The utterly positive provacateur, Peaches, arrived at Liverpool’s alternative home-field the Invisible Wind Factory for the 20th anniversary of The Teaches of Peaches, here’s what we learned.

It’s been twenty long years since the Canadian electropop punk Peaches dropped her lessons in a single record, and a lot has happened since. There was previously an argument to say that the world has become far more sexually positive than it was before, not necessarily due to this but we know music plays it’s part, but in 2022, there’s a lot to assure us.

With that in-mind, the time is right for Peaches to be embarking on a tour with her material and her show, not simply for the anniversary but for a larger, more unified front. Why wouldn’t you want to spend a random Wednesday evening watching a brazen and bare Peaches and her dancing vaginas?

Following her Sound City set a few years ago, which feels like a lifetime ago, Peaches has been somewhat etched into Liverpool’s sonic folklore, heck, if you weren’t there or at her birthday party at the IWF (presented by EVOL) a while later, you certainly were aware it happened. It’s no shocker that Peaches’ return would be a packed party from the get-go.

The clear centrepiece of the show is her entire performance of The Teaches of Peaches, albeit with “Set It Off“, “Hot Rod” and “Cum Undun” at the start, it’s clear that in typically unpredictable Peaches fashion, it’s not in-order.

With her intro, struggling to the stage with a walker, in a exaggerated aged state, Peaches instantly brings her comedy out, removing items of clothing as she regularly does, in a way to become clear and present for her adoring fans.

The combo of “Sucker“, and “Rock Show“, with “Suck and Let Go” in the middle really bring out her show, backed by several band members and dancers, all inside Peaches‘ world. It’s clear to see that, despite her name being on the marquee, it’s a selfless set-up, with her dancers and thunderous guitarist taking your eye at a moment’s notice.

Her cover of Berlin‘s “Sex (I’m A)” is another highlight, especially followed closely by the likes of “Lovertits“, and the crowd-joiner “Shake Ya Dix“. It’s so wonderfully unapologetic.

Peaches mentions several times, the show goes by so quickly with so much, it’s a testament to how great the record stands twenty years on. The single “Boys Wanna Be Her” just shakes through perfectly, and the duo of Fauci-loving “Pussy Mask” and “Vaginoplasty” follows suitably.

The main set-ender is the moment everyone is waiting for, “Dick in the Air“, with her signature inflatable penis pushing itself into the centre of the crowd for Peaches to make her way through, it’s a wonder to see.

Teasingly, Peaches thanks the crowd, before leaving as “I’ve played everything you want to hear”, with a key smirk. The crowd pleads, understandable, as Peaches‘ euphoric anthem is right around the corner.

Suspending the sense of disbelief that she wouldn’t return, Peaches is back on cue, with “Fuck the Pain Away“, the rowdy and brilliant electropop anthem.

The ending however, is something entirely different, as Peaches‘ back-up takes the drums and keyboards, as a cover of the current internet earworm and *Pandora’s Box‘s classic “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” breaks out for the encore.

It’s brilliant in so many ways, with the crowd knowing every word of it, and singing in the spaces, to Peaches’ hilarious “annoyance”, as the artist tells us, “I hear that OMG has a karaoke night”, a shout-out to our fantastic queer culture, it’s all good fun, and the sing-a-long ending caps off a rhapsodic night that continues to pin Peaches as an honorary hero in our sonic culture, and in-short, the Teaches of Peaches hasn’t taught us any new lessons but definitely pushes all the right buttons.

*Correction: An earlier version of this piece listed “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” by another artist instead of the original artist, Pandora’s Box. This has been corrected.

Words by Jack Cinnamond. Photography by Jessica Jayne Sharpe.