bitchen' broad of the year

Without further ado: The lovely miss Kat Halsey wins bitchin' gal of the year (last year it was both Van and Tana). Why?

More reasons than I can enumerate here, and none of them re. her gettin' me her spare comp ticket to the Electroclash tour (Peaches, Chicks on Speed etc.). What a damn incredible show, and an even more unbelievable woman.....

Oh, btw, go see Robert McChesney speak at Midnight Special in Santa Monica tonight (Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.). He's a brilliant media analysist, the foremost leader in media criticism and in the discussion re. globalization's/unfettered capitalism's effect on media. I'll be there, and so will Jake and myself and some of my gals, Kat included. Look for the orange-pumpkpin redhead--that's me.

And on the Electroclash tour, we got there late--around 11--just in time to catch the last of the Chicks and see Peaches go on. Holy shit. The woman is insanely incredible. Just when I thought I'd gotten her pegged as a novelty act, she belted out with the richest, most honey-syrupy voice ever, full of soul--she's got Aretha's lungs and Rollins' vocal ethic. How any one human could switch back and forth between testosterone-fueled screaming from the gut to high-end soul so often within an hour-long show is beyond me. It's rare I see a show that surprises me--this one did that and more.

And the crowd was fascinating. Usually at shows this intense there's a light tang of fear on the air--girls in the audience hoping the pit doesn't get too wild, hoping they don't get groped, hoping the incitement of the performers doesn't encourage the people around her to take her down in some sexually-charged Lord of the Flies moment. And here, at this show? Well, the ratio was prolly almost half male, half female. With male performers as sexually charged onstage, things might have been different, but this was Peaches, and watching her rant and rage with such ballsy bravery up there, you felt like she'd kill any man in the audience who took the bump and grind bit too far.

Rock on, ladies.