A sold out crowd got a pretty vivid picture of what singer/ songwriter Bif Naked was all about during a sold out book reading/ acoustic concert at Coyote Joes, Sunday, Nov. 6.
Bif Naked delivered exactly what she promised in preview interviews— stories, readings from her books and the songs inspired by those moments .
Even in the face of obnoxious yabbos shouting at her to play (thankfully shushed by those keeping their heads about them, though I usually hate shushers) , she exemplified grace under pressure, sweetness, kindness and delivered stories that were equal parts harrowing, heartbreaking and humourous and compelling.
She opened her show to shouts of “ I Love you Bif” from the crowd, but later had to advise some of the more frustrated crowd members, that “this is a book reading,” before talking about her upcoming hard rock album and noted she would be touring on it.
She read passages from her her new autobiography “ I Bificus” including some of the more scary and lurid passages plus some heartbreaking passages about her dog, parents and some scary moments she and a friend had after running away from Winnipeg to Toronto when they were teenagers.
“ Story of My Life,” summed up the evening and that part of her life very well.
She covered being in her first punk rock band and her battle with cancer. capped off her story of fighting cancer, an event which she goes into more detail in her book.
Acoustic versions of her many hits were interspersed in between stories, played by her guitarist and new husband “Snake” who sat back while Bif Naked fumbled with her reading glasses before reading from her book.
“I got divorced for the first time at 19 — the same age my parents got divorced,“ she said before playing “Daddy’s Getting Married.”
Her song “ Tango Shoes” was a highlight.
But it wasn’t all serious, there were quirky jokes and she talked about her desire to be abducted by aliens, before she played “Spaceman,” which was another crowd favourite.
While her songwriting varies between hard rock and punk to more synth pop, the acoustic versions of the songs cut their essence to the bone.
She ended her set by singing three songs tenderly strummed by Snake, including her biggest hit “ I Love Myself Today,” before calling it a night to a lot of applause.
