It’s so easy to poke fun at Status Quo, and their critics have had enormous fun over the years doing just that. But the newly-OBE’d Parfitt and Rossi – the latter now minus his trademark ponytail – clearly couldn’t care less.

Though already entitled to their bus passes, they still pack a mean punch onstage, as they proved last weekend in Oxford.

Looking trim and fit, they bounced up and down in their time-honoured style, exuding an almost tangible energy, with bass player John ‘Rhino’ Edwards a willing accomplice.

Subtlety is an alien concept to Quo, and for a solid two hours they bulldozed their way through a crowd-pleasing array of hits, pounding the beat vigorously and relentlessly, the decibel level so high that you could feel the vibrations coming up through the floor.

All the classics were there – Caroline, Down Down, Roll Over Lay Down, In the Army Now and Rockin’ All Over the World – but it was good to hear early gems such as Mean Girl from the 1971 album Dog of Two Head, Down the Dustpipe from 1970, and their first hit, Pictures of Matchstick Men, released an incredible 42 years ago.

There were also several medleys, allowing the band to squeeze in as much of their back catalogue as possible, and a magnificent drum solo from ‘new boy’ Matt Letley, who, at 47, is the youngest of the band by several years.

It was all held together, as always, by Francis Rossi, whose natural showmanship and irrepressible sense of fun are an integral part of the Quo phenomenon.

The addition of video screens, showing everything from clips of the band to swirling patterns, proved an entertaining diversion which, for a band known for its rather formulaic approach, seemed almost daring.

This was Quo’s rescheduled concert, following the cancellation of November gigs owing to Rossi’s contracting bronchitis, and was definitely worth the wait.