Bis, Glasgow review: 'a triumphant 30th birthday bash'

When Glasgow’s Bis first arrived on the underground scene back in the mid-1990s, their declamatory DIY pop-punk presented a refreshing antidote to the prevailing Britpop hegemony.

They were also teenagers, not long out of school. On Saturday they celebrated their 30th year in the Bis biz. Ah, were we e’er so young?

Thankfully, there was little time for sombre reflections on mortality during this triumphant birthday bash. Manda Rin (vocals/keyboards), John Disco (vocals/guitar) and Sci-fi Steven (vocals/guitar) may now be middle-aged, but they haven’t lost a single spark of the fizzing herky-jerky bubblegum energy which made them so special in the first place.

In a venue packed with friends, family and fans from all over the world, Bis defied the intense Indian summer heat – I swear even Saint Luke’s mighty pipe organ was perspiring – to deliver a hugely entertaining celebration of their singular legacy.

Opening with – what else? – Tell It to the Kids, the tongue-in-cheekily self-mythologizing statement of intent which opened their 1997 debut album New Transistor Heroes, they whizzed through a brisk one-hour set containing everything you could possibly want to hear under these glittering anniversary circumstances.

Naturally, that meant their two bona fide chart hits Kandy Pop and Eurodisco, plus such classics from the canon as Action and Drama, Secret Vampire and School Disco.

They also reminded us, with typically wry self-deprecation, that they are still releasing (great) new music.

What a swell party it was. The encore even included a surprise guest appearance from Lora Logic of X-Ray Spex – a key Bis influence – who parped her sax during a sweet cover of Germ Free Adolescents.

“We are Bis from Glasgow, Scotland!” declared Steven towards the show’s climax. You better believe it.