"Our careers have gone on for so long and the stage has become our home. These days our home is wherever you guys are."

Smokie's founder member Terry Uttley looked like he was about to wipe a tear from his eye as he addressed a happy crowd at last night's homecoming gig.

Fresh from a tour of Scandanavia, the Bradford rockers were on home turf for a cracking gig opening with a lovely acoustic set combining hits with tracks from latest album On the Wire and a yet-to-be-released album.

"We're our own support band tonight, bringing you something a bit different to start with," announced singer Mike Craft.

"It's great being back - we're three minutes from home, instead of three flights away."

There was a back-to-basics American rock feel about the first few numbers, with the guys chilling out on stools, strumming their guitars and bringing a mellow sound to numbers like Boulevard of Broken Dreams and Changing All the Time - which drew whoops of delight from the man behind me.

The second part saw the band on more familiar territory, rocking out to a blend of old favourites with self-penned material from recent albums.

It may be nearly four decades since Terry joined a band called Smokey formed by St Bede's classmates Chris Norman and Alan Silson, but the distinctive sound, that blend of melancholic longing with life-affirming passion, is as strong as ever.

And it may have been the lighting, the dry ice or their lacquered flowing locks, but the guys looked pretty youthful up on stage and clearly delighted to be back home, playing for a lively crowd of friends, family and fans.

The songs were peppered with anecdotes. "Our first album was banned by the BBC," Terry recalled. "They thought Pass It Around meant, you know, something to do with smoking but we were just a bunch of Tetley drinking lads from Bradford. What did we know?"

They may have clocked up worldwide record sales of 30 million since then, but Smokie remain Bradford lads at heart.