You would never know that Bif Naked had been off the road for over a year. While some minor sound problems plagued her set July 11th at the Coca Cola Stage on the Stampede Grounds, as a performer she showed no signs of rust.
Strutting onstage with a huge smile and a “Happy Stampede!” she kicked off the 70 minute show with Leader off of Purge and new song Ciao Bella. Naked took the packed audience through all of her albums including Letdown off of Superbeautiful Monster and several tracks from her current album The Promise such as Honeybee and the emotionally charged Blue Jay. Tango Shoes was the first massive sing and clap along of the night. Unfortunately due to Stampede language regulations, the awesome Fuck You 2 was omitted from the set, but will surely be performed with enthusiasm at a future show.
Naked continues to be a captivating performer, gyrating and swaying around the stage and seeming to feed on the energy from the crowd. Guitarist Jason Darr, who co wrote many of the tracks on The Promise, along with bassist Jacen Ekstrom and drummer Flavio Cirillo attacked the songs with gusto as if they had been playing them since the beginning.
The downside of Coke stage concerts is the fact that any rock show will result in a mosh pit. People who probably were barely alive when many of the songs first played, insisted on slamming into each other full force with no regards for anyone else around them. Seriously, who moshes to Lucky? But that’s only one mark against an otherwise solid show.
It took a bit for the audience to warm up; although Bif only included 5 songs from the new album it appeared many only knew the single Sick. After a brief pause she returned to the stage to send the crowd home happy with a trio of her biggest hits – Spaceman, Lucky and I Love Myself Today.
Any concerns about Bif post breast cancer can be erased. The girl who we fell in love years ago is still here, still kicking ass, and still as much fun to watch as ever. Even if you are a casual fan, the energy she emits on stage makes her live show a blast and I can’t wait for her to visit Calgary again.
Set List:
Leader
Ciao Bella
Letdown
Honeybee
Blue Jay
Tango Shoes
Red Flag
I Want
Moment of Weakness
Chotee
Nothing Else Matters
Sick

Encore
Spaceman
Lucky
I Love Myself Today