Arab Strap announce reunion gigs
Arab Strap, Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton's seminal indie pop project, have announced a second Glasgow show as part of their 20th anniversary reunion.
The duo will play Glasgow Barrowland on 15 and 16 October, following shows at Electric Brixton in London on 13 October and the Ritz in Manchester on 14 October. The gigs will be Arab Strap's first since a secret acoustic set for Glasgow venue Nice n Sleazy's 20th birthday back in 2011.
Arab Strap have also shared a video for the new version of their debut single The First Big Weekend, remixed by Glasgow synth pop ace and SAY Award nominee Miaoux Miaoux – watch the clip in the player above. Miaoux Miaoux, aka Julian Corrie served as producer on Malcolm Middleton's latest LP Summer of '13 – read our review here. Aidan Moffat describes the rework of First Big Weekend as "probably how it should have sounded the first time."
Describing the motivation behind the reunion, Middleton said: “I think the day we went to the pub and split up, we made a joke about Arab Strap getting back together in 10 years' time to celebrate. So that's basically what this is: a chance to enjoy the music we made once more.” Aidan Moffat added: “We wanted to celebrate it while we're still relatively young and don't look too embarrassing on the stage.”
Following the group's breakup, Aidan Moffat has gone on to release a pair of albums with Bill Wells – the first of which won the inaugural Scottish Album of the Year award – as well as appearing in Paul Fegan's folk travelogue Where You're Meant To Be, which hits UK cinemas this Friday. Malcolm Middleton has released a clutch of solo LPs, as well as collaborating with artist David Shrigley on 2014 album Music and Words.
Tickets for the second Arab Strap gig at the Barrowland go on sale on Friday 1 July at 5pm; The First Big Weekend 2016 is available for download via Chemikal Underground.