I'm baaaaaaaack!

If you didn’t know, last Friday, BeatrixKiddo79 and I met for the first time, and we saw one of the deliciously vulgar musical artists of our time period: Peaches at the Metro in Chicago! There was too much going on that day, and like many good stories, a beginning is in order.

I was minding my own business when I looked around to my clock; it spoke to me with the number six thirty, and I decided that it was time for me to start making my way outside. I had received a few text messages from Ms. Jane earlier in the day, and I was so excited I could feel my feet sweat through wool socks and stuffy shoes. I left my dorm room, and I made my way down the street with my phone to my ear and our dear friend from Buzznet speaking to me on the other end.

Yes, she was a little lost. But it was totally alright. After about three or so minutes (yeah, we totally found each other right away like it was magic), she ended up driving to where I was and parked. Actually, if you want to see me following her to where she parked at, you can go to my video here. That probably does a better job explaining how excited/thrilled I was on Friday.

We embraced, we smiled, we laughed and we decided that a visit to the little boys and little girls room was in order to continue our quest towards Peaches. We took off to my packed Student Center; some event or another was going on and there were a ton of people in formal wear. And to start the night off, Jane’s camera bag, moving on its own will as we pushed through the crowd to the exit, decided to pretty much violate a woman in a pretty white dress. Now, was that the only time that I would hear or think of the word violate that night? Think again.

We got to Jane’s car and drove over to the venue. The Metro is an exquisite place for a few reasons: 1) they are somewhat small, so you can go and have a little bit of intimacy with some of the bands, 2) the security is the most friendly and helpful that I have ever encountered, and 3) there are a total of 39 lights that are on the stage (and only 11 of them turn into red lights for those of you that know how red lights are the worst invention in the world). We sat in Jane’s car for a good while, talking it up and getting to know each other in person. Hell, she is one of the very, very best people out there. I really love meeting Buzznet friends because you finally get rid of that “oh-you-don’t-really-know-me-but-you-really-kind-of-do” kind of thing. We’re best buddies, and it had been established that we were going to have a great night that night. We took a breath, made our way to the line across the street and waited to be let in.

Entry to the show was easy, and we managed to secure a place in the upper left side of the floor, myself being behind the barrier and Jane leaning right on top of the stage. We met a security guard who was guarding the side we were on, as well as an eccentric drunk girl who was also a delight in many ways; we continued to make discourse with them for a good majority before the actual show started. Evil Beaver set up the stage, and we were theirs.

Evil Beaver was actually pretty amazing. They are a group of two people: a leading lady, kick-ass bassist, and a drummer whose hands were moving so fast that I honestly thought he was missing both of his arms and my ears were lying to me. Their set was pretty bombing, involving a lot of bass manipulations and even the drums seemed to sound fairly complex. They were great openers; they finished strong and the house music came back on. That’s when he came out.

Drums of Death comes out with his face painted over and a complete soundboard on the table. Now, I did not know how I would like his performance simply based on what I had seen. Like all the other times, I realized that I should not have judged him solely by his cover; HIS STAGE PRESCENCE WAS OUTSTANDING! He was all over the stage, dancing left and right while he managed to find the time to go back to his Mac and manipulate the songs a little bit more. It was like no other DJ that I have seen; he took the stage and led the crowd into dance frenzy. After losing a few ounces of sweat, I saw him give his goodbye to the stage and made his way off to the side. We all knew what was coming next.

By this time, Jane had somewhat positioned herself to be in quite a great spot to be taking photos of the band members, and let me tell you, some of those photographers within the barrier were complete jerks! I haven’t seen that kind of rudeness since I was at a McDonald’s a few weeks back. All you really need to know about that story is that this stupid little kid was a stupid little jerk and he stole the toy that came from my happy meal when I wasn’t looking. Needless to say, it is an unforgivable crime against humanity. >:(

Anyway, 10 minutes went by and the crowd grew obviously impatient. And then, what was it I heard? The house music on the floor was Boy George with “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?” The reason why that was so significant was because I was talking about it earlier in the day, how I couldn’t get that song out of my mind. Jane looked back, started smiling and laughing and we both just knew that she was making her way to the stage. After Boy George, a familiar hit from the DiVinyls came on: “I search myself, I want you to find me, I forget myself, I want you to remind me…” The crowd then screamed in a very exquisite manner: “I DON’T WANT ANYBODY ELSE; WHEN I THINK ABOUT YOU, I TOUCH MYSELF!” The stage fell black and Peaches’ alliance, The Herms, came out and assumed their respective positions on the stage. A few stage ninjas could be seen, but it didn’t matter. In that moment, everything went completely pitch black and near silent. A gigantic puff of a person walked out onto the stage and the lights came back with her. Our queen bee had arrived.

Peaches busted out strong, singing a few hits from her very new album that just came out this month. In this amazing get-up that she kept shedding as she went from song to song, she managed to keep everyone entranced as she coasted from stage left to stage right to the top of the drum set; she was everywhere at once and everyone was in love. Peaches changed outfits before each song it almost seemed, but no one was complaining. It was as though she engulfed the charisma of Freddie Mercury, the energy of Reggie and the Full Effect and the astounding deified grace of Kylie Minogue. But even after naming them, she still had her own style. Something about the way that she moved, the way that she sang on stage, it just felt like it was natural for her. She looked and acted like a natural superstar, and there was nothing short of a great performance being presented to us that night. She also had a great mix of old music and new music in her set list; with five albums, you know that she has some great tunes to choose from. Peaches’ crotch glowed white, she took off on a long crowd-surfing session while she sang the entire time, her keyboardist took his shirt off, and there were swarms of naked chests throughout the crowd: these were among the best of the moments from that night. She left everyone satisfied at the end of the show, including Jane who managed to fight her way to the front of the barrier after she was kicked out of the security quarters. Her pictures of the show describe the show so much better than I ever could.

We went back to Jane’s car and decided that the night was not over for us yet. We drove around the city, taking the psychos of the Friday night scene on with all that we had while getting a little lost in the process. It was all a good time, though, and I know that I enjoyed it. We managed to find a cute after-hours diner and enjoyed a sweet meal together as conversation ensued. I took a short video of it; you can find that here.

That was our complete night. We parted ways after taking a picture together.We’ll be doing that again, and as I went to bed at 4:53 am that morning, I could have sworn that I could smell peaches in the air. It was pleasant beyond all pleasantries.

And that was it! Hope you liked the write-up, and if you are going to a concert in Chicago sometime, look me up! Also, if there is some way that you can manage meeting Jane Bush, DO SO NOW! She is amazing, and you will love her as much in person as you do online.

Toodles!

P.S.

Oh, yeah. I also touched Peaches’ butt that night. Umm…yeah.