T.S. Eliot once asked this bold question in ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,’ and today’s Canadian techno artist Peaches offers an answer with a love song of her own, albeit one that is bit more R-rated, to say the least.
Peaches shook the stage with a sold-out concert Monday night at the Paradise Rock Club. Rapper Amanda Blank and DJ David Dancer riled the crowd up as the bass-thumping opening act. Blank showed she can do it all as she spit rhymes, danced around in a barely-there one piece and smoothly incorporated the DJs into her set. Needless to say, Blank had the ability to make the audience go wild.’
After a long interlude that left Peaches’ fans chanting her name in a cult-like fashion, the lights were dramatically cut. Dancers with long, black, braided hairpieces that covered their faces took the stage and a human-sized black and white ball resembling a porcupine appeared in front of the drum set. The ball then sprung out of its circular form, and revealed none other than Peaches herself, ready to shake the audience to its very core.’ She immediately toyed with the crowd and told them she was renaming our city to a more vulgar name. Serious rock star behavior and unknown dimensions of artistry ensued.
To paint a good image of just exactly what went down Monday night at Paradise, it could be said that Peaches made Lady Gaga look like an angel.’ Her wardrobe choices were unmistakably unique with neon and animal-print leotards, projected images on towel pieces, parachute wings and light beams in not-so private parts. She roused the crowd with songs like ‘Serpentine’ from her new album I Feel Cream (Beggars/XL), ‘Boys Wanna Be Her,’ ‘Shake Yer Dix’ and other raunchy beats. If it’s not clear already, Peaches holds nothing back. From her sexually explicit lyrics to her gender-bending and gyrating performance, she commands attention from the audience like no one else’hellip; that is, once they’ve finished blushing.
To no surprise, Peaches broke all the rules when she stopped the show mid-way to demand a shot of Patron from the bar, and threatened she would not continue singing until she received one. Of course, her wish was everyone’s command as an untouched shot of Patron immediately sailed across the audience. This was typical Peaches conduct, much like her crowd surfing, intense build-ups, revolutionary electro-beats and altogether in-your-face sex appeal.
The show ended with Peaches classic ‘F— the Pain Away,’ and that she did. Peaches twirled in circles across the stage, showered the audience with champagne and got funky on the microphone stand. Ending in an open-mouth, all-encompassing rock star pose, she rotated so the whole room could wish her farewell.’ If there was anything to learn from the teachings of Peaches on Monday night, it was that the limit of blurring gender lines, double entendres and raw eargasmic vocals does not exist.
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