Headliner: Peachcake
Tour: Make Mixes, Not War Tour
Venue: The Ridglea Theater - Fort Worth, TX
Date: Friday, 19/7/2008
There are a lot of movies out there. And if you love movies, you will have likely experienced what I'm about to confide in you. Once in awhile, you have a movie that is very good. But said movie is so good because it breaks all expectations; because it breaks cinematic rules; because it bends your idea of what a movie should actually be. I'm talking like Memento, or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; like Amélie, Donnie Darko, Pulp Fiction, or Ghost World. Movies that might make you go, "HUH?!" once the credits start rolling, but still give you that burning, passionate love inside your heart for this new favourite movie.
This long metaphore is an feeble attempt to express exactly what a concert-meets-party-meets-festival-meets-extravaganza-meets-protest rally-meets-communal loving that is a Peachcake show. If that sort of definition wasn't particular enough, you can understand how hard it is for me to come up with words for how amazing Peachcake's recent wandering through Fort Worth, Texas, at The Ridglea Theater was. But trust me, I'll try to be as finite and explanatory as possible.
First a little history. Ridglea Theater is an age-old venue that has been a cultural landmark since 1950, and has been in the spotlight for local Fort Worth music for a decade now. Ridglea was basically the one stop shop in town to catch the most excellent movies around back in the day. Sadly, with the rise of the cineplex, the death of the local theatre became all too real. After turning into a derelict in the 90s, Richard Van Zandt and Wesley Hathaway revived the beautiful place, first hosting laser light shows. The architectural artifact eventually evolved into the neat, wholesome music venue it is today.
Onto Peachcake. This quirky quartet of crazy cats fly the flag of Peace (literally... it's the United States flag with a peace sign instead of stars). Their finest quality is taking one large piece of love and compacting it into the most gorgeous, electro-centric dance tracks your ears may have ever come in contact with. I heard of Peachcake when I first caught wind of Some By Sea almost two years ago, and have been following them off and on ever since. But I had never been to a Peachcake show.
Finally, the perfect event arrived in Fort Worth, that event being the Make Mixes, Not War tour hosted by Peachcake, who is wandering the country in search of some of the best music their audience can provide, as well as returning tenfold with wondrous performances.
The Make Mixes, Not War tour is very self-explanatory. Rather than fighting each other and our neighbours overseas, we should all come together with our communal love for music, and make mixes (mix tapes, mix CDs, 8-track mixes... whatever!) of your favourite sort of music. Then you bring it to your local Max Mixes, Not War adventure, and either share it with Peachcake, or share it with a friend you meet at the show. Pretty neat, eh?
The tour is certainly unique, but how are their shows? Let me list some adjectives: surreal, hallucinogenic, eclectic, vibrant. Peachcake's show structure is possibly the strangest I have ever seen, in the most amazing way possible. Stefan, our humble (if not esoteric) lead singer, spent half of the show on the floor with his audience, running back and forth, singing and dancing. Mick McHale was a bit too busy rocking out on guitar with David Halicky on drums and John O'Keefy playing just about every other instrument.
Somewhere between purple monkeys, granny panties, bags of magic, throwing Stefan into the air with a sheet, climbing on top of the huge speakers for guitar rockage, astronaut helmets, and lots (emphasis on lots) of dancing, Peachcake rocked and danced Ridglea to the ground. The show was less of a concert and more of a dance party; less a dance party, and more like a peaceful form of a riot; less a riot, and more an experience. To be frank, as detailed as I can possibly get, there is no way to accurately describe the live Peachcake experience. It's a period of 40-60 minutes where you are required to let all your inhibitions go, and simply have an absolute blast, and make some brand new, great friends out of strangers. It's both weird and beautiful, and certainly shifts every expectation I've ever had for a concert, ever.
The Makes Mixes, Not War tour is certainly far from over. In fact, Peachcake just began this extravagent tour across the nation the day before the Fort Worth show, in El Paso, TX on July 18th. They'll wind up the roads to those Northern Yankee states before making mad dash way out west, before returning to Texas for more fantastic party times, with their finale in their home state of Arizona. I sincerely (more emphasizing, this time on sincerely) suggest you attend. The fun has only begun.
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