LADYHAWKE with special guest PEACHES
THE MACBETH, HOXTON
MAY 14, 2008
WORDS: CHRISTEL ESCOSA
PHOTOS: 1. MATT IRWIN, 2. CHRISTEL ESCOSA

It was advertised as a ‘secret gig’ at the Macbeth; it was also worthy of a double take seeing Peaches name checked on the flier. Peaches? No, wait – Peaches, as in sex on the beaches – right? Not the Geldof variety…right? It was only a DJ set that this Peaches was apparently playing. Hmm. After a bit of online foraging, it did seem that it was going to be THE Peaches making an appearance – as in the teaches of. But at the venue, there was a guy talking into his phone saying, “I’m here at a gig doing PR for Peaches Geldof.” I’m not religious, but I prayed, prayed, that he was wrong.

And thank goodness he was. The Macbeth was rammed, Kiwi and Australian accents abounded; as Ladyhawke aka Pip Brown hails from New Zealand originally, and has lived in both Melbourne and Sydney. The DJ dropped some songs that were really long and that kind of sounded the same the whole way through (good thing they were good songs). My theory was that it made you feel like you weren’t waiting, that time wasn’t moving. It was the soundtrack to watching a guy on stage moving leads and looking at them thoughtfully, before moving them back to where they were in the first place. It seemed an epic wait before Ladyhawke graced the mike, and when she got there, unassuming and at ease, the hat furnished blonde got straight down to it.

Her catchy, nostalgically composed and heavily 80s influenced set list was enjoyable, no doubt. On initially hearing Back of the Van remixed by ‘Sup alumni Van She, and then her original version, I wondered whether she could come across live, and whether she had any more ammo under that cute fringe of hers. Most of the Kiwis lining the stage could sing all the words to her songs. And soon enough, so could I – there were hooks my friends, hooks galore. But, none of them got me line and sinker. And she didn’t actually play her guitar that much. It might have been because I was itching to see Peaches; live set or (well, as the case may currently be, as she gears up for her summer DJ tour) not. Pip seems a very nice lass though, making infectious and consumable electro pop/rock – and I have a feeling she’ll have a pretty good year. Foot tapping? Yes. Thrash worthy? No. Methinks most of the crowd was lured there by Peaches (who played a banging, if quick DJ set). But hey, if it’s good enough for Peaches, it’s good enough for me.