Greg Wood

Zelda Kyser, left, and Holly Schenck are all smiles at Tuesday night’s Peaches show.

Greg Wood

Matthew Ownby, left, and Carissa Stolting take a breather near the merchandise table at the recent Peaches show at the Valarium.

Greg Wood

Rainy remnants of Hurricane Ida didn’t stop Veronica Blaha, left, and Anthony Cassella from donning their jackets and hitting the Peaches show.

Greg Wood

Kelly Roper, left, and Sarah Cadieux enjoy a moment at the Valarium during the Peaches show.

Comments

There is 1 response to this article. Click here to join the conversation »

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Printer friendly

More Music News

• Fred Eaglesmith happy to keep rough edges in shows
• Jo Dee Messina's music is no longer held hostage
• Cheap Trick lays out recording, touring plans

Share and Enjoy

KNOXVILLE — I’ve heard people talking about this past Tuesday’s Peaches show at the Valarium for weeks, and it has been the subject of many Facebook statuses and Tweets.

The Canadian performer boomed this decade with her raunchy electro-pop songs featuring themes of sexual liberation — a trend she continued with her latest release, “I Feel Cream.” Although a large portion of her song titles are too explicit to print, her music has been featured in movies, including “Lost in Translation,” and gained popularity at clubs such as local nightspot Sassy Ann’s.

Peaches’ songs often don’t identify with one particular gender, and as such her crowd tends to draw all manner of open-minded straight, gay and bisexual fans who have formed an enormous cult following. Tuesday’s concert brought out a plethora of colorful Knoxville residents.

With her first Knoxville concert, Peaches fills a similar role to the Belgian electronica band Lords of Acid, which brought shows through here a decade ago, even though most of its U.S. tour stops were major cities. (Although the Lords of Acid started in the 1980s, the group didn’t take off in the United States until the mid-1990s. However, in 1992 the News Sentinel reported brisk local sales of the group’s album “Lust,” suggesting the scene was prominent here a bit sooner than in much of America.)

Meanwhile, the college radio station WUTK has launched an electronic show in the past year or two called the “Midnight Voyage,” which airs between 10 p.m. on Thursdays and 1 a.m. on Fridays.

The build up to this week’s show clued me in that this scene is more popular here than I realized. And sure enough, Peaches drew an unconventional concert crowd in Knoxville that likely represents a cross-section of her overall fan base. Side note: I ran into more people I know at the Peaches concert than I have at any local show.

The performer changed outfits at least six times during the course of the show, enticing whatever range of suitors were after her.

Most of the people I know raved about the Peaches concert, and the performer, who just turned 43, has more energy and stage presence than anyone around.

Although I’m a novice to the Peaches scene, even I found her show to be a gratifying, eye-opening experience.