Peach PRC Revives Sentimental Favorites in Washington, D.C.
- Alder Boutin
- Oct 7
- 2 min read
Peach PRC gave new life to a sprinkling of older, slower songs on her last North American tour stop at The Atlantis. Armed with a cup of hot tea, she shared that she was indulging in a more relaxed set because she was feeling under the weather. “I never get to sing these songs because they’re too emotional,” she explained the deviation, “but tonight feels like a safe space to cry.”
The singer settled onto a stool with her Omnichord (an electronic lap keyboard) for “Loved You Before” – a tender, ethereal love song among the softer in her standard show – and “Touchy Subject.” The sheet music in front of her and the crowd of sparkling pink helped her through the latter. Other unprecedented additions included “Dear Inner Child” and “Heavy,” which she sang backed by acoustic guitar.
Peach PRC also debuted an unreleased song – so new that guitarist Chloe Dadd had only learned it minutes before in the green room. “I know my baby loves me like crazy,” Peach PRC crooned. “If I’m patient / one day she’ll love me out loud.”
Energetic hits bookended the mellow performance. Dadd’s contagious jumps, twirls, and nods during dance-pop anthems “Perfect For You” and “Forever Drunk” reminded me of MUNA’s Josette Maskin. Peach PRC spun up and down a neon pink pole to “God Is A Freak,” swirled in rainbow lighting.
Madelline (with two L’s, as she informed the crowd) finds her niche in sad lyrics over playful sounds. With wide eyes and sharp mime-like motions, she brought a meticulousness to each word she sang while opening for Peach PRC. Some of her songs were accentuated with strategically placed vocal effects. Others let her shine unfettered, like the operatic ending of “training wheels” and her whimsical flute solo leading into “Fired My Therapist.”
“Expiration Dating” satirizes expectations placed on women as they grow older, including a reference to JD Vance’s disparagement of “childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives… so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too.” Madelline rolled this audio (and her eyes) before the song, which asks, “Would it be all that bad / to live in a mansion with all of my cats?”
“You’re a vibe!” someone shouted, a perhaps unintentional nod to “Participation Trophies.” “People say that I’m a vibe / So what’s the problem if I suck at life?” Madelline muses in this song “about having raging ADHD.” She ended with her bilingual hit “Dopamine,” popping her chest and tossing her braided hair. Headphones listeners enjoy simultaneous English and French in each ear, while the live rendition featured one verse in English and the next in French.
Peach PRC and Madelline are now taking a well-deserved rest from live shows after delivering this refreshing punch of femme power pop.
