I always hesitate when I have to write about bands which are my friends. 
After all, how objective can you be about people you care about? But this 
time, I didn't have to worry...I was just as surprised as the rest of the 
audience who didn't know them.

I arrived before the band had soundcheck as things were running late- which 
gave me time to chat with Tanja a little over this fanzine and catch up on 
things. I noticed she was full of andrenaline and jittery, ok, she is always 
a bunny jumping all over the place, but tonight she was particularly 
nervous: she didn't know what to expect. She said they are in the transition 
of changing their band name-even considering changing it at every gig-which 
is interesting to follow up on!

Anyway, after a band checked their sound, it was their turn. Tanja 
immediately took control of the stage: checking positions, feedback, trying 
out sounds repeatedly to make them purr-fect. I thought she looked very 
competent and natural on stage. When she got off the stage in one song and 
then back up again, I thought she was just checking what it sounded like 
from the audience...but no, that is all part of the act!

Later, when they played, I remembered her telling me that they wanted to 
call themselves 'One minute wonders' at one point as their songs are almost 
all within 1 minute length. It became obvious after the third or fourth song 
that the description suited them well. But let me tell you, a lot was going 
on in that 1 minute!

The sounds- You can tell the band is heavily influenced by other grrrlbands, 
but at the same time they were able to create an originality in the 
sound...hard to tell for the time being (let's see what the future has in 
store), but I imagine the complexity of the sounds comes from the fact the 
members are different from each other. But then again, the band is very much 
together. You can see there is a synergy between them. Later, Sanne said she 
didn't like her playing and Bianca was forced to play on a drumset bigger 
than what she's used to, but the audience didn't tell. That's the great 
thing about playing in front of beerpunks.

The vocals- Tanja can scream! I didn't realize how much passion-anger she 
had inside her..you could tell that she was putting ALL OF HERSELF into the 
songs. She moves around a lot, claiming the floor as much as the stage, 
singing in people's faces, sitting on the edge of the stage, which is 
something that can shock and intimidate, but also teach and enlighten (if 
you can catch what she's saying, it all goes very very fast!). You can tell 
she has an acting past. She was losing her voice a little in "Diamonds are 
forever", their ballad, but after hearing her inside story, I imagine it was 
because she used up so much of her soul energy in the beginning.

Fritz's vocals make a nice balance to the band- when he and Tanja alternate, 
the effect is very powerful, it's like they're saying "we both believe in 
the same things and stand together for them. Gender makes no impact on our 
message"...most of the time, bois in grrrlbands hide in the background. With 
this band, they are both in yer face.

The lyrics-When the concert was over and we were all leaving from the 
OCCIII, in the tram, I asked Tanja for a copy of their lyrics. I was 
anxiously waiting to read them, but I waited for the next day (and 
sobriety...). From my understanding, the lyrics are highly political. I 
mean, they have a very clear standpoint about certain issues, and they are 
not afraid to be blunt about their opinion. Tanja has a good feel for words 
and some phrases have stuck to my mind, like "No rerun-No reset-No rewind" 
(in talking about the atrocity of war). See below for the lyrics to one of 
their songs.

One Trick Pony - The inside story         Amsterdam 30-june-2001

30 june 2001 Sanne and I both live in The Hague, for the performance we traveled
to Amsterdam together. Moving ourselves through the constricting heat we
rushed to the train. Just in time we arrived in the crowded train. But in
disgust of having to sit against one of the sweaty bodies that had an empty
seat next to them, we decided not to be seated. I stood with my head in the
open window so the air could fan me a little. In Leiden we changed trains.
This time we claimed seats. Sanne tried to study as I was observing a passing
zeppelin. We were supposed to be at the venue OCCII [wie wist dat dit staat
voor ONAFHANKELIJK CULTUREEL CENTUM IN-IT???] at 18:00. There we would meet
our band members and two friends so we could have dinner together. By the
time everyone arrived it was much later. After picking up the drum kit from
a few blocks down the road and fitting it together, we went for dinner at
a very good vegan-capable Ethiopian restaurant. The six of us got our foods
on one big round tray. We started wrapping the food immediately like we hadn't
eaten all day. It was gone in a second.

By arrival in the venue sound checks were already started. By the time it
was our turn people started to enter. We negotiated with the wild west punk
band that played before us that we would be the second band to play. Some
of us were getting rather nervous. During the performance of the first band
I started to worry about water. I needed water, so we fixed it as Bianca 
changed the drum kit to her likings. I decided not to go over the lyrics
of the latest written song. We had one big advantage: nobody knew the songs
and if I forgot something, I could make it up. I was over the water nerves
and passed out the semi-professional set lists.

I decided to be a very in-yer-face performer. My band members didn't know
what I would be like yet (and neither did I) since I find it hard to 'perform'
in the rehearsal studio. The first song kicked of and I went straight to
the crowd. The people there seemed amused and I totally enjoyed it. I claimed
my territory everywhere, on the stage and in the venue [for as far as the
mic-wire would allow me.] I was having so much fun expressing myself that
I got tired halfway through. I could barely sing the ballad style song cos
I was so out of breath that I couldn't even check if I was in tune and I
felt to knackered to care. But the next songs I moved a lot again and I screamed
my lungs out. The last song I was really tired but fulfilled. And when the
audience asked for more I was confused. I got more then I hoped and I wanna
do this much much more often [check us out!] But first, I need to work on
getting in shape. If only I liked any sport at all...