Arab Strap
Live @ Rainbow Club - Milano (17.02.2006)

LA RECENSIONE

I descend the stairs of the Rainbow Club still dazed from the exhausting workday, and my ears are immediately assaulted by a guitar and voice lament pouring out of the speakers, courtesy of a would-be Lucio Battisti who “narrates” highly improbable situations dear to him, supported by a decent guitar technique and a terrible voice. The billboards don't display his name, nor do I make any effort to figure out who he is, so irritating is what he offers. If this is the “support” act they found, we're off to a great start.

I seek peace and anesthesia in the “super,” the venue’s beer, and at ten o'clock sharp, Aidan and Malcolm take the stage, accompanied by a surprisingly minimal and essential lineup… bass, drums, and a second guitar/keyboards. No string section, no brass, but after all, the latest “The Last Romance” had hinted at a more rock-oriented turn for the Glasgow duo. A vigorous opening with “Stink” and a performance that unfolds between tracks from the aforementioned album (“Speed Date” and “Dream Sequence” are magnificent) and incursions among the gems of their past works… at times during the vocal pauses, if I close my eyes, it even feels like I'm in front of Mogwai, such is the violent musical impact unleashed and the potent sedative effect of the beer.
Aidan's cold and detached voice and Malcolm's ever finely embroidered guitars manage unfailingly to emerge from the sonic wall produced by the supporting band and culminate, in the middle part of the show, in a couple of acoustic gems from (in my opinion) their masterpiece “Philophobia by Arab Strap” which are “Packs Of Three” and “Here We Go” granting me ten minutes of that hybrid and icy folk that made me fall in love with them. Then the ice solidifies again for the final part of the concert (a bit short to be honest and with only one last encore) with a truly astonishing noise version of “New Birds”. Not even midnight and I'm already in the car heading home, aware that I've witnessed the performance of the best European modern folk band around. And someone spoke of them as a bare minimum… I don’t understand and I’ll never understand.

Good night.