ARAB STRAP dished out Christmas cards to the audience – who included members of THE DELGADOS and MOGWAI – at their one-off festive gig at EDINBURGH LIQUID ROOMS last night (December 10).
The band played a 90-minute set, starting with only Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton playing a handful of acoustic numbers, opening with ‘Packs Of Three’.
While the set was predominately drawn from their albums ‘Elephant Shoe’ and ‘Philophobia’, they played a handful of new songs and included a seasonal cover of Phil Spector’s ‘Baby Please Come Home’, played in typically jolly Arab Strap style, and considerably less upbeat than Darlene Love’s original rendition the ‘Spector Christmas Album’. Older songs were reworked, a Tindersticks-style organ added to some, and regular collaborator Adele Bethel joined them for the encore of ‘Afterwards’.
At the end of the gig, eyewitnesses report fans bulk-buying the limited edition Christmas CD single ‘To All A Good Night’, some leaving the venue with bundles under their arms.
Among the band’s supporters were several of their Chemikal Underground compadres, The Delgados and Mogwai keyboard player, Barry Burns.