Arab Strap – Mono, Glasgow – Friday 10th May 2024
Arab Strap launched their second comeback album with a low key show at Mono in Glasgow on release day. With full band Scottish shows scheduled for later in the year, this was a stripped back acoustic show even if Aidan admitted that the songs on the new record didn’t easily lend themselves to that sort of presentation.
Only ‘Safe and Well’ resembled its recorded incarnation but even ‘Strawberry Moon’, one of the rowdier tunes on the record, and the high energy banger ‘Bliss’ worked in this context.
Yet however much the songs may have developed in the studio this setting allowed the focus to be on Aidan’s words over Malcom’s sparse backing.
There were a few older tunes included too although, perhaps surprisingly, nothing from ‘As Days Get Dark’.
Aidan also had a little fun when he asked if there were any requests. When someone shouted for ‘Blood’ Aidan reckoned that was a bit bleak particularly given what they were going to finish with (‘Turn Off The Light’). But he still asked Malcolm if he could play it. His response? “Yeah, I can play it but I don’t want to!”
Eventually Aidan settled on ‘The Shy Retirer’ which was fortunate because “it’s on the setlist anyway!”
Anyhow, even if the show didn’t show off the album to its fullest extent, it was still an enjoyable event. And with the album subsequently revealing itself to more than live up to the band’s previous work and be one of the year’s best, it whetted the appetite for the autumn full band shows. Although lucky England and Europe are already getting live band shows. [Full list of dates].
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