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Peaches with MEN
Friday, November 7, 2009
Revolution Live, Fort Lauderdale
Better than: Rockin' out with your cock out.
Peaches is anything but subtle. After the curtains parted, the audience was instantly led into her surreal, hypersexual world. Draped in a woolly coat, she and her band, Sweet Machine, kicked things off with "Mud" off her latest release I Feel Cream. The Simian Mobile Disco-produced track stands out as a bit of an oddity in Peaches catalog of songs. It really has nothing to do with sex and it's melodic.
Having seen Peaches twice before -- first in December 2006 when she performed at Art Loves Music during Art Basel, and four months later at Mansion during Winter Music Conference -- I believe the woman deserves credit for putting on her most ambitious stage performance to date. Though it's a small tour when compared to those by Madonna or Britney Spears, she managed to squeeze in multiple costume changes, projections, laser lights, glowing keytars and more. That's not to say her previous tours were shabby -- they weren't -- but four albums deep, Peaches has no shame taking what could have been a simple rock show to another level.
Four albums also gives her plenty of material to choose from. While the setlist focused heavily on material from I Feel Cream,
all her previous releases got a chance at the spotlight. "Talk to Me,"
"Lose You," "Billionaire," "I Feel Cream," "Fuck the Pain Away," "Shake
Yer Dix," "Serpentine," "More," "Mommy Complex," "Take You On," "Show
Stopper," "Slippery Dick," "Boys Wanna Be Her," "Kick It," "Set It
Off," "Tombstone, Baby," and "Lovertits" were all played live, give or
take a few other songs I could be forgetting. But with so much
material, there is bound be stuff left out. Sorely missed were
highlights such as "AA XXX," "Downtown," "Two Guys (For Every Girl),"
and "Back It Up, Baby."
Kudos also goes out to MEN, who opened
the show. Led by former Peaches tour mate JD Samson, they instantly won
the crowd over even though I'm sure nobody knew their songs. Highlight
of the set was "Credit Card Babie$," a queer anthem of the lengths
same-sex couples will go to procreate packaged as an indie-dance romp.
Critic's Notebook
Personal Bias: I'm always nostalgic for anything electroclash, Peaches included.
Random Detail: To the topless chick shaking her tits for all of Revolution to see, thank you.
By the Way:
This was my first show ever at Revolution. Actually, this was my first
show in Fort Lauderdale, period. I'm such a Miami snob, I'll avoid
crossing county lines at all costs. So it was weird when Peaches
shouted for "Fort Lauderdale" during her set, because I almost forgot where
I was.