Well I think I was into this Glaswegian trio before most Americans due to my awesome music buddy, Jamie, who lives in the wonderous land that is called England! (yay for the U.K.) Jamie, like myself, likes to make mix tapes for his friends! So he sent me one with the fun sounds of bis on it eons ago and I fell in love with the first listen, but of course could not find any of their music here in the U.S. nonetheless find someone who knew who they were. So I was beyond elated in the summer of 96 when I heard that Mike D from Grand Royal had gone out to Glastonbury (or was it Reading?) to hear the band play and he signed them cuties! Good move Mike, although I'm partial to the Grand Royal roster...Luscious Jackson, Kostars, Ladies Who Lunch, The Josephine Wiggs Experience, Butter08, Bis...etc.

I was lucky enough to spend from January to July of 1997 living in jolly ole England (right outside of London...zone 6 for those of you who know anything about the London transportation system, in a town called Surbiton and went to school at a place called Kingston University and was able to track down many of the bis singles, and I bought New Transistor Heroes the day it came out in my local Virgin Mega store and got a nifty free poster of bis to hang on my wall! Yay!

Anyhow, onto the point of this...the live bis experience. The first time I saw bis play was in Amsterdam (Netherlands) at a great venue called the Melkweg (Milky Way in english, it used to be a dairy, hence the name) opening for my favorite band, Luscious Jackson on April 8, 1997. I felt rather ill before the show, some horrible pizza, don't eat Manhattan Pizza if you are in Amsterdam! But as soon as bis started playing I made my way to the front of the stage and started jumping up and down like a freak with about 10 other people, while everyone else, including my friend just stood there. But bis sounded very cool live and you just gotta love Manda's voice, Manda's clothes, Manda's jumping around, hell the stickers all over her keyboard are enough to entertain you! The band seemed to be having a lot of fun on this first night of their tour with Luscious Jackson. I totally enjoyed myself, drenched in sweat and all, although at this time I hardly knew the words to the songs and I was a bit out of it at this juncture.

After bis was done Luscious went on and of course I totally rocked out, but I'll talk about Luscious at a later time. The last tune of the Luscious set Jill wanted everyone to really dance out, of course i got a cramp in my leg and was dying in pain so I went up the stairs on the side of the stage and was planning to sit down on one of the cases for equipment that I had sat on earlier (I had an all access pass) but to my surprise someone was already sitting there. After a moment I focused and realized it was Steve sitting there watching Luscious rock. So I got a chance to talk to Steve for a little while about being in America (they had recently done a few dates including SXSW - south by southwest)and what he thought of it and some other random things that I surprising can't recall (those of you that know me know my memory). I tried to have my friend take a few pictures of Steve and me, but my friend was beyond gone and couldn't work the camera...what a loss. Fortunately I have some nice photos of them performing, too bad I have no scanner to share them with you. Steve was a very nice guy, I also got to talk to John a bit that night after the show when they and Luscious and my friend and I were hanging out backstage and in the dressing rooms and all, but alas Manda was never around and I would have loved to chat with her.

The following day my friend and I were walking around Amsterdam and I stopped in a magazine shop to scan the music magazines of course while she got some cash from the bank machine. So I don't buy anything and on my way out someone says cheers to me (I love that about brits) but I of course didn't take notice and just thought it was the guy at the counter since I was leaving, so I didn't look up or say anything. Then I met my friend outside and I spotted John and his friends/crew standing there and my friend tells me Steve just walked into the shop I walked out of, so I realized he remembered me from the previous night (amazingly) and it was he who said cheers to me. So that made me happy!:) I wasn't planning to go over and talk to them, basically because I didn't know what to say to them except hi, but my friend needed a light so we hit them up for one, said cheers and were off (okay so we had a short conversation about how long they were staying in Amsterdam or something and I think I asked about Manda, yeah I did then we were off and I said I'd see them the following week in London at another gig).

So this brings us to my second bis experience at the London Astoria on April 16, 1997, again opening for Luscious Jackson. This time I was not as early to the gig and it was just *slightly* more packed than the last show, and of course being in the U.K. there were a few more bis fans than Amsterdam. This time the band was really glam (so fun) Steven with major eye makeup going on and all! They put on another excellent show with the crowd totally rocking out this time, more than me and 9 other people like the last show! Some people were complete assholes though, knocked my camera onto the floor and I nearly went with it! Dorks, I hate rough people and yes I'm an anti-mosher! Anyhow by the end of their set I was dripping sweat and totally enjoyed it! And well of course Luscious put on an excellent set as well and they let me onstage to talk cuz they rawk!

After the show I went to the backstage party/schmooze fest. Unfortunately I only talked to Steve for a brief hello and yet again could not even find Manda!:( Where does the freaker go after shows? Is it past her bedtime or something? If anyone knows this answer please mail me

What a nice band, with a great sound and lyrics that a teen or young twenty-something (who is even younger in mind - like myself and Manda) can relate to. If you don't have New Transistor Heroes buy it! Also buy as many singles as you can get yer grubby little hands on cuz they rock even more! And most of all try and take a tip from Manda and follow her fashion sense!

Visit the official bis site bisnation kept by andy & claire who rock

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