photo by Kevin Collier

Sometimes a girl’s just gotta express herself.  Electro-punk high priestess Peaches is no exception -- she just likes to go about it a little differently. Delightfully crass lyrics, kitschy costumes and those infectious beats which continue to prevail in the indie-dance circuit are her weapons of choice. She’s on tour promoting her third album, “Impeach My Bush,” and stopped down in Orlando for a December 4th performance at Club Firestone. By chance, the show fell on the Monday night of final exam week. Instead of agonizing over our studies, however, we chose to watch this temptress gyrate in her silver metallic skivvies. But she didn’t begin the show so undressed; it was instead a systematic strip-down from her fuchsia and silver Gene Simmons-esque glam suit and platforms. There were additional costume changes intermixed with her hour-long set including when she appeared cloaked in a cape emblazoned with “XXX.” As if preaching the virtues of bump and grind,  “Set It Off” sent the audience into a bare-chested frenzy as she chanted, “Shirts come off!” until followers were whipping them around like propellers. For her current single, the distortion-rich, “Boys Want to be Her,” Peaches switched gears to channel her inner Kiss, the crowd relishing her every guitar lick (which we’ll note she plays herself).  Her performance of “Operate” closed with a theatrical twist as a visibly unsteady Peaches collapsed onto the stage during a chorus of “He’s not dead he’s gonna live, He’s not dead he’s gonna live.”  She was quickly whisked away on a stretcher by roadies, only to return triumphantly and spit out a mouthfull of fake blood, allowing the crimson stuff to ooze down her chin a bit for effect.  Hey, we told you she does it big. The sea of revelers rose and fell accordingly with the super sultry vocals of “Downtown,” which still managed to sound good even though accompanied by a backing track. Though she performed a decent mix of old and new, the club staple and encore of the night, “Fuck the Pain Away,” elicited the most explosive response. She finished her set around 12:45 am to the dismay of the still-wired crowd.  Some rekindled the excitement at Backbooth for the official Peaches afterparty, while others simply went to collect their shirts. Story by Brittany Middleton MORE INFO: Official Website