It's hard to believe Peaches used to be an elementary school music and drama teacher. It's not that I don't think she'd be good with kids; I know I would've been thrilled to learn recorder from someone so stylin'. But watching her bounce off the walls at Terminal 5 Saturday night, it was apparent to all senses that she was born onstage in a glittery bodysuit, and anyone suggesting otherwise is flat out mistaken.
Following her openers, Jessica 6 and the appropriately sassy and smutty up-and-comer Amanda Blank, Peaches came out in a huge contraption of a creature costume reminiscent of those worn by the Knife. She then cast it off to reveal a crazy number underneath (in Peaches' world, pants are for sissies) and crowd surfed standing up on people's hands(!) She ran around like a madwoman, changing costumes, playing instruments and exhibiting an impressive amount of range, from classic soul to retro 80s monster rock to the breathy murmurings and declarations of sexual appetite we know her best for. If there was a backing track, it was undetectable (if there wasn't, she's a superhuman). For "Take You On," she sang a campy duet with a member of her band, who donned a wig and became a sort of hyper-sexed Iggy Pop character. In another number, she came out in a towel, which she then opened like a set of wings, on which virtual backup singers were then projected.
"Do you like my pussy light?" she asked coyly as a blinking light worn over a spandex bodysuit denoted her anatomy. The audience did. For the encore, she and two members of backing band Sweet Machine played laser harps at the front of the stage in a visually arresting and technically skilled display. For those not in the know, a laser harp is exactly what it sounds like: a harp made from frickin' laser beams.
The massive audience couldn't get enough, and she came out for a second encore. "Shirts come off, shirts shirts come off," she chanted, and folks obliged. "Thanks!" she said, then put all of them on and split. There was nobody who didn't think it an appropriate price for such a delightful hour-plus-long multimedia spectacle.
Photo by www.flickr.com/photos/katy_kildee/
