Peaches is anything but subtle. And as soon as the curtains parted at Revolution this past Friday, she instantly led the audience into her surreal, hyper-sexual world. Draped in a woolly coat, she and her band, Sweet Machine, kicked things off with "Mud," off her latest release, I Feel Cream. It was an interesting choice for a starter. The track, produced by Simian Mobile Disco, is a bit of an oddity in her catalog: It really has nothing to do with sex, and it's melodic.
Compared to her other recent South Florida performances — in December 2006 at the opening of Art Basel Miami Beach and a few months later during Winter Music Conference — this was her most ambitious stage performance to date. Though it's a small production relative to those by, say, Madonna or Britney, Peaches managed to squeeze in multiple costume changes, projections, laser lights, glowing keytars, and more. That's not to say her previous shows here were shabby — they weren't — but four albums deep, Peaches takes what could have been a simple rock show to a new level.
Four solo albums also gives her plenty of material to choose from. Although the set list 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, give or take a few other songs I could be forgetting. But with so much material from which to cull, stuff is bound to be 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, the group instantly won the crowd over, even though I'm sure nobody knew the songs. The highlight of that set was "Credit Card Babie$," a queer anthem detailing the lengths to which same-sex couples will go to procreate, packaged as an indie-dance romp.
