Peaches Spins Up a Storm at the Tribeca Grand

NEXT »

It goes without saying that GBH knows how to arrange solid shows; following Friday night’s GBH-hosted DJ set at Webster Hall featuring Calvin Harris, electronica goddess Peaches spun up a storm Saturday at the Tribeca Grand. Sans MySpace announcement, this special appearance was largely “last minute,” approaching secret show territory.

The lobby-turned-exclusive-club teemed with people. The otherwise pristine entryway to one of New York’s premier hotels became a claustrophobic trial. Despite this, fans and friends embraced the scene, drinking and dancing till dawn, arms in the air and smiles perpetually plastered across their fun-loving faces. Guys and girls gathered everywhere, consuming the space. Even the coat check and restroom ques inspired socializing. Some were content to recline –- even neck -– on the couches or hang by the bar, but diehard dancers Rocky-fought their way to the front.

Peaches jumped on the turntables after So Me (!!!) and Alex English, around roughly 2 a.m. The Berlin-based diva, with a half-shaven head and dressed in a getup the likes of which we’ve never seen before and words cannot adequately delineate, spun everything from up-and-coming Thunderheist to classic Daft Punk. Grooving beside her in the “booth” were the evening’s VIPs, which included JD Samson and, to our amazement, the Aussie pop star Sia. Donning an oversized neon pink top and sporting her signature blonde bob, this Zero 7 sweetheart busted more moves than maybe anyone. And, as the evening wound down, Bjork herself was spotted at the bar.

The single criticism the evening elicits has nothing to do with spilled drinks or collisions with sweaty strangers; these are inevitable but bittersweet givens. We simply wish Peaches had displayed a little less modesty: spin your shit, lady! A number of us couldn’t get it through our heads why she wouldn’t bring the event full circle and satisfy our craving for “Fuck the Pain Away,” among other ass-shaking numbers. Including her signature songs would definitely have turned this sterling party platinum.

This exclusion aside, Peaches raised the roof and whet our appetite for her forthcoming record release, I Feel Cream (XL Records), due out in the U.S. May 5th. And we can hardly contain how amped we are to hear her let loose come mid-May at, you guessed it, Webster Hall. We expect this album promo performance will be chock full of that signature nectar we’re thirsting for in the worst way.