead. The audience responded warmly.
Which, sadly, is more than can be said for The Groundhogs. It pains me to say this, especially having enjoyed their set at Shepherd’s Bush Empire on the ‘Classic Legends Of Rock’ tour last November, but it’s easy to see why Tony ‘TS’ McPhee and company are now considered an underground band. McPhee’s 40-year track record of speaks for itself, and though the ’Hogs still include material from their seminal ‘Split’ and ‘Thank Christ For The Bomb’ albums (1970 and ’71 respectively), his plectrum-less picking technique is a thing that the listener will love or loathe. What its wide-tread, high-density effect lacks in accuracy is compensated by sheer power, but the band’s songs are hardly big on hooks and, now in this mid-60s, the guitarist’s nonchalantly delivered vocals are another big minus point. It can’t have escaped McPhee’s attention that much of tonight’s initially sizeable crowd sidled exit-wards considerably before the show’s end

Dave Ling writes for CLASSIC ROCK & his diary can be found at: http://www.daveling.co.uk/diary.htm
3:44 PM 
1 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Monday, January 26, 2009 
Finally Stray's 11th studio album 'Valhalla' is available. . .   
. . . we will be selling them at our upcoming shows or you can order one at: http://www.stray-the-band.co.uk/shop.htm
Our thanks to those of you who already ordered a copy. . . sorry for the delay
Cheers - Del, Stu & Karl xxx
8:30 AM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Monday, January 12, 2009 
2009 Butlins Rock & Blues, Skegness on Friday 23rd Jan - Stray will be playing 2 shows:
8-9pm / Red Stage
10:40-11:40pm / Centre Stage
We will have copies of our new album 'VALHALLA' & T-shirts with the new logo on sale at our merch stall
See you in Skeggy!
1:11 PM 
1 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Monday, December 22, 2008 

Unfortunately our old mate Romek of the Eric Bell Band is unwell & they will not be able to play at the Red Lion this Sunday, so we have been asked to step in... Come all ye faithful Stray Army!!!

Merry Christmas everyone & get well soon Rom!

  

12:13 PM 
3 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Sunday, October 26, 2008 

Del used WKZ amplification for the recording of his guitar on the new Stray album 'Valhalla'

www.wkz-amps.com

11:32 PM 
0 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate
Wednesday, September 17, 2008 

On Monday evening we recorded the last vocal for the album. . . so that's it! Chris will be mixing it over the next few days & then we are looking for the right deal for worldwide release & TOURING!!!

Here is the list of songs: SKIN - MOVE A MOUNTAIN - 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE - FREE AT LAST - DIRT FINGER - GHOST WRITER - 24/7 - SHAKE A DOUBLE 6 - RAINY DAY BLUES - SING THE SONG - YOU - HARRY FARR

Now we just need to choose a title for the album, anybody got any ideas?

Cheers Stray-mates

  

2:33 PM 
10 Comments
(Add Comment) |
Translate