Peach PRC, Heleina Zara @ Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide 27/4/2023
On Wednesdays we wear pink… but it’s a Thursday, and I’m always wearing pink so I’m fitting right in with the entire Mary’s Poppins populace for bubblegum pop sensation Peach PRC on her sold out national tour. I am sure everyone has heard of Peach PRC by now, with her endearingly witty ear worms and famous track dedicated to every boy named Josh ever. I also decided this was a fun school holiday activity and brought my little pink wearing pretty boy 11-year-old for a hoot and no surprises, he was loving the vibe.
Now I know I said in my previous review of her that the next time I saw Peach PRC would be a stadium show probably with dancing care bears, but I was close. This little (not so little in those heels) Manic Dream Pixie aka Peach PRC is still finding her fame feet and is definitely going to blow up. The entire spectacle was feeling very Lady Gaga circa 2009 before she became crazy famous and started requiring ridiculous numbers of costume changes. Hindley Street Music Hall was packed to the brim with pink wearing bubble blowing hysterical fans with a sea of colourful wigs, sparkly cowboy hats and outrageous footwear and the whole thing was like a great big gay bar singalong, the crowd even singing along to the music played in between sets. It doesn’t get much happier than that.
Supporting for Peach PRC was up and coming Filipino pop princess hailing from Sydney Heleina Zara in platform moonboots and pigtails, who was covering Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi as my son and I walked into the venue. Another young pop musician springing from a starring role in a Netflix series (Wellmania) and Tiktok fame, the audience were well versed in her tracks and sang along as she basked in their energy and enthusiasm. She delivered her shiny new single Cardboard to the excited clapping of her fans and even got everyone waving their phone torches for the slower songs. From tracks Alphabet Soup to currently unreleased Best You’ll Ever Have, Heleina Zara already has a rapidly growing fan base and some very catchy tracks in her itinerary, making her a perfect fit for the national support spot that is only going to propel her further into the spotlight.
With the stage lit pink and fairy lights everywhere, Peach PRC’s set started to the boom of a thumping club track sample mixed with hit single Stars are Blind (released by Paris Hilton and rehashed as Perfect for You by Peach PRC) The crowd went crazy as she came out in sparkly fairy costume complete with light up stilettos and sang Blondes. Stopping to crouch down and drink her cup of tea, she continued with hard hitting mental health anthem Symptomatic. The hysteria was intense, and it was impossible to hear her tell her cute anecdotes over all the woo girls in the crowd, but she said something about attending the venue when it was HQ as an Adelaide local and losing a shoe (as princesses often do) before dedicating track Favourite Person to all her “BPD girls”
Even though Peach PRC is 100% unashamedly pop, her topical themes are at the forefront of her work, which makes her an important voice for her generation. She uses her memorable hooks, catchy tunes and clever song writing to tackle some fairly hefty issues and is a loud advocate for LGTBQ rights and Mental Illness (notably BPD and ADHD which she suffers from) and she has been very open about her struggles with alcohol addiction. There was a moment where she sat down to sing Colourblind before apologising to the audience for making some of them tear up, but that was soon rectified with bangers F U Goodbye, Josh and Forever Drunk which was met with a frenzy.
Leaving the stage briefly while the audience chanted “PEACH!” over and over, she came back to sing God is a Freak. Noticing an audience member waving the Lesbian Flag she ran over to retrieve it and draped it over herself- singing the lyrics ‘what’s the fixation on hating the way he creates them?’ It was one of those powerful iconic moments that every single audience member will remember for years to come.
It might be easy for some to roll their eyes at another ‘manufactured bubblegum pop’ artist rising to fame, but Adelaide born 26-year-old Peach PRC is so much more than that. Far from the Katy Perry’s of the industry, her music is meaningful, clever and deeply political. Apart from the major star appeal she possesses and sweet fairy princess image, there is a lot going on behind all that sparkle. I guarantee she will become a local legend as the Adelaide girl who became internet famous, blazed a trail for others like her and became a household name around the world.
Live Review By Bec Scheucher