Satirising one's own quest for fame is a popular ruse in avant-garde pop. Chilly Gonzales, Har Mar Superstar and Princess Superstar all rose to prominence as alter egos for the musicians' own narcissistic desires, yet such a concept approach was doomed never to attain the mainstream notoriety it caricatured. While the musicians behind Gonzales and Har Mar spotted the glass ceiling and moved on, Concetta Kirschner (the creator of Princess Superstar) has brought in a step-ladder so she can bang her head against it.

Her latest album, My Machine, forms the basis of tonight's show, and is a story set in a future where we are all the Princess's "duplicants" and she is, er, still trying to be famous. Performing a song called, you guessed it, Famous, she acts the desperate celebrity, posing for photos for her paparrazi guitarist. On 10,000 Hits she raps "I need 10,000 hits like this to make me rich," while the video screen behind her zooms in on the charts from 2002, when her single Bad Babysitter nearly made the top 10.

The New York rapper follows this by performing the real thing, her crowd-pleasing hit that has lost none of its appeal. "I'm a bad babysitter, got my boyfriend in your shower/ Woo! I'm makin' six bucks an hour." Next up is Sex, Drugs and Drugs, during which she pretends to have lost her narcotics, raising a laugh by crawling around the floor snorting desperately through a straw. The track's bass line is reminiscent of Peaches, but without the furious drive and energy of a Peaches show. A certain sparkle is missing that can't be compensated for by frequent costume changes and a handful of one-liners. "I'm so out of control," she sings, completely in control, her performance competing for your empathy and your apathy.

· At the Roadhouse, Manchester, on October 31. Box office: 0161-832 1111. Then touring.