There are fans and then there are fanatics. Judging by the enthusiasm of thousands of smiling faces who jammed thier way infront of the Coca Cola stage Saterday night, Bif Naked, is starting to win the latter.
Up front there was small but significant crowd of hardcore bif lovers. Folks had been waiting for thier favorite punk rock amazon since 10am , when it was all nessasary to be stage front.
Then there were people carrying the Bif poster and signs : "Hey Bif, Waaaaz Up?" and "We love your Ass." And those that chanted "Bif Bif Bif!" before the moment of truth.
When the neo-classical strains of Lucky flowed from the speakers one woman told me, " This was my wedding song."
Then bif walked on stage with her tight spandex pants, bared mid-riff and black Stetson cowboy hat.
"How you guys doing?" she says as the crowd errupted.
"You go on a lotta rides? I'm gonna' tell you a secret. I am afraid of rides."
At this personalble hello, the band launched into a heavy drone of Over You. And from there, ANything, I Died, Spaceman. All the jagged punk and hard rock riffs a good Bif fan was there to see.
In the midst of the din, Bif prowled around the stage, wild and sexy with the rock frontman sense of Rod Halford meets Joan Jett ,eets Dee Snider ( whom she covered in a stellar We're not Gonna Take It) meets Nins Hagen meets...
Forget it.
The influences are varied but Bif is Bif.  Cut from her own cloth, shes a real down and dirty rock 'n' roll broad, in a way that that desperate, spiteful idiot Courtney Love could never hope to be.
And inexplicibly, part and parcel with all the bad ass qualities, shes cute. Likable. Like a tom-boy punk cheerleader with her constant pogoing and karate kicks.
Unflinchingly confrontational but endearing. Bifs energy onstage was infectios, from the way she lamented the times shes had her heart "dragged around the block" to teh way she introduced her band in the style of a pro wrestiling announcer.  And ofcourse the Novel break during Twitch, "My boyfriends back and your gunna be in trouble."
With three popular albums under her belt, and having played the mainstage at Edgefest, as well as opening for Kid Rock and performing at the 1999 Lilith Fair, Bif is clearly on her way up.
The live show is further evidence.  The Bif Legion is growing and it's very apparent why.
- Heath Jon McCoy (Calgary Herlad)